doc-exports/docs/kms/umn/dew_01_0178.html

Creating a Key

This section describes how to create a custom key on the KMS console.

Custom keys can be categorized into symmetric keys and asymmetric keys.

Constraints

• You can create up to 100 custom keys, excluding default keys.
• A custom key is created using the AES-256 algorithm and is 256 bit long.
• Asymmetric keys are created using RSA or ECC algorithms. RSA keys can be used for encryption, decryption, digital signature, and signature verification. ECC keys can be used only for digital signature and signature verification.
• Aliases of default keys end with /default. When choosing aliases for your custom keys, do not use aliases ending with /default.
• KMS does not limit the number of times that a key can be called.

Scenarios

• Encrypt data in OBS.
• Encrypt data in EVS.
• Encrypt data in IMS.
• Use custom keys to directly encrypt and decrypt small volumes of data.
• DEK encryption and decryption for user applications
• Message authentication code generation and verification

Creating a Key

1. Log in to the management console.
2. Click in the upper left corner of the management console and select a region or project.
3. Click on the left and choose Security > Key Management Service.
4. Click Create Key in the upper right corner.
5. Configure the parameters as follows:
   Figure 1 Creating a key
   

   Table 1 Key parameter configuration

   Parameter	Description
   Name	Name of the key you are creating. NOTE: You can enter digits, letters, underscores (_), hyphens (-), colons (:), and slashes (/). You can enter up to 255 characters.
   Key Algorithm	Select a key algorithm.
   Usage	Key usage. The value cannot be changed after the key is created. The value can be SIGN_VERIFY, ENCRYPT_DECRYPT, or GENERATE_VERIFY_MAC. For an AES_256 symmetric key, the default value is ENCRYPT_DECRYPT. For an HMAC symmetric key, the default value is GENERATE_VERIFY_MAC. For RSA asymmetric keys, select ENCRYPT_DECRYPT or SIGN_VERIFY. The default value is SIGN_VERIFY. For an ECC asymmetric key, the default value is SIGN_VERIFY.
   Key Material Source	Key management External
   Advanced settings	Description Description of the key. Tag You can add tags to a secret as you need. NOTE: A maximum of 20 tags can be added for one custom key.

6. Click OK.

Related Operations

• For details about how to upload objects with server-side encryption, see section "Uploading a File with Server-Side Encryption" in Object Storage Service (OBS) User Guide.
• For details about how to encrypt data on EVS disks, see section "Creating an EVS Disk" in Elastic Volume Service (EVS) User Guide.
• For details about how to encrypt private images, see section "Encrypting an Image" in Image Management Service (IMS) User Guide.
• For details about how to encrypt disks for a database instance in RDS, see section "Purchasing an Instance" in the Relational Database Service User Guide.

Parent topic: Key Management Service