Use CreateVirtualMfaDevice with a CLI

To create a virtual MFA device

This example creates a new virtual MFA device called BobsMFADevice. It creates a file that contains bootstrap information called QRCode.png and places it in the C:/ directory. The bootstrap method used in this example is QRCodePNG.

aws iam create-virtual-mfa-device \
    --virtual-mfa-device-name BobsMFADevice \
    --outfile C:/QRCode.png \
    --bootstrap-method QRCodePNG

Output:

{
    "VirtualMFADevice": {
        "SerialNumber": "arn:aws:iam::210987654321:mfa/BobsMFADevice"
}

For more information, see Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) in AWS in the AWS IAM User Guide.

Example 1: This example creates a new virtual MFA device. Lines 2 and 3 extract the Base32StringSeed value that the virtual MFA software program needs to create an account (as an alternative to the QR code). After you configure the program with the value, get two sequential authentication codes from the program. Finally, use the last command to link the virtual MFA device to the IAM user Bob and synchronize the account with the two authentication codes.

$Device = New-IAMVirtualMFADevice -VirtualMFADeviceName BobsMFADevice
$SR = New-Object System.IO.StreamReader($Device.Base32StringSeed)
$base32stringseed = $SR.ReadToEnd()
$base32stringseed   
CZWZMCQNW4DEXAMPLE3VOUGXJFZYSUW7EXAMPLECR4NJFD65GX2SLUDW2EXAMPLE

Output:

-- Pause here to enter base-32 string seed code into virtual MFA program to register account. --

Enable-IAMMFADevice -SerialNumber $Device.SerialNumber -UserName Bob -AuthenticationCode1 123456 -AuthenticationCode2 789012

Example 2: This example creates a new virtual MFA device. Lines 2 and 3 extract the QRCodePNG value and write it to a file. This image can be scanned by the virtual MFA software program to create an account (as an alternative to manually entering the Base32StringSeed value). After you create the account in your virtual MFA program, get two sequential authentication codes and enter them in the last commands to link the virtual MFA device to the IAM user Bob and synchronize the account.

$Device = New-IAMVirtualMFADevice -VirtualMFADeviceName BobsMFADevice
$BR = New-Object System.IO.BinaryReader($Device.QRCodePNG)
$BR.ReadBytes($BR.BaseStream.Length) | Set-Content -Encoding Byte -Path QRCode.png

Output:

 -- Pause here to scan PNG with virtual MFA program to register account. -- 

Enable-IAMMFADevice -SerialNumber $Device.SerialNumber -UserName Bob -AuthenticationCode1 123456 -AuthenticationCode2 789012