# Install aws-iam-authenticator with Homebrew, chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, scoop, winget Use AWS IAM credentials to authenticate to Kubernetes. Version 0.7.18 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-26. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#aws-iam-authenticator. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:aws-iam-authenticator ``` ## Agent safety answer aws-iam-authenticator bridges AWS credentials into Kubernetes authentication. - **Credential access:** Reads AWS credentials, kubeconfig, and IAM identity context. - **Remote mutation:** Authentication is not mutation, but it enables subsequent Kubernetes writes. - **Publish/artifact risk:** Can unlock cluster access used by deployment tools. - **Recommended control:** Gate credential use and cluster context switching. - **Agent-use guidance:** Allow identity inspection; require approval before enabling cluster access for mutating tools. Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install aws-iam-authenticator ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install aws-iam-authenticator ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/aws-iam-authenticator/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#aws-iam-authenticator ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/aw/aws-iam-authenticator/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Windows - Chocolatey (92%): ```sh choco install aws-iam-authenticator ``` Evidence: Chocolatey community package catalog: aws-iam-authenticator from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','authy-desktop' - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/aws-iam-authenticator ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/aws-iam-authenticator.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id Kubernetes.aws-iam-authenticator -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: Kubernetes.aws-iam-authenticator from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:aws-iam-authenticator - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 0.7.18 - **Source summary:** Use AWS IAM credentials to authenticate to Kubernetes - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-26T13:19:53+02:00 - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - aws-iam-authenticator (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 0.7.18 ## Project history and usage AWS IAM Authenticator for Kubernetes is a Kubernetes authentication bridge that lets AWS IAM identities authenticate to Kubernetes clusters. It uses AWS STS GetCallerIdentity-signed tokens on the client side and maps IAM users, roles, or accounts to Kubernetes users and groups on the server side. ### Project history The repository README says the initial work was driven by Heptio and that the project receives community contributions while being maintained by Heptio and Amazon EKS OSS Engineers. The tool arose from the need to avoid a separate Kubernetes credential system for clusters whose administrators already manage AWS IAM credentials. AWS's Open Source Blog described the 2018 community project as initially driven by Heptio, used by the Amazon EKS open source team as a starting point for mapping AWS IAM to Kubernetes RBAC, and donated to the Kubernetes Cloud Provider SIG. A 2019 AWS post described the renamed AWS IAM Authenticator and kops integration after the earlier Heptio Authenticator work. ### Adoption history The authenticator became important in the early Amazon EKS and Kubernetes-on-AWS ecosystem because it let kubectl authenticate through IAM rather than long-lived Kubernetes client certificates. AWS blog posts show it used for EKS, kops, LDAP/AD federation patterns, and self-managed Kubernetes clusters on AWS. The official GitHub page shows a large project footprint for this batch's peer group, with roughly 2.3k stars, hundreds of forks, and more than 1,000 commits. Homebrew analytics showed 3,013 installs in 30 days, 9,650 in 90 days, and 35,664 in 365 days at the time of this batch, making it the dominant package in this batch by package-manager usage. ### How it is used Cluster administrators run the server as a DaemonSet or integrate it with kops, configure the API server to use its token webhook kubeconfig, and define role/user mappings through a mounted config file, an EKS-style ConfigMap, or IAMIdentityMapping custom resources. Users then configure kubectl exec authentication to call `aws-iam-authenticator token` for a cluster ID. The client token is based on a signed STS GetCallerIdentity request with the cluster ID in the request context. The README documents AWS profile selection through kubeconfig exec environment variables and maps roles/users/accounts to Kubernetes usernames and groups for RBAC. ### Why package nerds care For package nerds, aws-iam-authenticator is a canonical Kubernetes cloud-provider sidecar CLI: a single binary that lives at the boundary of kubectl exec plugins, AWS STS signing, kops, EKS, and Kubernetes SIG ownership. It is also a useful marker of the transition from early Heptio/EKS bootstrap tooling to more integrated Kubernetes authentication workflows. ### Timeline - 2018: AWS Open Source Blog describes aws-iam-authenticator as an initially Heptio-driven community project used by the Amazon EKS open source team. - 2019: AWS posts updated kops deployment guidance for AWS IAM Authenticator after the Heptio Authenticator donation to Cloud Provider SIG. - 2026: Homebrew formula metadata packages aws-iam-authenticator v0.7.18. ### Related projects - Heptio Authenticator: the earlier name/history described by AWS blog posts. - Amazon EKS: a major adoption driver for IAM-backed Kubernetes authentication. - kops: Kubernetes-on-AWS cluster tooling with integration guidance for the authenticator. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal. - **Geiger risk:** orange / medium - infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: /etc/aws-iam-authenticator/config.yaml, /etc/kubernetes/aws-iam-authenticator/kubeconfig.yaml ## Credential files - Unix: ~/.aws/credentials, ~/.aws/config - Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.aws\credentials, %USERPROFILE%\.aws\config ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - aws-iam-authenticator: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/aw/aws-iam-authenticator/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - MacPorts - aws-iam-authenticator: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/aws-iam-authenticator/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Chocolatey - aws-iam-authenticator: normalized package name match | Chocolatey community package catalog: aws-iam-authenticator from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','authy-desktop' - Scoop - main/aws-iam-authenticator: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/aws-iam-authenticator.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget - Kubernetes.aws-iam-authenticator: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: Kubernetes.aws-iam-authenticator from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/aws-iam-authenticator.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/aws-iam-authenticator.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph - curated agent safety answer