AWS CLI Command Reference

Note:

You are viewing the documentation for an older major version of the AWS CLI (version 1).

AWS CLI version 2, the latest major version of AWS CLI, is now stable and recommended for general use. To view this page for the AWS CLI version 2, click here. For more information see the AWS CLI version 2 installation instructions and migration guide.

[ aws . kms ]

update-key-description

Description

Updates the description of a KMS key. To see the description of a KMS key, use DescribeKey .

The KMS key that you use for this operation must be in a compatible key state. For details, see Key states of KMS keys in the Key Management Service Developer Guide .

Cross-account use : No. You cannot perform this operation on a KMS key in a different Amazon Web Services account.

Required permissions : kms:UpdateKeyDescription (key policy)

Related operations

  • CreateKey
  • DescribeKey
Eventual consistency : The KMS API follows an eventual consistency model. For more information, see KMS eventual consistency .

See also: AWS API Documentation

Synopsis

  update-key-description
--key-id <value>
--description <value>
[--cli-input-json <value>]
[--generate-cli-skeleton <value>]
[--debug]
[--endpoint-url <value>]
[--no-verify-ssl]
[--no-paginate]
[--output <value>]
[--query <value>]
[--profile <value>]
[--region <value>]
[--version <value>]
[--color <value>]
[--no-sign-request]
[--ca-bundle <value>]
[--cli-read-timeout <value>]
[--cli-connect-timeout <value>]

Options

--key-id (string)

Updates the description of the specified KMS key.

Specify the key ID or key ARN of the KMS key.

For example:

  • Key ID: 1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab
  • Key ARN: arn:aws:kms:us-east-2:111122223333:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab

To get the key ID and key ARN for a KMS key, use ListKeys or DescribeKey .

--description (string)

New description for the KMS key.

Warning

Do not include confidential or sensitive information in this field. This field may be displayed in plaintext in CloudTrail logs and other output.

--cli-input-json (string) Performs service operation based on the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by --generate-cli-skeleton. If other arguments are provided on the command line, the CLI values will override the JSON-provided values. It is not possible to pass arbitrary binary values using a JSON-provided value as the string will be taken literally.

--generate-cli-skeleton (string) Prints a JSON skeleton to standard output without sending an API request. If provided with no value or the value input, prints a sample input JSON that can be used as an argument for --cli-input-json. If provided with the value output, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command.

Global Options

--debug (boolean)

Turn on debug logging.

--endpoint-url (string)

Override command's default URL with the given URL.

--no-verify-ssl (boolean)

By default, the AWS CLI uses SSL when communicating with AWS services. For each SSL connection, the AWS CLI will verify SSL certificates. This option overrides the default behavior of verifying SSL certificates.

--no-paginate (boolean)

Disable automatic pagination.

--output (string)

The formatting style for command output.

  • json
  • text
  • table

--query (string)

A JMESPath query to use in filtering the response data.

--profile (string)

Use a specific profile from your credential file.

--region (string)

The region to use. Overrides config/env settings.

--version (string)

Display the version of this tool.

--color (string)

Turn on/off color output.

  • on
  • off
  • auto

--no-sign-request (boolean)

Do not sign requests. Credentials will not be loaded if this argument is provided.

--ca-bundle (string)

The CA certificate bundle to use when verifying SSL certificates. Overrides config/env settings.

--cli-read-timeout (int)

The maximum socket read time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket read will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

--cli-connect-timeout (int)

The maximum socket connect time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket connect will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

Examples

Note

To use the following examples, you must have the AWS CLI installed and configured. See the Getting started guide in the AWS CLI User Guide for more information.

Unless otherwise stated, all examples have unix-like quotation rules. These examples will need to be adapted to your terminal's quoting rules. See Using quotation marks with strings in the AWS CLI User Guide .

Example 1: To add or change a description to a customer managed KMS key

The following update-key-description example adds a description to a customer managed KMS key. You can use the same command to change an existing description.

  • The --key-id parameter identifies the KMS key in the command. This example uses a key ARN value, but you can use either the key ID or the key ARN of the KMS key.

  • The --description parameter specifies the new description. The value of this parameter replaces the current description of the KMS key, if any.

    aws kms update-key-description \
    --key-id arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789012:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab \
    --description "IT Department test key"

This command produces no output. To view the description of a KMS key, use the describe-key command.

For more information, see UpdateKeyDescription in the AWS Key Management Service API Reference.

Example 2: To delete the description of a customer managed KMS key

The following update-key-description example deletes the description to a customer managed KMS key.

  • The --key-id parameter identifies the KMS key in the command. This example uses a key ID value, but you can use either the key ID or the key ARN of the KMS key.

  • The --description parameter with an empty string value ('') deletes the existing description.

    aws kms update-key-description \
    --key-id 0987dcba-09fe-87dc-65ba-ab0987654321 \
    --description ''

This command produces no output. To view the description of a KMS key, use the the describe-key command.

For more information, see UpdateKeyDescription in the AWS Key Management Service API Reference.

Output

None