AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority AWS Private Certificate Authority
Managed private certificate authority service for creating and maintaining internal public key infrastructure (PKI) hierarchies and issuing private X.509 certificates.
Naming timeline
- AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority (ACM Private CA)
Launched as a managed private CA service under the AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) brand to build private root and subordinate CA hierarchies.
- AWS Private Certificate Authority (AWS Private CA)Current name
Rebranded to AWS Private Certificate Authority (AWS Private CA) with an updated console experience and dedicated docs.aws.amazon.com/privateca/ path, while retaining acm-pca API, CLI, IAM, and Terraform identifiers.
What is AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority called now?
AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority is now called AWS Private Certificate Authority, with the latest change on 27 September 2022 (Service Rebranding & Console Update). Managed private certificate authority service for creating and maintaining internal public key infrastructure (PKI) hierarchies and issuing private X.509 certificates. Only the customer-facing name changed; the underlying technical identifiers remain backward compatible.
Also known as
- ACM Private CA
- ACM PCA
- AWS Private CA
Technical identifiers
Technical identifiers unchanged. Only the customer-facing product name changed; the APIs, CLI commands, IAM roles and Terraform resources below keep their legacy identifiers for backward compatibility.
| AWS Service APIs / SDKs | acm-pca |
|---|---|
| AWS CLI Commands | aws acm-pca |
| IAM Actions & Policies | acm-pca:* |
| Terraform Resources (aws_*) | aws_acmpca_certificate_authority aws_acmpca_certificate aws_acmpca_certificate_authority_certificate aws_acmpca_permission aws_acmpca_policy |
While user documentation moved to docs.aws.amazon.com/privateca/ (with redirects from docs.aws.amazon.com/acm-pca/), the acm-pca API/CLI namespace, acm-pca:* IAM prefix, arn:aws:acm-pca: ARNs, and aws_acmpca_* Terraform resources remain unchanged.
Notes & disambiguation
- In September 2022, AWS rebranded AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority (ACM Private CA) to AWS Private Certificate Authority (AWS Private CA), separating its branding and documentation (docs.aws.amazon.com/privateca/) from public certificate management in AWS Certificate Manager (ACM).
- Programmatic identifiers retain the acm-pca namespace for backward compatibility, including the AWS CLI (aws acm-pca), IAM actions (acm-pca:*), ARN format (arn:aws:acm-pca:*), CloudFormation resource types (AWS::ACMPCA::*), and Terraform resources (aws_acmpca_certificate_authority).
- Distinct from AWS Certificate Manager (acm / aws acm), which manages publicly trusted TLS certificates and can also request and auto-renew private certificates issued by an AWS Private CA.
Sources & official documentation
- Official documentation ↗
- Product page ↗
- AWS Private Certificate Authority User Guide — Document History (Service Rebranding and Console Update)
- What is AWS Private CA? — AWS Private Certificate Authority User Guide
- What is the best certificate service for my needs? (AWS Private CA vs. AWS Certificate Manager)
Catalog last updated . Spotted an error? Suggest an edit