How do I create an AWS access key?

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I need an AWS access key to allow a program, script, or developer to have programmatic access to the resources on my AWS account.

Resolution

An access key grants programmatic access to your resources. This means that you must guard the access key as carefully as the AWS account root user sign-in credentials.

It's a best practice to do the following:

  1. Create an IAM user, and then define that user's permissions as narrowly as possible.
  2. Create the access key under that IAM user.

For more information, see What are some best practices for securing my AWS account and its resources?


Related information

Best practices for managing AWS accounts

Access management for AWS resources