amazon.aws.ec2_key module – Create or delete an EC2 key pair

Note

This module is part of the amazon.aws collection (version 11.3.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install amazon.aws. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details.

To use it in a playbook, specify: amazon.aws.ec2_key.

New in amazon.aws 1.0.0

Synopsis
Requirements
Parameters
Notes
Examples
Return Values

Synopsis

Create or delete an EC2 key pair.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

python >= 3.6
boto3 >= 1.35.0
botocore >= 1.35.0

Parameters

Parameter	Comments
access_key aliases: aws_access_key_id, aws_access_key string	AWS access key ID. See the AWS documentation for more information about access tokens https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-sec-cred-types.html#access-keys-and-secret-access-keys. The `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` or `AWS_ACCESS_KEY` environment variables may also be used in decreasing order of preference. The aws_access_key and profile options are mutually exclusive. The aws_access_key_id alias was added in release 5.1.0 for consistency with the AWS botocore SDK.
aws_ca_bundle path	The location of a CA Bundle to use when validating SSL certificates. The `AWS_CA_BUNDLE` environment variable may also be used.
aws_config dictionary	A dictionary to modify the botocore configuration. Parameters can be found in the AWS documentation https://botocore.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/config.html#botocore.config.Config.
debug_botocore_endpoint_logs boolean	Use a `botocore.endpoint` logger to parse the unique (rather than total) `"resource:action"` API calls made during a task, outputing the set to the resource_actions key in the task results. Use the `aws_resource_action` callback to output to total list made during a playbook. The `ANSIBLE_DEBUG_BOTOCORE_LOGS` environment variable may also be used. Choices: `false` ← (default) `true`
endpoint_url aliases: aws_endpoint_url string	URL to connect to instead of the default AWS endpoints. While this can be used to connection to other AWS-compatible services the amazon.aws and community.aws collections are only tested against AWS. The `AWS_URL` environment variable may also be used.
file_name path added in amazon.aws 6.4.0	Name of the file where the generated private key will be saved. When provided, the `key.private_key` attribute will be removed from the return value. The file is written out on the ‘host’ side rather than the ‘controller’ side. Ignored when `state=absent` or `key_material` is provided.
force boolean	Force overwrite of already existing key pair if key has changed. Choices: `false` `true` ← (default)
key_material string	Public key material.
key_type string added in amazon.aws 3.1.0	The type of key pair to create. Note that ED25519 keys are not supported for Windows instances, EC2 Instance Connect, and EC2 Serial Console. By default Amazon will create an RSA key. Mutually exclusive with parameter `key_material`. Choices: `"rsa"` `"ed25519"`
name string / required	Name of the key pair.
profile aliases: aws_profile string	A named AWS profile to use for authentication. See the AWS documentation for more information about named profiles https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-configure-profiles.html. The `AWS_PROFILE` environment variable may also be used. The profile option is mutually exclusive with the aws_access_key, aws_secret_key and session_token options.
purge_tags boolean	If `purge_tags=true` and `tags` is set, existing tags will be purged from the resource to match exactly what is defined by `tags` parameter. If the `tags` parameter is not set then tags will not be modified, even if `purge_tags=True`. Tag keys beginning with `aws:` are reserved by Amazon and can not be modified. As such they will be ignored for the purposes of the `purge_tags` parameter. See the Amazon documentation for more information https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws_tagging.html#tag-conventions. Choices: `false` `true` ← (default)
region aliases: aws_region string	The AWS region to use. For global services such as IAM, Route53 and CloudFront, region is ignored. The `AWS_REGION` environment variable may also be used. See the Amazon AWS documentation for more information http://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html#ec2_region.
secret_key aliases: aws_secret_access_key, aws_secret_key string	AWS secret access key. See the AWS documentation for more information about access tokens https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-sec-cred-types.html#access-keys-and-secret-access-keys. The `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY` or `AWS_SECRET_KEY` environment variables may also be used in decreasing order of preference. The secret_key and profile options are mutually exclusive. The aws_secret_access_key alias was added in release 5.1.0 for consistency with the AWS botocore SDK.
session_token aliases: aws_session_token string	AWS STS session token for use with temporary credentials. See the AWS documentation for more information about access tokens https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-sec-cred-types.html#access-keys-and-secret-access-keys. The `AWS_SESSION_TOKEN` environment variable may also be used. The session_token and profile options are mutually exclusive.
state string	Create or delete keypair. Choices: `"present"` ← (default) `"absent"`
tags aliases: resource_tags dictionary	A dictionary representing the tags to be applied to the resource. If the `tags` parameter is not set then tags will not be modified.
validate_certs boolean	When set to `false`, SSL certificates will not be validated for communication with the AWS APIs. Setting validate_certs=false is strongly discouraged, as an alternative, consider setting aws_ca_bundle instead. Choices: `false` `true` ← (default)

Notes

Note

Support for tags and purge_tags was added in release 2.1.0.
For security reasons, this module should be used with no_log=true and (register) functionalities when creating new key pair without providing key_material.
Caution: For modules, environment variables and configuration files are read from the Ansible ‘host’ context and not the ‘controller’ context. As such, files may need to be explicitly copied to the ‘host’. For lookup and connection plugins, environment variables and configuration files are read from the Ansible ‘controller’ context and not the ‘host’ context.
The AWS SDK (boto3) that Ansible uses may also read defaults for credentials and other settings, such as the region, from its configuration files in the Ansible ‘host’ context (typically ~/.aws/credentials). See https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/guide/credentials.html for more information.

Examples

# Note: These examples do not set authentication details, see the AWS Guide for details.

- name: create a new EC2 key pair, returns generated private key
  # use no_log to avoid private key being displayed into output
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_keypair
  no_log: true
  register: aws_ec2_key_pair

- name: create key pair using provided key_material
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_keypair
    key_material: 'ssh-rsa AAAAxyz...== me@example.com'

- name: create key pair using key_material obtained using 'file' lookup plugin
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_keypair
    key_material: "{{ lookup('file', '/path/to/public_key/id_rsa.pub') }}"

- name: Create ED25519 key pair and save private key into a file
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_keypair
    key_type: ed25519
    file_name: /tmp/aws_ssh_rsa

# try creating a key pair with the name of an already existing keypair
# but don't overwrite it even if the key is different (force=false)
- name: try creating a key pair with name of an already existing keypair
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_existing_keypair
    key_material: 'ssh-rsa AAAAxyz...== me@example.com'
    force: false

- name: remove key pair from AWS by name
  amazon.aws.ec2_key:
    name: my_keypair
    state: absent

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key	Description
changed boolean	Whether a keypair was created/deleted. Returned: always Sample: `true`
key complex	Details of the keypair (this is set to null when state is absent). Returned: always
fingerprint string	Fingerprint of the key. Returned: when `state=present` Sample: `"b0:22:49:61:d9:44:9d:0c:7e:ac:8a:32:93:21:6c:e8:fb:59:62:43"`
id string	Id of the keypair. Returned: when `state=present` Sample: `"key-123456789abc"`
name string	Name of the keypair. Returned: when `state=present` Sample: `"my_keypair"`
private_key string	Private key of a newly created keypair. Returned: when a new keypair is created by AWS (`key_material` is not provided) and `file_name` is not provided. Sample: `"-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- MIIEowIBAAKC... -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----"`
tags dictionary	A dictionary representing the tags attached to the key pair. Returned: when `state=present` Sample: `{"my_key": "my value"}`
type string added in amazon.aws 3.1.0	Type of a newly created keypair. Returned: when a new keypair is created by AWS Sample: `"rsa"`
msg string	Short message describing the action taken. Returned: always Sample: `"key pair created"`

Authors

Vincent Viallet (@zbal)
Prasad Katti (@prasadkatti)

Collection links

© 2012–2018 Michael DeHaan
© 2018–2025 Red Hat, Inc.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
https://docs.ansible.com/projects/ansible/latest/collections/amazon/aws/ec2_key_module.html