<a id="cli-aws-kms-create-alias"></a>

# create-alias

## Description

Creates a friendly name for a KMS key.

#### NOTE
Adding, deleting, or updating an alias can allow or deny permission to the KMS key. For details, see [ABAC for KMS](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/abac.html) in the *Key Management Service Developer Guide* .

You can use an alias to identify a KMS key in the KMS console, in the  DescribeKey operation and in [cryptographic operations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/kms-cryptography.html#cryptographic-operations) , such as  Encrypt and  GenerateDataKey . You can also change the KMS key that’s associated with the alias ( UpdateAlias ) or delete the alias ( DeleteAlias ) at any time. These operations don’t affect the underlying KMS key.

You can associate the alias with any customer managed key in the same Amazon Web Services Region. Each alias is associated with only one KMS key at a time, but a KMS key can have multiple aliases. A valid KMS key is required. You can’t create an alias without a KMS key.

The alias must be unique in the account and Region, but you can have aliases with the same name in different Regions. For detailed information about aliases, see [Aliases in KMS](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/kms-alias.html) in the *Key Management Service Developer Guide* .

This operation does not return a response. To get the alias that you created, use the  ListAliases operation.

The KMS key that you use for this operation must be in a compatible key state. For details, see [Key states of KMS keys](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/key-state.html) in the *Key Management Service Developer Guide* .

> **Cross-account use** : No. You cannot perform this operation on an alias in a different Amazon Web Services account.

> **Required permissions**
* [kms:CreateAlias](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/kms-api-permissions-reference.html) on the alias (IAM policy).
* [kms:CreateAlias](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/kms-api-permissions-reference.html) on the KMS key (key policy).

For details, see [Controlling access to aliases](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/alias-access.html) in the *Key Management Service Developer Guide* .

> **Related operations:**
* DeleteAlias
* ListAliases
* UpdateAlias

> **Eventual consistency** : The KMS API follows an eventual consistency model. For more information, see [KMS eventual consistency](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/accessing-kms.html#programming-eventual-consistency) .

See also: [AWS API Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/WebAPI/kms-2014-11-01/CreateAlias)

## Synopsis

```
  create-alias
--alias-name <value>
--target-key-id <value>
[--cli-input-json | --cli-input-yaml]
[--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>]
[--cli-binary-format <value>]
[--no-cli-pager]
[--cli-auto-prompt]
[--no-cli-auto-prompt]
[--cli-error-format <value>]
[--help]
```

## Options

`--alias-name` (string) [required]

> Specifies the alias name. This value must begin with `alias/` followed by a name, such as `alias/ExampleAlias` .

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

> The `AliasName` value must be string of 1-256 characters. It can contain only alphanumeric characters, forward slashes (/), underscores (_), and dashes (-). The alias name cannot begin with `alias/aws/` . The `alias/aws/` prefix is reserved for [Amazon Web Services managed keys](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/concepts.html#aws-managed-key) .

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `256`
> * pattern: `^[a-zA-Z0-9:/_-]+$`

`--target-key-id` (string) [required]

> Associates the alias with the specified [customer managed key](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/concepts.html#customer-mgn-key) . The KMS key must be in the same Amazon Web Services Region.

> A valid key ID is required. If you supply a null or empty string value, this operation returns an error.

> For help finding the key ID and ARN, see [Find the key ID and key ARN](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/find-cmk-id-arn.html) in the \* *Key Management Service Developer Guide* \* .

> 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 .

> Constraints:

> * min: `1`
> * max: `2048`

`--cli-input-json` | `--cli-input-yaml` (string)
Reads arguments from the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by `--generate-cli-skeleton`. If other arguments are provided on the command line, those 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. This may not be specified along with `--cli-input-yaml`.

`--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`. Similarly, if provided `yaml-input` it will print a sample input YAML that can be used with `--cli-input-yaml`. If provided with the value `output`, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command. The generated JSON skeleton is not stable between versions of the AWS CLI and there are no backwards compatibility guarantees in the JSON skeleton generated.

## 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. If automatic pagination is disabled, the AWS CLI will only make one call, for the first page of results.

`--output` (string)

The formatting style for command output.

* json
* text
* table
* yaml
* yaml-stream
* off

`--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.

`--cli-binary-format` (string)

The formatting style to be used for binary blobs. The default format is base64. The base64 format expects binary blobs to be provided as a base64 encoded string. The raw-in-base64-out format preserves compatibility with AWS CLI V1 behavior and binary values must be passed literally. When providing contents from a file that map to a binary blob `fileb://` will always be treated as binary and use the file contents directly regardless of the `cli-binary-format` setting. When using `file://` the file contents will need to properly formatted for the configured `cli-binary-format`.

* base64
* raw-in-base64-out

`--no-cli-pager` (boolean)

Disable cli pager for output.

`--cli-auto-prompt` (boolean)

Automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

`--no-cli-auto-prompt` (boolean)

Disable automatically prompt for CLI input parameters.

`--cli-error-format` (string)

The formatting style for error output. By default, errors are displayed in enhanced format.

* legacy
* json
* yaml
* text
* table
* enhanced

`--help` (boolean)

Display help for the command/subcommand.

## Examples

#### NOTE
To use the following examples, you must have the AWS CLI installed and configured. See the [Getting started guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html) 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-usage-parameters-quoting-strings.html) in the *AWS CLI User Guide* .

**To create an alias for a KMS key**

The following `create-alias` example creates an alias named `example-alias` for the KMS key identified by key ID `a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-EXAMPLE11111`.

Alias names must begin with `alias/`. Do not use alias names that begin with `alias/aws`; these are reserved for use by AWS.

```bash
aws kms create-alias \
    --alias-name alias/example-alias \
    --target-key-id a1b2c3d4-5678-90ab-cdef-EXAMPLE11111
```

This command produces no output. To see the new alias, use the `list-aliases` command.

For more information, see [Using aliases](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/kms/latest/developerguide/kms-alias.html) in the *AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide*.

## Output

None