Setting AWS Credentials

External

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/v1/developer-guide/credentials.html#credentials-file-format
• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/v2/developer-guide/credentials.html

Internal

• AWS Security Procedures
• AWS SDK for Java Concepts

Procedure

Provision the API access keys for the Amazon IAM user that will use the API. More details about access keys here: Amazon AWS API Access Keys.

Command Line

Access keys can be specified on command line every time an ec2 command is issued, with:

-aws-access-key or -O
--aws-secret-key or -W

Environment Variables

Access keys can be specified by setting the following environment variables:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY=your-aws-access-key-id 
export AWS_SECRET_KEY=your-aws-secret-key

Java

The AWS SDK attempts to find the AWS credentials using the default credential provider chain implemented by DefaultCredentialProvider. Credentials are looked up in order:

1. Java system properties ('aws.accessKeyId' adn 'aws.secretAccessKey'). The SDK uses SystemPropertyCredentialsProvider to load these credentials.
2. Environment variables (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY). The SDK uses EnvironmentVariableCredentialsProvider for that.

In case the Java process that is performing the call does not have access to the environment, the credentials may be specified in .aws/credentials:

[default]
aws_access_key_id=...
aws_secret_access_key=...

com.uplift.dev.cryptm.CryptoConverterTests > convertToDatabaseColumn_convertToEntityAttribute STANDARD_ERROR
30-Nov-2018 03:46:58	    com.amazonaws.services.kms.model.AWSKMSException: User: arn:aws:sts::144446676909:assumed-role/IamBambooBuildRole/i-07683b7dde59c0696 is not authorized to perform: kms:GenerateDataKey on resource: arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:673499572719:key/0138371a-8054-4c96-9d1f-20a4db2c4ffd (Service:   AWSKMS; Status Code: 400; Error Code: AccessDeniedException; Request ID: 49ba097c-506b-4387-a3a3-7bee0e2e9efd)