How To Update Account Keys

Overview

This how-to guide provides instructions on how to update an account keys for an EOSIO blockchain account using the cleos CLI tool.

The example uses cleos to update the keys for the alice account.

Before you Begin

Make sure you meet the following requirements:

• Install the currently supported version of cleos. [[info | Note]] | The cleos tool is bundled with the EOSIO software. Installing EOSIO will install the cleos and keosd command line tools.
• You have an EOSIO account and access to the account's private key.

Reference

See the following reference guides for command line usage and related options:

• cleos create key command
• cleos wallet import command
• cleos set account command

Procedure

The following step shows how to change the keys for the active permissions:

1. Create a new key pair for the active permission

cleos create key --to-console

Where --to-console = Tells the cleos create key command to print the private/public keys to the console.

Example Output

Private key: 5KDNWQvY2seBPVUz7MiiaEDGTwACfuXu78bwZu7w2UDM9A3u3Fs
Public key: EOS5zG7PsdtzQ9achTdRtXwHieL7yyigBFiJDRAQonqBsfKyL3XhC

2. Import the new private key into your wallet

cleos wallet import --private-key 5KDNWQvY2seBPVUz7MiiaEDGTwACfuXu78bwZu7w2UDM9A3u3Fs

Where --private-key 5KDNWQvY2seBPVUz7MiiaEDGTwACfuXu78bwZu7w2UDM9A3u3Fs = The private key, in WIF format, to import.

Example Output

imported private key for: EOS5zG7PsdtzQ9achTdRtXwHieL7yyigBFiJDRAQonqBsfKyL3XhC

3. Update the active permission key

cleos set account permission alice active EOS5zG7PsdtzQ9achTdRtXwHieL7yyigBFiJDRAQonqBsfKyL3XhC -p alice@owner

Where

• alice = The name of the account to update the key.
• active= The name of the permission to update the key.
• EOS5zG7PsdtzQ9achTdRtXwHieL7yyigBFiJDRAQonqBsfKyL3XhC = The new public key.
• -p alice@owner = The permission used to authorize the transaction.

Example Output

executed transaction: ab5752ecb017f166d56e7f4203ea02631e58f06f2e0b67103b71874f608793e3  160 bytes  231 us
#         eosio <= eosio::updateauth            {"account":"alice","permission":"active","parent":"owner","auth":{"threshold":1,"keys":[{"key":"E...

4. Check the account

cleos get account alice

Where alice = name, the name of the account to retrieve.

Example Output

permissions: 
     owner     1:    1 EOS6c5UjmyRsZSdikLbpAoMdg4V7FQwvdhep3KMxUifzmpDnoLVPe
        active     1:    1 EOS5zG7PsdtzQ9achTdRtXwHieL7yyigBFiJDRAQonqBsfKyL3XhC
memory: 
     quota:       xxx  used:      2.66 KiB  

net bandwidth: 
     used:               xxx
     available:          xxx
     limit:              xxx

cpu bandwidth:
     used:               xxx
     available:          xxx
     limit:              xxx

Summary

In conclusion, by following these instructions you are able to change the keys used by an account.