Account Keys

Account keys is the term Automation uses for credentials used when communicating with targets. Account keys come in a variety of types that correspond to the types of targets that are available. Targets are not required to have account keys, but for targets that require authentication, the key type must match the target type.

Account key instances can be shared across targets and workflows. For example, if a single set of credentials can be used to access a set of target network devices, you only need to create one account key that can be used for any of the targets. When it is time to change the credentials, you can go to the Account Keys list and edit the single instance to update the credentials throughout your targets and workflows.

Key Types

Account keys come in a variety of types depending on the type of target. The account key type must match the target used. The following table includes all out-of-box account keys and their associated target types:

Account Key Type	Target Types
Ansible Tower OAuth Credentials	Ansible Tower Endpoint
AWS Credentials	AWS Endpoint
Cisco XDR Token	Cisco XDR tenant integrations with HTTP Endpoint targets
Email Credentials	IMAP Endpoint, POP3 Endpoint, SMTP Endpoint
Git Password-Based Credentials	Used for connecting to Git repositories. See the Using Our GitHub Repositories Help topic for more information.
Git Token-Based Credentials	Used for connecting to Git repositories. See the Using Our GitHub Repositories Help topic for more information.
Google Cloud Platform Authentication	Google Cloud Platform Endpoint
HTTP Basic Authentication	HTTP Endpoint
HTTP Client Certificate Authentication	HTTP Endpoint
HTTP Signature Authentication	HTTP Endpoint
JDBC Login Credentials	JDBC Database Server
Meraki Credentials	Meraki Endpoint
Microsoft Windows Credentials	Microsoft Windows Endpoint
OAuth2 Microsoft Graph Credentials	Microsoft Graph Endpoint
SNMP Credentials	SNMP Endpoint
Terminal Key-Based Credentials	Terminal Endpoint, Terraform Endpoint, Unix/Linux Endpoint
Terminal Password-Based Credentials	Terminal Endpoint, Terraform Endpoint, Unix/Linux Endpoint

Modern Authentication

Modern authentication is the umbrella term for a combination of authentication and authorization methods between a client and server, and improved authentication security through the use of client IDs and secrets to generate tokens. Automation uses OAuth2 Microsoft Graph Credentials for authentication with Microsoft Graph Endpoint targets to integrate with Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory. The OAuth2 Microsoft Graph Credentials account key establishes a token exchange with Azure Active Directory so that the user token used by the account key is refreshed through Azure Active Directory whenever necessary.

API Credentials

API credentials are different from account keys. For additional information on using API credentials in a workflow, see the HTTP Authentication Help topic.