Use GetSessionToken with an AWS SDK or CLI

The following code examples show how to use GetSessionToken.

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:

• Get a session token that requires an MFA token

CLI

AWS CLI

To get a set of short term credentials for an IAM identity

The following get-session-token command retrieves a set of short-term credentials for the IAM identity making the call. The resulting credentials can be used for requests where multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required by policy. The credentials expire 15 minutes after they are generated.

aws sts get-session-token \
    --duration-seconds 900 \
    --serial-number "YourMFADeviceSerialNumber" \
    --token-code 123456

Output:

{
    "Credentials": {
        "AccessKeyId": "ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
        "SecretAccessKey": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYzEXAMPLEKEY",
        "SessionToken": "AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPyJxz4BlCFFxWNE1OPTgk5TthT+FvwqnKwRcOIfrRh3c/LTo6UDdyJwOOvEVPvLXCrrrUtdnniCEXAMPLE/IvU1dYUg2RVAJBanLiHb4IgRmpRV3zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4OlgkBN9bkUDNCJiBeb/AXlzBBko7b15fjrBs2+cTQtpZ3CYWFXG8C5zqx37wnOE49mRl/+OtkIKGO7fAE",
        "Expiration": "2020-05-19T18:06:10+00:00"
    }
}

For more information, see Requesting Temporary Security Credentials in the AWS IAM User Guide.

• For API details, see GetSessionToken in AWS CLI Command Reference.

PowerShell

Tools for PowerShell

Example 1: Returns an Amazon.RuntimeAWSCredentials instance containing temporary credentials valid for a set period of time. The credentials used to request temporary credentials are inferred from the current shell defaults. To specify other credentials, use the -ProfileName or -AccessKey/-SecretKey parameters.

Get-STSSessionToken

Output:

AccessKeyId                             Expiration                              SecretAccessKey                        SessionToken
-----------                             ----------                              ---------------                        ------------
EXAMPLEACCESSKEYID                      2/16/2015 9:12:28 PM                    examplesecretaccesskey...              SamPleTokeN.....

Example 2: Returns an Amazon.RuntimeAWSCredentials instance containing temporary credentials valid for one hour. The credentials used to make the request are obtained from the specified profile.

Get-STSSessionToken -DurationInSeconds 3600 -ProfileName myprofile

Output:

AccessKeyId                             Expiration                              SecretAccessKey                        SessionToken
-----------                             ----------                              ---------------                        ------------
EXAMPLEACCESSKEYID                      2/16/2015 9:12:28 PM                    examplesecretaccesskey...              SamPleTokeN.....

Example 3: Returns an Amazon.RuntimeAWSCredentials instance containing temporary credentials valid for one hour using the identification number of the MFA device associated with the account whose credentials are specified in the profile 'myprofilename' and the value provided by the device.

Get-STSSessionToken -DurationInSeconds 3600 -ProfileName myprofile -SerialNumber YourMFADeviceSerialNumber -TokenCode 123456

Output:

AccessKeyId                             Expiration                              SecretAccessKey                        SessionToken
-----------                             ----------                              ---------------                        ------------
EXAMPLEACCESSKEYID                      2/16/2015 9:12:28 PM                    examplesecretaccesskey...              SamPleTokeN.....

• For API details, see GetSessionToken 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.

Get a session token by passing an MFA token and use it to list Amazon S3 buckets for the account.

def list_buckets_with_session_token_with_mfa(mfa_serial_number, mfa_totp, sts_client):
    """
    Gets a session token with MFA credentials and uses the temporary session
    credentials to list Amazon S3 buckets.

    Requires an MFA device serial number and token.

    :param mfa_serial_number: The serial number of the MFA device. For a virtual MFA
                              device, this is an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).
    :param mfa_totp: A time-based, one-time password issued by the MFA device.
    :param sts_client: A Boto3 STS instance that has permission to assume the role.
    """
    if mfa_serial_number is not None:
        response = sts_client.get_session_token(
            SerialNumber=mfa_serial_number, TokenCode=mfa_totp
        )
    else:
        response = sts_client.get_session_token()
    temp_credentials = response["Credentials"]

    s3_resource = boto3.resource(
        "s3",
        aws_access_key_id=temp_credentials["AccessKeyId"],
        aws_secret_access_key=temp_credentials["SecretAccessKey"],
        aws_session_token=temp_credentials["SessionToken"],
    )

    print(f"Buckets for the account:")
    for bucket in s3_resource.buckets.all():
        print(bucket.name)

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