Device Manufacturing and Provisioning with X.509 Certificates in AWS IoT Core

Publication date: November 17, 2022 (Document revisions)

Abstract

This whitepaper focuses on onboarding Internet of Things (IoT) devices in AWS IoT Core using unique identities. It covers the different options, challenges, and considerations for manufacturing and provisioning unique X.509 certificates and private keys into devices for certificate-based mutual authentication.

The whitepaper provides device makers with guidance on the appropriate AWS IoT provisioning options, based on the capabilities of their device and manufacturing process. It is not intended to cover Sigv4 and Custom Authorizer authentication methods.

This whitepaper is intended for technical architects, IoT cloud engineers, IoT security architects, and embedded engineers. This whitepaper assumes that the reader understands fundamental Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) concepts and terminology.

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Introduction

During the different phases of IoT device development and manufacturing, the way that these unique identities are provisioned and onboarded to AWS IoT Core can differ. Device makers are faced with a number of considerations during the lifecycle of an IoT device, including:

This whitepaper explains the complexities of the device manufacturing supply chain, and assists device makers with recommendations based on the capabilities of their device, limitations of their manufacturing process, and device onboarding requirements of a service operator.