Use DescribeKeyPairs with an AWS SDK or CLI - AWS SDK Code Examples

There are more AWS SDK examples available in the AWS Doc SDK Examples GitHub repo.

Use DescribeKeyPairs with an AWS SDK or CLI

The following code examples show how to use DescribeKeyPairs.

Action examples are code excerpts from larger programs and must be run in context. You can see this action in context in the following code example:

.NET
AWS SDK for .NET
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

    /// <summary>
    /// Get information about an Amazon EC2 key pair.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="keyPairName">The name of the key pair.</param>
    /// <returns>A list of key pair information.</returns>
    public async Task<List<KeyPairInfo>> DescribeKeyPairs(string keyPairName)
    {
        var request = new DescribeKeyPairsRequest();
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(keyPairName))
        {
            request = new DescribeKeyPairsRequest
            {
                KeyNames = new List<string> { keyPairName }
            };
        }
        var response = await _amazonEC2.DescribeKeyPairsAsync(request);
        return response.KeyPairs.ToList();
    }
Bash
AWS CLI with Bash script
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

###############################################################################
# function ec2_describe_key_pairs
#
# This function describes one or more Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) key pairs.
#
# Parameters:
#       -h - Display help.
#
# And:
#       0 - If successful.
#       1 - If it fails.
###############################################################################
function ec2_describe_key_pairs() {
  local option OPTARG # Required to use getopts command in a function.

  # bashsupport disable=BP5008
  function usage() {
    echo "function ec2_describe_key_pairs"
    echo "Describes one or more Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) key pairs."
    echo "  -h - Display help."
    echo ""
  }

  # Retrieve the calling parameters.
  while getopts "h" option; do
    case "${option}" in
      h)
        usage
        return 0
        ;;
      \?)
        echo "Invalid parameter"
        usage
        return 1
        ;;
    esac
  done
  export OPTIND=1

  local response

  response=$(aws ec2 describe-key-pairs \
    --query 'KeyPairs[*].[KeyName, KeyFingerprint]' \
    --output text) || {
    aws_cli_error_log ${?}
    errecho "ERROR: AWS reports describe-key-pairs operation failed.$response"
    return 1
  }

  echo "$response"

  return 0
}

The utility functions used in this example.

###############################################################################
# function errecho
#
# This function outputs everything sent to it to STDERR (standard error output).
###############################################################################
function errecho() {
  printf "%s\n" "$*" 1>&2
}

##############################################################################
# function aws_cli_error_log()
#
# This function is used to log the error messages from the AWS CLI.
#
# The function expects the following argument:
#         $1 - The error code returned by the AWS CLI.
#
#  Returns:
#          0: - Success.
#
##############################################################################
function aws_cli_error_log() {
  local err_code=$1
  errecho "Error code : $err_code"
  if [ "$err_code" == 1 ]; then
    errecho "  One or more S3 transfers failed."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 2 ]; then
    errecho "  Command line failed to parse."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 130 ]; then
    errecho "  Process received SIGINT."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 252 ]; then
    errecho "  Command syntax invalid."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 253 ]; then
    errecho "  The system environment or configuration was invalid."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 254 ]; then
    errecho "  The service returned an error."
  elif [ "$err_code" == 255 ]; then
    errecho "  255 is a catch-all error."
  fi

  return 0
}
C++
SDK for C++
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

//! Describe all Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance key pairs.
/*!
  \param clientConfiguration: AWS client configuration.
  \return bool: Function succeeded.
 */
bool AwsDoc::EC2::describeKeyPairs(
        const Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration &clientConfiguration) {
    Aws::EC2::EC2Client ec2Client(clientConfiguration);
    Aws::EC2::Model::DescribeKeyPairsRequest request;

    Aws::EC2::Model::DescribeKeyPairsOutcome outcome = ec2Client.DescribeKeyPairs(request);
    if (outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        std::cout << std::left <<
                  std::setw(32) << "Name" <<
                  std::setw(64) << "Fingerprint" << std::endl;

        const std::vector<Aws::EC2::Model::KeyPairInfo> &key_pairs =
                outcome.GetResult().GetKeyPairs();
        for (const auto &key_pair: key_pairs) {
            std::cout << std::left <<
                      std::setw(32) << key_pair.GetKeyName() <<
                      std::setw(64) << key_pair.GetKeyFingerprint() << std::endl;
        }
    } else {
        std::cerr << "Failed to describe key pairs:" <<
                  outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
    }

    return outcome.IsSuccess();
}
CLI
AWS CLI

To display a key pair

The following describe-key-pairs example displays information about the specified key pair.

aws ec2 describe-key-pairs \
    --key-names my-key-pair

Output:

{
    "KeyPairs": [
        {
            "KeyPairId": "key-0b94643da6EXAMPLE",
            "KeyFingerprint": "1f:51:ae:28:bf:89:e9:d8:1f:25:5d:37:2d:7d:b8:ca:9f:f5:f1:6f",
            "KeyName": "my-key-pair",
            "KeyType": "rsa",
            "Tags": [],
            "CreateTime": "2022-05-27T21:51:16.000Z"
        }
    ]
}

For more information, see Describe public keys in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Java
SDK for Java 2.x
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

    /**
     * Asynchronously describes the key pairs associated with the current AWS account.
     *
     * @return a {@link CompletableFuture} containing the {@link DescribeKeyPairsResponse} object, which provides
     * information about the key pairs.
     */
    public CompletableFuture<DescribeKeyPairsResponse> describeKeysAsync() {
        CompletableFuture<DescribeKeyPairsResponse> responseFuture = getAsyncClient().describeKeyPairs();
        responseFuture.whenComplete((response, exception) -> {
            if (exception != null) {
              throw new RuntimeException("Failed to describe key pairs: " + exception.getMessage(), exception);
            }
        });

        return responseFuture;
    }
JavaScript
SDK for JavaScript (v3)
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

import { DescribeKeyPairsCommand, EC2Client } from "@aws-sdk/client-ec2";

/**
 * List all key pairs in the current AWS account.
 * @param {{ dryRun: boolean }}
 */
export const main = async ({ dryRun }) => {
  const client = new EC2Client({});
  const command = new DescribeKeyPairsCommand({ DryRun: dryRun });

  try {
    const { KeyPairs } = await client.send(command);
    const keyPairList = KeyPairs.map(
      (kp) => ` • ${kp.KeyPairId}: ${kp.KeyName}`,
    ).join("\n");
    console.log("The following key pairs were found in your account:");
    console.log(keyPairList);
  } catch (caught) {
    if (caught instanceof Error && caught.name === "DryRunOperation") {
      console.log(`${caught.message}`);
    } else {
      throw caught;
    }
  }
};

  • For API details, see DescribeKeyPairs in AWS SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

Kotlin
SDK for Kotlin
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

suspend fun describeEC2Keys() {
    Ec2Client { region = "us-west-2" }.use { ec2 ->
        val response = ec2.describeKeyPairs(DescribeKeyPairsRequest {})
        response.keyPairs?.forEach { keyPair ->
            println("Found key pair with name ${keyPair.keyName} and fingerprint ${ keyPair.keyFingerprint}")
        }
    }
}
PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell

Example 1: This example describes the specified key pair.

Get-EC2KeyPair -KeyName my-key-pair

Output:

KeyFingerprint                                              KeyName
--------------                                              -------
1f:51:ae:28:bf:89:e9:d8:1f:25:5d:37:2d:7d:b8:ca:9f:f5:f1:6f my-key-pair

Example 2: This example describes all your key pairs.

Get-EC2KeyPair

  • For API details, see DescribeKeyPairs in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference.

Python
SDK for Python (Boto3)
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

class KeyPairWrapper:
    """
    Encapsulates Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) key pair actions.
    This class provides methods to create, list, and delete EC2 key pairs.
    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        ec2_client: boto3.client,
        key_file_dir: Union[tempfile.TemporaryDirectory, str],
        key_pair: Optional[dict] = None,
    ):
        """
        Initializes the KeyPairWrapper with the specified EC2 client, key file directory,
        and an optional key pair.

        :param ec2_client: A Boto3 Amazon EC2 client. This client provides low-level
                           access to AWS EC2 services.
        :param key_file_dir: The folder where the private key information is stored.
                             This should be a secure folder.
        :param key_pair: A dictionary representing the Boto3 KeyPair object.
                         This is a high-level object that wraps key pair actions. Optional.
        """
        self.ec2_client = ec2_client
        self.key_pair = key_pair
        self.key_file_path: Optional[str] = None
        self.key_file_dir = key_file_dir

    @classmethod
    def from_client(cls) -> "KeyPairWrapper":
        """
        Class method to create an instance of KeyPairWrapper using a new EC2 client
        and a temporary directory for storing key files.

        :return: An instance of KeyPairWrapper.
        """
        ec2_client = boto3.client("ec2")
        return cls(ec2_client, tempfile.TemporaryDirectory())


    def list(self, limit: Optional[int] = None) -> None:
        """
        Displays a list of key pairs for the current account.

        WARNING: Results are not paginated.

        :param limit: The maximum number of key pairs to list. If not specified,
                      all key pairs will be listed.
        :raises ClientError: If there is an error in listing the key pairs.
        """
        try:
            response = self.ec2_client.describe_key_pairs()
            key_pairs = response.get("KeyPairs", [])

            if limit:
                key_pairs = key_pairs[:limit]

            for key_pair in key_pairs:
                logger.info(
                    f"Found {key_pair['KeyType']} key '{key_pair['KeyName']}' with fingerprint:"
                )
                logger.info(f"\t{key_pair['KeyFingerprint']}")
        except ClientError as err:
            logger.error(f"Failed to list key pairs: {str(err)}")
            raise

  • For API details, see DescribeKeyPairs in AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) API Reference.

Rust
SDK for Rust
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

    pub async fn list_key_pair(&self) -> Result<Vec<KeyPairInfo>, EC2Error> {
        let output = self.client.describe_key_pairs().send().await?;
        Ok(output.key_pairs.unwrap_or_default())
    }
SAP ABAP
SDK for SAP ABAP
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository. 

    TRY.
        oo_result = lo_ec2->describekeypairs( ) .                        " oo_result is returned for testing purposes. "
        DATA(lt_key_pairs) = oo_result->get_keypairs( ).
        MESSAGE 'Retrieved information about key pairs.' TYPE 'I'.
      CATCH /aws1/cx_rt_service_generic INTO DATA(lo_exception).
        DATA(lv_error) = |"{ lo_exception->av_err_code }" - { lo_exception->av_err_msg }|.
        MESSAGE lv_error TYPE 'E'.
    ENDTRY.