# Working with Amazon EC2 Key Pairs
<a name="examples-ec2-key-pairs"></a>

## Prerequisites
<a name="codeExamplePrereq"></a>

Before you begin, we recommend you read [Getting started using the AWS SDK for C\$1\$1](getting-started.md). 

Download the example code and build the solution as described in [Getting started on code examples](getting-started-code-examples.md). 

To run the examples, the user profile your code uses to make the requests must have proper permissions in AWS (for the service and the action). For more information, see [Providing AWS credentials](credentials.md).

## Create a Key Pair
<a name="create-a-key-pair"></a>

To create a key pair, call the EC2Client’s `CreateKeyPair` function with a [CreateKeyPairRequest](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-cpp/latest/api/aws-cpp-sdk-ec2/html/class_aws_1_1_e_c2_1_1_model_1_1_create_key_pair_request.html) that contains the key’s name.

 **Includes** 

```
#include <aws/ec2/EC2Client.h>
#include <aws/ec2/model/CreateKeyPairRequest.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
```

 **Code** 

```
    Aws::EC2::EC2Client ec2Client(clientConfiguration);
    Aws::EC2::Model::CreateKeyPairRequest request;
    request.SetKeyName(keyPairName);

    Aws::EC2::Model::CreateKeyPairOutcome outcome = ec2Client.CreateKeyPair(request);
    if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        std::cerr << "Failed to create key pair - "  << keyPairName << ". " <<
                  outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
    } else {
        std::cout << "Successfully created key pair named " <<
                  keyPairName << std::endl;
        if (!keyFilePath.empty()) {
            std::ofstream keyFile(keyFilePath.c_str());
            keyFile << outcome.GetResult().GetKeyMaterial();
            keyFile.close();
            std::cout << "Keys written to the file " <<
                      keyFilePath << std::endl;
        }

    }
```

See the [complete example](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/tree/main/cpp/example_code/ec2/create_key_pair.cpp).

## Describe Key Pairs
<a name="describe-key-pairs"></a>

To list your key pairs or to get information about them, call the EC2Client’s `DescribeKeyPairs` function with a [DescribeKeyPairsRequest](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-cpp/latest/api/aws-cpp-sdk-ec2/html/class_aws_1_1_e_c2_1_1_model_1_1_describe_key_pairs_request.html).

You will receive a [DescribeKeyPairsResponse](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-cpp/latest/api/aws-cpp-sdk-ec2/html/class_aws_1_1_e_c2_1_1_model_1_1_describe_key_pairs_response.html) that you can use to access the list of key pairs by calling its `GetKeyPairs` function, which returns a list of [KeyPairInfo](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-cpp/latest/api/aws-cpp-sdk-ec2/html/class_aws_1_1_e_c2_1_1_model_1_1_key_pair_info.html) objects.

 **Includes** 

```
#include <aws/ec2/EC2Client.h>
#include <aws/ec2/model/DescribeKeyPairsRequest.h>
#include <aws/ec2/model/DescribeKeyPairsResponse.h>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
```

 **Code** 

```
    Aws::EC2::EC2Client ec2Client(clientConfiguration);
    Aws::EC2::Model::DescribeKeyPairsRequest request;

    Aws::EC2::Model::DescribeKeyPairsOutcome outcome = ec2Client.DescribeKeyPairs(request);
    if (outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        std::cout << std::left <<
                  std::setw(32) << "Name" <<
                  std::setw(64) << "Fingerprint" << std::endl;

        const std::vector<Aws::EC2::Model::KeyPairInfo> &key_pairs =
                outcome.GetResult().GetKeyPairs();
        for (const auto &key_pair: key_pairs) {
            std::cout << std::left <<
                      std::setw(32) << key_pair.GetKeyName() <<
                      std::setw(64) << key_pair.GetKeyFingerprint() << std::endl;
        }
    } else {
        std::cerr << "Failed to describe key pairs:" <<
                  outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
    }
```

See the [complete example](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/tree/main/cpp/example_code/ec2/describe_key_pairs.cpp).

## Delete a Key Pair
<a name="delete-a-key-pair"></a>

To delete a key pair, call the EC2Client’s `DeleteKeyPair` function, passing it a [DeleteKeyPairRequest](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-cpp/latest/api/aws-cpp-sdk-ec2/html/class_aws_1_1_e_c2_1_1_model_1_1_delete_key_pair_request.html) that contains the name of the key pair to delete.

 **Includes** 

```
#include <aws/ec2/EC2Client.h>
#include <aws/ec2/model/DeleteKeyPairRequest.h>
#include <iostream>
```

 **Code** 

```
    Aws::EC2::EC2Client ec2Client(clientConfiguration);
    Aws::EC2::Model::DeleteKeyPairRequest request;

    request.SetKeyName(keyPairName);
    const Aws::EC2::Model::DeleteKeyPairOutcome outcome = ec2Client.DeleteKeyPair(
            request);

    if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) {
        std::cerr << "Failed to delete key pair " << keyPairName <<
                  ":" << outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl;
    } else {
        std::cout << "Successfully deleted key pair named " << keyPairName <<
                  std::endl;
    }
```

See the [complete example](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/tree/main/cpp/example_code/ec2/delete_key_pair.cpp).

## More Information
<a name="more-information"></a>
+  [Amazon EC2 Key Pairs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ec2-key-pairs.html) in the Amazon EC2 User Guide
+  [CreateKeyPair](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_CreateKeyPair.html) in the Amazon EC2 API Reference
+  [DescribeKeyPairs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeKeyPairs.html) in the Amazon EC2 API Reference
+  [DeleteKeyPair](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_DeleteKeyPair.html) in the Amazon EC2 API Reference