# CreateDirectory
<a name="API_CreateDirectory"></a>

**Note**  
 Directory Service Simple AD will no longer be open to new customers starting July 30, 2026. If you would like to use the service, please sign up prior to July 30, 2026. Existing customers can continue to use the service as normal. For more information, see [Directory Service Simple AD availability change](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/latest/admin-guide/simple-ad-availability-change.html).

Creates a Simple AD directory. For more information, see [Simple Active Directory](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/latest/admin-guide/directory_simple_ad.html) in the * AWS Directory Service Admin Guide*.

Before you call `CreateDirectory`, ensure that all of the required permissions have been explicitly granted through a policy. For details about what permissions are required to run the `CreateDirectory` operation, see [AWS Directory Service API Permissions: Actions, Resources, and Conditions Reference](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/latest/admin-guide/UsingWithDS_IAM_ResourcePermissions.html).

## Request Syntax
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax"></a>

```
{
   "Description": "{{string}}",
   "Name": "{{string}}",
   "NetworkType": "{{string}}",
   "Password": "{{string}}",
   "ShortName": "{{string}}",
   "Size": "{{string}}",
   "Tags": [ 
      { 
         "Key": "{{string}}",
         "Value": "{{string}}"
      }
   ],
   "VpcSettings": { 
      "SubnetIds": [ "{{string}}" ],
      "VpcId": "{{string}}"
   }
}
```

## Request Parameters
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_RequestParameters"></a>

The request accepts the following data in JSON format.

 ** [Description](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-Description"></a>
A description for the directory.  
Type: String  
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 0. Maximum length of 128.  
Pattern: `^([a-zA-Z0-9_])[\\a-zA-Z0-9_@#%*+=:?./!\s-]*$`   
Required: No

 ** [Name](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-Name"></a>
The fully qualified name for the directory, such as `corp.example.com`.  
Type: String  
Pattern: `^([a-zA-Z0-9]+[\\.-])+([a-zA-Z0-9])+$`   
Required: Yes

 ** [NetworkType](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-NetworkType"></a>
The network type for your directory. Simple AD supports IPv4 and Dual-stack only.  
Type: String  
Valid Values: `Dual-stack | IPv4 | IPv6`   
Required: No

 ** [Password](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-Password"></a>
The password for the directory administrator. The directory creation process creates a directory administrator account with the user name `Administrator` and this password.  
If you need to change the password for the administrator account, you can use the [ResetUserPassword](API_ResetUserPassword.md) API call.  
The regex pattern for this string is made up of the following conditions:  
+ Length (?=^.{8,64}$) – Must be between 8 and 64 characters
AND any 3 of the following password complexity rules required by Active Directory:  
+ Numbers and upper case and lowercase (?=.\*\\d)(?=.\*[A-Z])(?=.\*[a-z])
+ Numbers and special characters and lower case (?=.\*\\d)(?=.\*[^A-Za-z0-9\\s])(?=.\*[a-z])
+ Special characters and upper case and lower case (?=.\*[^A-Za-z0-9\\s])(?=.\*[A-Z])(?=.\*[a-z])
+ Numbers and upper case and special characters (?=.\*\\d)(?=.\*[A-Z])(?=.\*[^A-Za-z0-9\\s])
For additional information about how Active Directory passwords are enforced, see [Password must meet complexity requirements](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/password-must-meet-complexity-requirements) on the Microsoft website.  
Type: String  
Pattern: `(?=^.{8,64}$)((?=.*\d)(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[a-z])|(?=.*\d)(?=.*[^A-Za-z0-9\s])(?=.*[a-z])|(?=.*[^A-Za-z0-9\s])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[a-z])|(?=.*\d)(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[^A-Za-z0-9\s]))^.*`   
Required: Yes

 ** [ShortName](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-ShortName"></a>
The NetBIOS name of the directory, such as `CORP`.  
Type: String  
Pattern: `^[^\\/:*?"<>|.]+[^\\/:*?"<>|]*$`   
Required: No

 ** [Size](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-Size"></a>
The size of the directory.  
Type: String  
Valid Values: `Small | Large`   
Required: Yes

 ** [Tags](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-Tags"></a>
The tags to be assigned to the Simple AD directory.  
Type: Array of [Tag](API_Tag.md) objects  
Required: No

 ** [VpcSettings](#API_CreateDirectory_RequestSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-request-VpcSettings"></a>
A [DirectoryVpcSettings](API_DirectoryVpcSettings.md) object that contains additional information for the operation.  
Type: [DirectoryVpcSettings](API_DirectoryVpcSettings.md) object  
Required: No

## Response Syntax
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_ResponseSyntax"></a>

```
{
   "DirectoryId": "string"
}
```

## Response Elements
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_ResponseElements"></a>

If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.

The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.

 ** [DirectoryId](#API_CreateDirectory_ResponseSyntax) **   <a name="DirectoryService-CreateDirectory-response-DirectoryId"></a>
The identifier of the directory that was created.  
Type: String  
Pattern: `^d-[0-9a-f]{10}$` 

## Errors
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_Errors"></a>

For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see [Common Error Types](CommonErrors.md).

 ** ClientException **   
A client exception has occurred.    
 ** Message **   
The descriptive message for the exception.  
 ** RequestId **   
The AWS request identifier.
HTTP Status Code: 400

 ** DirectoryLimitExceededException **   
The maximum number of directories in the region has been reached. You can use the [GetDirectoryLimits](API_GetDirectoryLimits.md) operation to determine your directory limits in the region.    
 ** Message **   
The descriptive message for the exception.  
 ** RequestId **   
The AWS request identifier.
HTTP Status Code: 400

 ** InvalidParameterException **   
One or more parameters are not valid.    
 ** Message **   
The descriptive message for the exception.  
 ** RequestId **   
The AWS request identifier.
HTTP Status Code: 400

 ** ServiceException **   
An exception has occurred in AWS Directory Service.    
 ** Message **   
The descriptive message for the exception.  
 ** RequestId **   
The AWS request identifier.
HTTP Status Code: 500

## Examples
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_Examples"></a>

The following examples are formatted for legibility.

### Example Request
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_Example_1"></a>

This example illustrates one usage of CreateDirectory.

```
POST / HTTP/1.1
Host: ds.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
Accept-Encoding: identity
Content-Length: 245
X-Amz-Target: DirectoryService_20150416.CreateDirectory
X-Amz-Date: 20161213T222613Z
User-Agent: aws-cli/1.11.24 Python/2.7.9 Windows/7 botocore/1.4.81
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1
Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256
 Credential=AKIAI7E3BYXS3example/20161213/us-west-2/ds/aws4_request,
 SignedHeaders=content-type;host;x-amz-date;x-amz-target,
 Signature=e0bf599277231d294b0ebb1c7ad7a68aafdfc49db016adbee32a167954c53d54

 {
   "Description":"Regional directory for example.com",
   "VpcSettings":{
      "SubnetIds":[
         "subnet-ba0146de",
         "subnet-bef46bc8"
      ],
      "VpcId":"vpc-45025421"
   },
   "Name":"seattle.example.com",
   "ShortName":"seattle",
   "Password":"Str0ngP@ssw0rd",
   "Size":"Small"
 }
```

### Example Response
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_Example_2"></a>

This example illustrates one usage of CreateDirectory.

```
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
x-amzn-RequestId: 298112b6-c183-11e6-9b49-eff49203d13b
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1
Content-Length: 30
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2016 22:26:17 GMT

{
   "DirectoryId":"d-926example"
}
```

## See Also
<a name="API_CreateDirectory_SeeAlso"></a>

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific AWS SDKs, see the following:
+  [AWS Command Line Interface V2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/cli2/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for .NET V4](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/DotNetSDKV4/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for C\+\+](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForCpp/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for Go v2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForGoV2/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for Java V2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForJavaV2/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for JavaScript V3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForJavaScriptV3/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for Kotlin](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForKotlin/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for PHP V3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForPHPV3/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for Python](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/boto3/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory) 
+  [AWS SDK for Ruby V3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/goto/SdkForRubyV3/ds-2015-04-16/CreateDirectory)