{"id":17733,"date":"2026-09-28T18:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/?p=17733"},"modified":"2026-09-28T18:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:35:19","slug":"create-aws-kms-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/create-aws-kms-key\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create and Use an AWS KMS Key for Encryption in AWS"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Introduction<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Security is a critical part of managing workloads in AWS. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/aws-management-services\">AWS Key Management Service<\/a> (AWS KMS) makes it easier to create and manage cryptographic keys that can be used to protect data across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/aws-management-services\">AWS services<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" dir=\"auto\" data-section-id=\"2c85um\" data-start=\"273\" data-end=\"313\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"277\" data-end=\"313\">AWS KMS Key Creation at a Glance<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\" data-start=\"315\" data-end=\"561\"><strong data-start=\"315\" data-end=\"340\">Create an AWS KMS Key<\/strong> through the AWS KMS console by selecting the key type, configuring administrators and key users, reviewing the key policy, and creating the key. The KMS key can then be used to protect data across supported AWS services.<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is AWS KMS?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/aws-management-services\">AWS Key Management Service<\/a> (KMS) is a managed service that allows you to create and control cryptographic keys used to protect data. AWS services can use KMS keys to encrypt data at rest, while KMS handles the underlying cryptographic operations and access control.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KMS keys can be used with services such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon EC2 \/ EBS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon S3<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon RDS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon EFS<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Prerequisites<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before creating the KMS key, make sure you have:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An AWS account<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Access to the required AWS region<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IAM permissions to create and manage KMS keys<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h1><b>Create a KMS Key Using AWS Console<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log in to the AWS Management Console and open:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>AWS KMS \u2192 Customer managed keys<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click: <\/span><b>Create key<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Select Key Type<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under <\/span><b>Key type<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, select: <\/span><b>Symmetric<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under <\/span><b>Key usage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, select: <\/span><b>Encrypt and decrypt<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then click: <\/span><b>Next<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Add Key Details<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide a meaningful alias. For example: <\/span><b>alias\/prod-data-encryption<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click: <\/span><b>Next<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Configure Key Administrators<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWS KMS allows you to specify which IAM users or roles can administer the key. Typical administrative permissions include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enable key<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disable key<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schedule key deletion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Change key policy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configure rotation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manage aliases<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Configure Key Users<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next, select the IAM users or roles that should be allowed to use the key. The exact permissions required depend on how the key will be used. For an application that needs encryption and decryption, permissions may include:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>kms:Encrypt<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>kms:Decrypt<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>kms:GenerateDataKey<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>kms:DescribeKey<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For AWS services, the required permissions can vary depending on the service.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Review the Key Policy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWS KMS uses a <\/span><b>key policy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to control access to a KMS key. A simplified example looks like:<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">{<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Version&#8221;: &#8220;2012-10-17&#8221;,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Statement&#8221;: [<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0{<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Sid&#8221;: &#8220;Enable IAM User Permissions&#8221;,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Effect&#8221;: &#8220;Allow&#8221;,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Principal&#8221;: {<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;AWS&#8221;: &#8220;arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0},<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Action&#8221;: &#8220;kms:*&#8221;,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0&#8220;Resource&#8221;: &#8220;*&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0}<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">}<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The root principal in a KMS key policy does not mean that the AWS account root user is the only person who can use the key. It establishes account-level control that can allow IAM policies to grant access. However, KMS policies should be designed carefully according to the principle of least privilege.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click: <\/span><b>Finish<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The KMS key is now created.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Find the KMS Key ID<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After creating the key, open:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>AWS KMS \u2192 Customer managed keys<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should see something similar to:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alias<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">alias\/prod-data-encryption<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key ID<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12345678-abcd-1234-abcd-123456789012<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key ARN<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">arn:aws:kms:ap-south-1:123456789012:key\/12345678-abcd-1234-abcd-123456789012<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Key ID<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>Key ARN<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be used when configuring AWS services.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Test the KMS Key<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before attaching the key to production resources, you can verify that it is enabled. Run:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>aws kms describe-key &#8211;key-id alias\/prod-data-encryption<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Look for: <\/span><b>&#8220;KeyState&#8221;: &#8220;Enabled&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also test encryption directly. Generate a data key:<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>aws kms generate-data-key &#8211;key-id alias\/prod-data-encryption &#8211;key-spec AES_256<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AWS will return an encrypted data key and plaintext data key. Do not store or expose the plaintext data key unnecessarily.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #999999;\">AWS<\/span><\/a> KMS provides a centralized way to manage encryption keys and control access to encrypted data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical implementation involves:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create KMS Key<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create Alias<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configure Key Administrators<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configure Key Users<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Configure Key Policy<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enable Rotation<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attach KMS Key to AWS Resource<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Test Encryption<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u2193<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monitor Usage with CloudTrail<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The important point is that <\/span><b>creating a KMS key is only the first step<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The key must also be correctly integrated with the AWS service and the IAM\/KMS policies must allow the required operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" dir=\"auto\" data-section-id=\"hwspts\" data-start=\"978\" data-end=\"1023\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"982\" data-end=\"1023\">Need Help With AWS KMS Configuration?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\" data-start=\"1025\" data-end=\"1254\">AWS KMS requires careful configuration of encryption keys, permissions, and key policies. If you need help setting up or managing AWS encryption and security, Skynats can assist with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/aws-management-services\">AWS infrastructure management<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/contact-us\">support<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\" data-start=\"1256\" data-end=\"1297\">Explore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/aws-management-services\">AWS Cloud Management Services<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Security is a critical part of managing workloads in AWS. AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) makes it easier to create and manage cryptographic keys that can be used to protect data across AWS services. AWS KMS Key Creation at a Glance Create an AWS KMS Key through the AWS KMS console by selecting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17733"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17739,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17733\/revisions\/17739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skynats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}