Required API fields for creating and updating distributions

When you update a distribution by using the UpdateDistribution CloudFront API action, there are more required fields than when you create a distribution by using CreateDistribution. To update a distribution, complete the following steps:

1. Use GetDistribution to get the current configuration of the distribution that you want to update.

2. Modify the fields in the distribution configuration that you want to update. Also, rename the ETag field to IfMatch, but don’t change the field’s value.

3. Use UpdateDistribution to update the distribution, providing the entire distribution configuration, including the fields that you modified and those that you didn’t.

The following tables summarizes the fields that are required for creating and for updating a distribution.

DistributionConfig

Members	Required in CreateDistribution API call	Required in UpdateDistribution API call
CallerReference	Yes	Yes
Aliases	-	Yes (this field is required, but a quantity of 0 with no items is valid)
DefaultRootObject	-	Yes (this field is required, but an empty string is a valid value)
Origins	Yes	Yes
OriginGroups	-	-
DefaultCacheBehavior	Yes	Yes
CacheBehaviors	-	Yes (this field is required, but a quantity of 0 with no items is valid)
CustomErrorResponses	-	Yes (this field is required, but a quantity of 0 with no items is valid)
Comment	Yes (this field is required, but an empty string is a valid value)	Yes (this field is required, but an empty string is a valid value)
Logging	-	Yes
PriceClass	-	Yes
Enabled	Yes	Yes
ViewerCertificate	-	Yes
Restrictions	-	Yes (this field is required, but a RestrictionsType of none and a quantity of 0 with no items is valid)
WebACLId	-	Yes (this field is required, but an empty string is a valid value)
HttpVersion	-	Yes
IsIPV6Enabled	-	-

CacheBehavior (including DefaultCacheBehavior)

Members	Required in CreateDistribution API call	Required in UpdateDistribution API call
PathPattern (this field does not apply to DefaultCacheBehavior)	Yes	Yes
TargetOriginId	Yes	Yes
TrustedSigners	-	-
TrustedKeyGroups	-	-
ViewerProtocolPolicy	Yes	Yes
AllowedMethods	-	Yes
SmoothStreaming	-	Yes
Compress	-	Yes
LambdaFunctionAssociations	-	Yes (this field is required, but a quantity of 0 with no items is valid)
FunctionAssociations	-	-
FieldLevelEncryptionId	-	Yes (this field is required, but an empty string is a valid value)
RealtimeLogConfigArn	-	-
CachePolicyId	Yes (CachePolicyId is not required when you use the following deprecated fields, which is not recommended: ForwardedValues, MinTTL, DefaultTTL, and MaxTTL)	Yes (CachePolicyId is not required when you use the following deprecated fields, which is not recommended: ForwardedValues, MinTTL, DefaultTTL, and MaxTTL)
OriginRequestPolicyId	-	-
ResponseHeadersPolicyId	-	-