Parameter data types in Parameter Store

When you create or update a parameter, you can specify a data type to tell Parameter Store how to validate the parameter value. For most data types, Parameter Store validates the value during the PutParameter operation and rejects values that don't conform. The exception is aws:ec2:image. For this data type, Parameter Store validates the value asynchronously. For more information, see Using native parameter support in Parameter Store for Amazon Machine Image IDs.

The default data type is text, which performs no validation. You can change an existing parameter from one data type to another, such as from text to integer or from integer to float. The exceptions are aws:ec2:image and aws:ssm:integration. You can't change a parameter to or from either of these data types.

Validation applies to every supported parameter type for a given data type. Most data types support String and SecureString. Some data types also support StringList. For a StringList parameter, Parameter Store validates each item in the list. If any item is invalid, the whole request fails. For the parameter types that each data type supports, see Supported data types.

Parameter Store API operations that retrieve parameters always return the value as a string, regardless of data type. These operations include GetParameter, GetParameters, and GetParametersByPath. For example, if a parameter has the data type integer and the value 443, GetParameter returns the value as the string "443". Convert the value to the type that your application needs after you retrieve it.

Note

You can use the AllowedPattern parameter constraint together with a predefined data type. If you specify both, the parameter value must pass the data type validation and match the allowed pattern.

Supported data types

Data types listed as Advanced only in the following table require the parameter to be an advanced parameter:

• If you create a standard parameter with one of these data types, the request fails.

• If you use Intelligent-Tiering, Parameter Store creates the parameter as an advanced parameter.

• If you change the data type of an existing standard parameter to one of these data types, you must also change the parameter to the advanced tier, or the request fails. If you use Intelligent-Tiering, Parameter Store upgrades the parameter to the advanced tier automatically. On the console, you must choose Switch to advanced. For more information, see Default tier and individual parameter tier settings.

The following table lists the data types that you can assign to parameters.

Parameter data types

Data type	Validation	Notes
text Parameter types: String, StringList, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	None (default)	The default data type. Use it for values that don't need validation.
aws:ec2:image Parameter types: String Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid Amazon Machine Image (AMI) ID format and AMI availability	Validated asynchronously. For more information, see Using native parameter support in Parameter Store for Amazon Machine Image IDs.
aws:ssm:integration Parameter types: SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid Systems Manager integration definition	Used for Systems Manager Automation webhook integrations. For more information, see Creating webhook integrations for Automation.
aws:region Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Name of a launched AWS Region, including opt-in Regions	Example: us-east-1
aws:account:id Parameter types: String, StringList, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	AWS account ID format (12 digits)	Parameter Store checks only the format. It doesn't confirm that the account exists. The hyphenated form shown on the console (1111-2222-3333) isn't valid. Example: 111122223333
boolean Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Boolean value: true, True, TRUE, false, False, FALSE, 0, or 1	Valid values are 0, 1, and true or false in all lowercase, all uppercase, or with only an initial capital letter. Other capitalizations, such as tRue, aren't valid. Examples: true, FALSE, 1
integer Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Signed 32-bit integer (-2147483648 to 2147483647), with no leading zeros, plus sign, or decimal point	Values such as 007, +7, 7.0, and 5000000000 aren't valid. Examples: 443, -42
float Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Floating-point value (negative values and exponent notation allowed)	The value must be representable as a 64-bit IEEE 754 floating-point number. NaN, Infinity, and values that overflow or round to zero (such as 1e-999) aren't valid. Examples: 3.14, -0.5, 1e5
binary Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Binary value that contains only the digits 0 and 1	The value can contain only the digits 0 and 1. This data type doesn't accept base64-encoded data. There's no length limit beyond the parameter value size, and leading zeros are kept (0011 is valid). Example: 101101
hostname Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid host name (single-label names such as myhost are allowed)	Underscores aren't allowed, so DNS names such as _dmarc.example.com aren't valid. IP addresses aren't valid host names. Internationalized names must use punycode (xn--). Examples: www.example.com, myhost
email Parameter types: String, StringList, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid email address	The value must be a bare address. Display names (Mary <[e-mail]>) and quoted local parts aren't accepted, and the domain must have at least two labels. Example: [e-mail]
ipv4-address Parameter types: String, StringList, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid IPv4 address	The value must be a single address. CIDR prefixes (10.0.0.0/16) and ports aren't accepted. Leading zeros (192.168.001.1) aren't valid. Example: 192.0.2.1
ipv6-address Parameter types: String, StringList, SecureString Tier: Standard or Advanced	Valid IPv6 address (compressed form allowed)	The value must be a single address. CIDR prefixes and ports aren't accepted. Zone IDs and brackets aren't accepted, and the value isn't normalized. Examples: 2001:db8:0:0:0:0:0:1, 2001:db8::1
url Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Advanced only	Valid URL format, including the scheme (protocol) and host	Any scheme is accepted, but the URL must include a host, so mailto: and file:/// URLs aren't valid. URLs that contain a password (user:password@host) aren't valid. Example: https://example.com
json Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Advanced only	Valid JSON. The top-level value must be an object or an array, and duplicate keys aren't allowed. The maximum nesting depth is 64.	Scalar values, such as 42 or "abc", aren't valid. Example: {"port": 443}
jsonc Parameter types: String, SecureString Tier: Advanced only	Valid JSON. The top-level value must be an object or an array, and duplicate keys aren't allowed. Line (//) and block (/* */) comments are allowed. The maximum nesting depth is 64.	Scalar values, such as 42 or "abc", aren't valid. Trailing commas aren't allowed. Comments are stored and returned as written, so use a JSONC-aware parser to read the value. Example: {"port": 443 /* HTTPS */}

Example: Creating a parameter with a data type

The following AWS CLI example creates a String parameter with the data type integer and the value 443.

Linux & macOS

aws ssm put-parameter \
    --name "/myapp/config/port" \
    --value "443" \
    --type String \
    --data-type "integer"

Windows

aws ssm put-parameter ^
    --name "/myapp/config/port" ^
    --value "443" ^
    --type String ^
    --data-type "integer"

If you specify a value that doesn't conform to the data type's rules, the command fails and returns an error. For example, the command fails if you specify --data-type "integer" with the value "abc".