Alibaba Cloud SDK:Manage access credentials

When you call API operations to manage cloud resources by using Alibaba Cloud SDKs, you must configure valid credential information. The Alibaba Cloud Credentials tool provides a powerful set of features that allow you to easily obtain and manage access credentials. This topic describes how to use the Credentials tool to configure various types of credentials such as the default credential, AccessKey pairs, or Security Token Service (STS) tokens. This topic also describes the order based on which the Credentials tool obtains the default credential. You can develop a thorough knowledge of configuring and managing credentials in Alibaba Cloud SDKs. This ensures that your operations on cloud resources are efficient and secure.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 8.5.0 or later is installed.

• Alibaba Cloud SDK V2.0 is installed.

• The in-house SDKs of services that use self-managed gateways are not installed.

Install the Credentials tool

Run the following npm command to download and install Alibaba Cloud Credentials for Node.js:

npm install @alicloud/credentials

We recommend that you use the latest version of Alibaba Cloud Credentials for Node.js.

Initialize a Credentials client

You can use one of the following methods to initialize a Credentials client based on your business requirements:

Method 1: Use the default credential provider chain

If you do not specify a method to initialize a Credentials client, the default credential provider chain is used. For more information, see the Default credential provider chain section of this topic.

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

// Do not specify a method to initialize a Credentials client.
const credentialClient = new Credential.default();

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Use the default credential to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default();
    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime).then((result) => {
        console.log(JSON.stringify(result.body));
    });
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 2: Use an AccessKey pair

You can create an AccessKey pair that is used to call API operations for your Alibaba Cloud account or a RAM user. For more information, see Create an AccessKey pair. Then, you can use the AccessKey pair to initialize a Credentials client.

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

// Use an AccessKey pair to initialize a Credentials client. 
const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    // Specify the type of the credential. 
    type: 'access_key',
    // Specify the AccessKey ID. 
    accessKeyId: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
    // Specify the AccessKey secret. 
    accessKeySecret: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET
})
const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Use an AccessKey pair to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'access_key',
        // Specify the AccessKey ID. 
        accessKeyId: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
        // Specify the AccessKey secret. 
        accessKeySecret: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime).then((response)=>{
        console.log(response.body.regions);
    });
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 3: Use an STS token

You can call the AssumeRole operation of STS as a RAM user to obtain an STS token. You can specify the maximum validity period of the STS token. The following sample code provides an example on how to initialize a Credentials client by using an STS token. The example does not show how to obtain an STS token.

{
  "RequestId": "EA7A3526-F7DB-54A5-8300-9B742CFAA5EA",
  "AssumedRoleUser": {
    "Arn": "acs:ram::125499367423****:role/STStokenTestRole/STSsessionName",
    "AssumedRoleId": "35219123109646****:STSsessionName"
  },
  "Credentials": {
    "SecurityToken": "exampleToken",
    "AccessKeyId": "STS.exampleAccessKeyID",
    "AccessKeySecret": "exampleAccessKeySecret",
    "Expiration": "2023-03-26T05:26:06Z"
  }
}

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'sts',
    // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID> with the temporary AccessKey ID that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
    accessKeyId: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID>',
    // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET> with the temporary AccessKey secret that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
    accessKeySecret: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET>',
    // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN> with the STS token that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
    securityToken: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN>',
})
const cred = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const Sts20150401 = require('@alicloud/sts20150401');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Create an STS client and call the AssumeRole operation to obtain the STS token.
    const stsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    stsConfig.endpoint = 'sts.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com';
    stsConfig.accessKeyId = process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID;
    stsConfig.accessKeySecret = process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET;
    const stsClient = new Sts20150401.default(stsConfig);
    const assumeRoleRequest = Sts20150401.AssumeRoleRequest;
    // Specify the validity period of the STS token.
    assumeRoleRequest.durationSeconds = 3600;
    // Specify the ARN of the RAM role to be assumed.
    assumeRoleRequest.roleArn = "acs:ram::125499367423****:role/STStokenTestRole/STSsessionName";
    // Specify the name of the role session.
    assumeRoleRequest.roleSessionName = "35219123109646****:STSsessionName";
    // assumeRoleRequest.policy = "";
    const assumeRoleResponsePromise = stsClient.assumeRole(assumeRoleRequest);
    const assumeRoleResponseBodyCredentials = (await assumeRoleResponsePromise).body.credentials;

    // Use an STS token to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'sts',
        // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID> with the temporary AccessKey ID that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
        accessKeyId: assumeRoleResponseBodyCredentials.accessKeyId,
        // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET> with the temporary AccessKey secret that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
        accessKeySecret: assumeRoleResponseBodyCredentials.accessKeySecret,
        // Replace <ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN> with the STS token that is obtained from the response to the AssumeRole operation. 
        securityToken: assumeRoleResponseBodyCredentials.securityToken,
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime).then((response) => {
        console.log(response.body.regions);
    });
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 4: Use an AccessKey pair and a RAM role

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'ram_role_arn',
    accessKeyId: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
    accessKeySecret: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET,
    // Specify the ARN of the RAM role to be assumed.
    roleArn: '<RoleArn>',
    // Specify the name of the role session.
    roleSessionName: '<RoleSessionName>',
    // Optional. Specify limited permissions for the RAM role. Example: {"Statement": [{"Action": ["*"],"Effect": "Allow","Resource": ["*"]}],"Version":"1"}.
    policy: '<Policy>',
    roleSessionExpiration: 3600,
})
const cred = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Use an AccessKey pair and a RAM role to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'ram_role_arn',
        // Specify the AccessKey ID. 
        accessKeyId: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
        // Specify the AccessKey secret. 
        accessKeySecret: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET,
        // Specify the ARN of the RAM role to be assumed.
        roleArn: 'acs:ram::125499367423****:role/STStokenTestRole/STSsessionName',
        // Specify the name of the role session.
        roleSessionName: '35219123109646****:STSsessionName',
        // Optional. Specify limited permissions for the RAM role. Example: {"Statement": [{"Action": ["*"],"Effect": "Allow","Resource": ["*"]}],"Version":"1"}.
        // policy: '<Policy>',
        roleSessionExpiration: 3600,
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
    console.log((await response).body.regions);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 5: Use the RAM role of an ECS instance and access the metadata of the ECS instance in normal mode

The underlying logic of this method is to use an STS token to initialize a Credentials client. The Credentials tool automatically obtains the RAM role attached to an ECS instance and uses the metadata server of ECS to obtain an STS token. The STS token is then used to initialize a Credentials client. You can also attach a RAM role to an elastic container instance or a worker node in an Container Service for Kubernetes cluster.

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'ecs_ram_role',
    // Optional. Specify the name of the RAM role of the ECS instance. If you do not specify this parameter, its value is automatically obtained. To reduce the number of requests, we recommend that you specify this parameter.
    roleName: 'roleName',
})
const cred = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Use the RAM role of an ECS instance to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'ecs_ram_role',
        // Optional. Specify the name of the RAM role of the ECS instance. If you do not specify this parameter, its value is automatically obtained. To reduce the number of requests, we recommend that you specify this parameter.
        roleName: 'roleName',
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
    console.log((await response).body.regions);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 6: Use the RAM role of an ECS instance and access the metadata of the ECS instance in security hardening mode

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    // Specify the type of the credential.
    type: 'ecs_ram_role',
    // Optional. Specify the name of the RAM role of the ECS instance. If you do not specify this parameter, its value is automatically obtained. To reduce the number of requests, we recommend that you specify this parameter.
    roleName: 'roleName',
    // Optional. We recommend that you set the enableIMDSv2 parameter to true. This parameter is equivalent to the ALIBABA_CLOUD_ECS_IMDSV2_ENABLE environment variable.
    enableIMDSv2: true,
})
const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential.
        type: 'ecs_ram_role',
        // Optional. Specify the name of the RAM role of the ECS instance. If you do not specify this parameter, its value is automatically obtained. To reduce the number of requests, we recommend that you specify this parameter.
        roleName: 'roleName',
        // Optional. We recommend that you set the enableIMDSv2 parameter to true. This parameter is equivalent to the ALIBABA_CLOUD_ECS_IMDSV2_ENABLE environment variable.
        enableIMDSv2: true,
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
    console.log((await response).body.regions);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 7: Use the RAM role of an OIDC IdP

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'oidc_role_arn',
    roleArn: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_ROLE_ARN',
    oidcProviderArn: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_PROVIDER_ARN',
    oidcTokenFilePath: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_TOKEN_FILE',
    // Specify the name of the role session.
    roleSessionName: 'roleSessionName',
    // Optional. Specify limited permissions for the RAM role. Example: {"Statement": [{"Action": ["*"],"Effect": "Allow","Resource": ["*"]}],"Version":"1"}.
    policy: '<Policy>',
    // Specify the validity period of the session.
    roleSessionExpiration: 3600,
})
const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'oidc_role_arn',
        roleArn: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_ROLE_ARN',
        oidcProviderArn: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_PROVIDER_ARN',
        oidcTokenFilePath: 'ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_TOKEN_FILE',
        // Specify the name of the role session.
        roleSessionName: 'roleSessionName',
        // Optional. Specify limited permissions for the RAM role. Example: {"Statement": [{"Action": ["*"],"Effect": "Allow","Resource": ["*"]}],"Version":"1"}.
        policy: '<Policy>',
        // Specify the validity period of the session.
        roleSessionExpiration: 3600,
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpoint = 'ecs.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
    console.log((await response).body.regions);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Method 8: Use a URI

The underlying logic of this method is to use an STS token to initialize a Credentials client. The Credentials tool uses the uniform resource identifier (URI) that you provide to obtain an STS token. The STS token is then used to initialize a Credentials client.

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const config = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'credentials_uri',
    // Specify the URI of the credential, in the format of http://local_or_remote_uri/.
    credentialsURI: '<local_or_remote_uri>'
});
const credentialClient = new Credential(config);

The URI must meet the following requirements:

• The status code 200 is returned.

• The following response parameters are returned:

  {
    "Code": "Success",
    "AccessKeySecret": "AccessKeySecret",
    "AccessKeyId": "AccessKeyId",
    "Expiration": "2021-09-26T03:46:38Z",
    "SecurityToken": "SecurityToken"
  }

  Call example

  To call the API operations of Alibaba Cloud services, you can specify a local or remote URI for credentials and use the Credentials tool to obtain and automatically update an STS token based on the local or remote URI.

  To call the API operations of an Alibaba Cloud service, you must install dependencies for the Alibaba Cloud service. The following sample code provides an example on how to call the DescribeRegions operation of ECS. Before you call this operation, you must install ECS SDK for Java.

  const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
  const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
  const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
  const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');
  
  async function main() {
      // Use a URI to initialize a Credentials client. 
      const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
          // Specify the type of the credential. 
          type: 'credentials_uri',
          // Specify the URI of the credential, in the format of http://local_or_remote_uri/.
          credentialsURI: '<local_or_remote_uri>'
      })
      const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);
  
      const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
      // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
      ecsConfig.endpointType = 'ecs.aliyuncs.com';
      // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
      ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
      // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
      const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
      // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
      const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
      // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
      const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
      // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
      const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
      console.log((await response).body.regions);
  }
  
  main().catch(console.error);

Method 9: Use a bearer token

Only Cloud Call Center allows you to use a bearer token to initialize a Credentials client.

const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

const config = new Credential.Config({
    type: 'bearer',
    // Enter the bearer token.
    bearerToken: '<BearerToken>',
});
const credentialClient = new Credential(config);

const Ecs20140526 = require('@alicloud/ecs20140526');
const OpenApi = require('@alicloud/openapi-client');
const Util = require('@alicloud/tea-util');
const Credential = require('@alicloud/credentials');

async function main() {
    // Use a bearer token to initialize a Credentials client. 
    const credentialsConfig = new Credential.Config({
        // Specify the type of the credential. 
        type: 'bearer',
        // Enter the bearer token.
        bearerToken: '<BearerToken>',
    })
    const credentialClient = new Credential.default(credentialsConfig);

    const ecsConfig = new OpenApi.Config();
    // Specify the endpoint of the cloud service. 
    ecsConfig.endpointType = 'ecs.aliyuncs.com';
    // Use the SDK Credentials package to configure a credential. 
    ecsConfig.credential = credentialClient;
    // Initialize the ECS SDK client.
    const ecsClient = new Ecs20140526.default(ecsConfig);
    // Initialize the request to call the DescribeRegions operation. 
    const describeRegionsRequest = new Ecs20140526.DescribeRegionsRequest();
    // Initialize the runtime configurations. 
    const runtime = new Util.RuntimeOptions();
    // Call the DescribeRegions operation and obtain a response. 
    const response = ecsClient.describeRegionsWithOptions(describeRegionsRequest, runtime);
    console.log((await response).body.regions);
}

main().catch(console.error);

Default credential provider chain

If you want to use different types of credentials in the development and production environments of your application, you generally need to obtain the environment information from the code and write code branches to obtain different credentials for the development and production environments. The default credential provider chain of the Credentials tool allows you to use the same code to obtain credentials for different environments based on configurations independent of the application. If you use new Credential() to initialize a Credentials client without specifying an initialization method, the Credentials tool obtains the credential information in the following order:

1. Obtain the credential information from environment variables

The Credentials tool first obtains the credential information from environment variables. If the ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID (AccessKey ID) and ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET (AccessKey secret) system environment variables are specified, the Credentials tool uses the specified AccessKey pair as the default credential.

2. Obtain the credential information by using the RAM role of an OIDC IdP

If no credentials are found in the previous step, the Credentials tool obtains the values of the following environment variables:

ALIBABA_CLOUD_ROLE_ARN: the ARN of the RAM role.

ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_PROVIDER_ARN: the ARN of the OIDC IdP.

ALIBABA_CLOUD_OIDC_TOKEN_FILE: the path of the OIDC token file.

If the preceding three environment variables are specified, the Credentials tool uses the environment variables to call the AssumeRoleWithOIDC operation of STS to obtain an STS token as the default credential.

3. Obtain the credential information from a configuration file

If no credentials are found in the previous step, the Credentials tool obtains the credential information from a configuration file. The path of the configuration file varies based on the operating system:

Linux: ~/.alibabacloud/credentials

Windows: C:\Users\USER_NAME\.alibabacloud\credentials

You can also specify the configuration file path by configuring the ALIBABA_CLOUD_CREDENTIALS_FILE environment variable. If the configuration file exists, the application initializes a Credentials client by using the credential information that is specified by default in the configuration file. You can also configure the ALIBABA_CLOUD_PROFILE environment variable to modify the default credential information that is read.

[default]                          
type = access_key                  
access_key_id = foo                
access_key_secret = bar            

4. Obtain the credential information by using the RAM role of an ECS instance

If no credentials are found in the previous step, the Credentials tool obtains the value of the ALIBABA_CLOUD_ECS_METADATA environment variable that specifies the RAM role name of an ECS instance. If the RAM role exists, the application obtains an STS token of the RAM role as the default credential by using the metadata server of ECS.

5. Obtain the credential information based on a URI

If no credentials are found in the previous step, the Credentials tool obtains the value of the ALIBABA_CLOUD_CREDENTIALS_URI environment variable. If the environment variable is specified, the application sets the value as the URI based on which the Credentials tool obtains a temporary security credential.

Protect credential information

Credential leaks may expose the system to attacks. This is one of the main threats to cloud services. To prevent the leaks of plaintext credential information and reduce security risks, you can use the following solutions:

1. We recommend that you use the RAM role of an ECS instance or an STS token.

2. We recommend that you use the default credential provider chain and record the credential information in environment variables or a configuration file.

3. To use an explicit initialization method to initialize a Credentials client, we recommend that you use system properties or environment variables to record the credential information and obtain the credential information by using the process.env object.

import Credential, { Config } from '@alicloud/credentials';

const config: Config = {
	type: 'access_key',                 
	accessKeyId: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID,         
	accessKeySecret: process.env.ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET, 
}
const cred = new Credential(config);
let accessKeyId: string = await cred.getAccessKeyId();
let accessKeySecret: string = await cred.getAccessKeySecret();
let type: string = cred.getType();

Switch between credentials

You can use the following method to use different credentials to call different API operations in your application:

Use multiple Credentials clients

Initialize multiple Credentials clients to pass different credentials to different request clients.

import Credential, { Config } from '@alicloud/credentials';
import * as process from 'process';

const config1: Config = {
    type: 'access_key',
    accessKeyId: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID>',
    accessKeySecret: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET>',
}
const cred1 = new Credential(config1);

const config2: Config = {
    type: 'access_key',
    accessKeyId: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID>',
    accessKeySecret: '<ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET>',
}
const cred = new Credential(config2);