# passing aws\_secret\_key and aws\_access\_key as parameters in playbook task fails

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485>\
**Category:** Ansible Project\
**Created:** [September 16, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485 "2013-09-16T14:46:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cpatanaik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@cpatanaik](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cpatanaik)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485/1 "2013-09-16T14:46:24Z")

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Hi,

I have a playbook which spins/deletes servers, adds volumes to previously created instances etc. I have exported my aws\_access\_key and aws\_secret\_key as environment variables. But when I try to pass them via parameters in playbook as names aws\_access\_key and aws\_secret\_key(as stated in ec2 module), my program fails stating unsupported parameters for aws\_secret\_key. My code is -

tasks:

- name: Launch Instances  
local\_action: ec2 aws\_access\_key=xxxx aws\_secret\_key=xxxx keypair={{keypair}} group={{security\_group}} instance\_type={{instance\_type}} image={{image}} wait=true count={{count}} region={{region}} instance\_tags=‘{“Name”:“NewansibleTest021”}’  
register: ec2

But when I use ec2\_access\_key and ec2\_secret\_key instead of aws\_access\_key and aws\_secret\_key, my program runs successfully. So I would like to know whether this is a bug or am I doing somethin wrong…? My final code is -

tasks:

- name: Launch Instances  
local\_action: ec2 ec2\_access\_key=xxxx ec2\_secret\_key=xxxx keypair={{keypair}} group={{security\_group}} instance\_type={{instance\_type}} image={{image}} wait=true count={{count}} region={{region}} instance\_tags=‘{“Name”:“NewansibleTest021”}’  
register: ec2

Thanks,

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata1)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485/2 "2013-09-16T15:19:32Z")

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Those parameters were renamed recently and the documents reflect their names as of 1.3. If you’re still using 1.2.x you should stick with the ec2\_\* names or upgrade to 1.3 (which was released last Friday).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Michael\_DeHaan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Michael\_DeHaan2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Michael_DeHaan2)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485/3 "2013-09-16T15:41:12Z")

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We did add aliases though, so old names are still good 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![James\_Cammarata1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@James\_Cammarata1](https://forum.ansible.com/u/James_Cammarata1)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485/4 "2013-09-16T15:47:55Z")

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Yep, the old names are still valid for 1.3+ for backwards-compatibility.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cpatanaik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@cpatanaik](https://forum.ansible.com/u/cpatanaik)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/passing-aws-secret-key-and-aws-access-key-as-parameters-in-playbook-task-fails/13485/5 "2013-09-17T07:20:42Z")

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Yup it works…Thanks for the help…