1--- 2layout: docs 3page_title: Key Management - Secrets Engines 4description: >- 5 The Key Management secrets engine provides a consistent workflow for distribution and lifecycle 6 management of cryptographic keys in various key management service (KMS) providers. 7--- 8 9# Key Management Secrets Engine 10 11-> **Note**: This secrets engine requires [Vault 12Enterprise](https://www.hashicorp.com/products/vault/) (1.6.0+) with the Advanced Data 13Protection Module. 14 15The Key Management secrets engine provides a consistent workflow for distribution and lifecycle 16management of cryptographic keys in various key management service (KMS) providers. It allows 17organizations to maintain centralized control of their keys in Vault while still taking advantage 18of cryptographic capabilities native to the KMS providers. 19 20The secrets engine generates and owns original copies of key material. When an operator decides 21to distribute and manage the lifecycle of a key in one of the [supported KMS providers](#kms-providers), 22a copy of the key material is distributed. This provides additional durability and disaster 23recovery means for the complete lifecycle of the key in the KMS provider. 24 25Key material will always be securely transferred in accordance with the 26[key import specification](#kms-providers) of the supported KMS providers. 27 28## Setup 29 30Most secrets engines must be configured in advance before they can perform their 31functions. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration 32management tool. 33 341. Enable the Key Management secrets engine: 35 36 ```text 37 $ vault secrets enable keymgmt 38 Success! Enabled the keymgmt secrets engine at: keymgmt/ 39 ``` 40 41 By default, the secrets engine will mount at the name of the engine. To enable 42 the secrets engine at a different path, use the `-path` argument. 43 44## Usage 45 46After the secrets engine is mounted and a user/machine has a Vault token with 47the proper permission, it can use this secrets engine to generate, distribute, and 48manage the lifecycle of cryptographic keys in [supported KMS providers](#kms-providers). 49 501. Create a named cryptographic key of a specified type: 51 52 ```text 53 $ vault write -f keymgmt/key/example-key type="rsa-2048" 54 Success! Data written to: keymgmt/key/example-key 55 ``` 56 57 Keys created by the secrets engine are considered general-purpose until 58 they're distributed to a KMS provider. 59 601. Configure a KMS provider: 61 62 ```text 63 $ vault write keymgmt/kms/example-kms \ 64 provider="azurekeyvault" \ 65 key_collection="keyvault-name" \ 66 credentials=client_id="a0454cd1-e28e-405e-bc50-7477fa8a00b7" \ 67 credentials=client_secret="eR%HizuCVEpAKgeaUEx" \ 68 credentials=tenant_id="cd4bf224-d114-4f96-9bbc-b8f45751c43f" 69 ``` 70 71 Conceptually, a KMS provider resource represents a destination for keys to be distributed to 72 and subsequently managed in. It is configured using a generic set of parameters. The values 73 supplied to the generic set of parameters will differ depending on the specified `provider`. 74 75 This operation creates a KMS provider that represents a named Azure Key Vault instance. 76 This is accomplished by specifying the `azurekeyvault` provider along with other provider-specific 77 parameter values. For details on how to configure each supported KMS provider, see the 78 [KMS Providers](#kms-providers) section. 79 801. Distribute a key to a KMS provider: 81 82 ```text 83 $ vault write keymgmt/kms/example-kms/key/example-key \ 84 purpose="encrypt,decrypt" \ 85 protection="hsm" 86 ``` 87 88 This operation distributes a **copy** of the named key to the KMS provider with a specific 89 `purpose` and `protection`. The `purpose` defines the set of cryptographic capabilities 90 that the key will have in the KMS provider. The `protection` defines where cryptographic 91 operations are performed with the key in the KMS provider. See the API documentation for a list of 92 supported [purpose](/api/secret/key-management#purpose) and [protection](/api/secret/key-management#protection) 93 values. 94 95 ~> **Note:** The amount of time it takes to distribute a key to a KMS provider is proportional to the 96 number of versions that the key has. If a timeout occurs when distributing a key to a KMS 97 provider, you may need to increase the [VAULT_CLIENT_TIMEOUT](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/commands#vault_client_timeout). 98 991. Rotate a key: 100 101 ```text 102 $ vault write -f keymgmt/key/example-key/rotate 103 ``` 104 105 Rotating a key creates a new key version that contains new key material. The key will be rotated 106 in both Vault and the KMS provider that the key has been distributed to. The new key version 107 will be enabled and set as the current version for cryptographic operations in the KMS provider. 108 1091. Enable or disable key versions: 110 111 ```text 112 $ vault write keymgmt/key/example-key min_enabled_version=2 113 ``` 114 115 The `min_enabled_version` of a key can be updated in order to enable or disable sequences of 116 key versions. All versions of the key less than the `min_enabled_version` will be disabled for 117 cryptographic operations in the KMS provider that the key has been distributed to. Setting a 118 `min_enabled_version` of `0` means that all key versions will be enabled. 119 1201. Remove a key from a KMS provider: 121 122 ```text 123 $ vault delete keymgmt/kms/example-kms/key/example-key 124 ``` 125 126 This operation results in the key being deleted from the KMS provider. The key will still exist 127 in the secrets engine and can be redistributed to a KMS provider at a later time. 128 129 To permanently delete the key from the secrets engine, the [delete key](/api/secret/key-management#delete-key) 130 API may be invoked. 131 132## Key Types 133 134The Key Management secrets engine supports generation of the following key types: 135 136- `aes256-gcm96` - AES-GCM with a 256-bit AES key and a 96-bit nonce (symmetric) 137- `rsa-2048` - RSA with bit size of 2048 (asymmetric) 138- `rsa-3072` - RSA with bit size of 3072 (asymmetric) 139- `rsa-4096` - RSA with bit size of 4096 (asymmetric) 140 141## KMS Providers 142 143The Key Management secrets engine supports lifecycle management of keys in the following 144KMS providers: 145 146- [Azure Key Vault](/docs/secrets/key-management/azurekeyvault) 147- [AWS KMS](/docs/secrets/key-management/awskms) 148 149Refer to the provider-specific documentation for details on how to properly configure each provider. 150 151## Compatibility 152 153The following table defines which key types are compatible with each KMS provider. 154 155| Key Type | Azure Key Vault | AWS KMS | 156| -------------- | --------------- | ------- | 157| `aes256-gcm96` | No | **Yes** | 158| `rsa-2048` | **Yes** | No | 159| `rsa-3072` | **Yes** | No | 160| `rsa-4096` | **Yes** | No | 161 162## Learn 163 164Refer to the [Key Management Secrets Engine](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/vault/key-management-secrets) guide for 165a step-by-step tutorial. 166 167## API 168 169The Key Management secrets engine has a full HTTP API. Please see the 170[Key Management Secrets Engine API](/api/secret/key-management) for more 171details. 172