Get random bytes from an HSM

Retrieve random bytes from the random number generator in Cloud HSM.

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For detailed documentation that includes this code sample, see the following:

Code sample

C#

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.


using Google.Api.Gax.ResourceNames;
using Google.Cloud.Kms.V1;

public class GenerateRandomBytesSample
{
    public byte[] GenerateRandomBytes(
      string projectId = "my-project", string locationId = "us-east1", int numBytes = 256)
    {
        // Create the client.
        KeyManagementServiceClient client = KeyManagementServiceClient.Create();

        // Build the location name.
        LocationName locationName = new LocationName(projectId, locationId);

        // Call the API.
        GenerateRandomBytesResponse result = client.GenerateRandomBytes(locationName.ToString(), numBytes, ProtectionLevel.Hsm);

        // The data comes back as raw bytes, which may include non-printable
        // characters. To print the result, you could encode it as base64.
        // string encodedData = result.Data.ToBase64();

        return result.Data.ToByteArray();
    }
}

Go

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/base64"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	kms "cloud.google.com/go/kms/apiv1"
	"cloud.google.com/go/kms/apiv1/kmspb"
)

// generateRandomBytes generates random bytes with entropy sourced from the
// given location.
func generateRandomBytes(w io.Writer, location string, numBytes int32) error {
	// name := "projects/my-project/locations/us-east1"
	// numBytes := 256

	// Create the client.
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := kms.NewKeyManagementClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to create kms client: %w", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	// Build the request.
	req := &kmspb.GenerateRandomBytesRequest{
		Location:        location,
		LengthBytes:     numBytes,
		ProtectionLevel: kmspb.ProtectionLevel_HSM,
	}

	// Generate random bytes.
	result, err := client.GenerateRandomBytes(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to generate random bytes: %w", err)
	}

	// The data comes back as raw bytes, which may include non-printable
	// characters. This base64-encodes the result so it can be printed below.
	encodedData := base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(result.Data)

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Random bytes: %s", encodedData)
	return nil
}

Java

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import com.google.cloud.kms.v1.GenerateRandomBytesResponse;
import com.google.cloud.kms.v1.KeyManagementServiceClient;
import com.google.cloud.kms.v1.LocationName;
import com.google.cloud.kms.v1.ProtectionLevel;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Base64;

public class GenerateRandomBytes {

  public void generateRandomBytes() throws IOException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    String projectId = "your-project-id";
    String locationId = "us-east1";
    int numBytes = 256;
    generateRandomBytes(projectId, locationId, numBytes);
  }

  // Create a new key for use with MacSign.
  public void generateRandomBytes(String projectId, String locationId, int numBytes)
      throws IOException {
    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only
    // needs to be created once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After
    // completing all of your requests, call the "close" method on the client to
    // safely clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (KeyManagementServiceClient client = KeyManagementServiceClient.create()) {
      // Build the parent name for the location.
      LocationName locationName = LocationName.of(projectId, locationId);

      // Generate the bytes.
      GenerateRandomBytesResponse response =
          client.generateRandomBytes(locationName.toString(), numBytes, ProtectionLevel.HSM);

      // The data comes back as raw bytes, which may include non-printable
      // characters. This base64-encodes the result so it can be printed below.
      String encodedData = Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(response.getData().toByteArray());

      System.out.printf("Random bytes: %s", encodedData);
    }
  }
}

Node.js

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

//
// TODO(developer): Uncomment these variables before running the sample.
//
// const projectId = 'my-project';
// const locationId = 'us-east1';
// const numBytes = 256;

// Imports the Cloud KMS library
const {KeyManagementServiceClient} = require('@google-cloud/kms');

// Instantiates a client
const client = new KeyManagementServiceClient();

// Build the location name
const locationName = client.locationPath(projectId, locationId);

async function generateRandomBytes() {
  const [randomBytesResponse] = await client.generateRandomBytes({
    location: locationName,
    lengthBytes: numBytes,
    protectionLevel: 'HSM',
  });

  console.log(`Random bytes: ${randomBytesResponse.data.toString('base64')}`);
  return randomBytesResponse;
}

return generateRandomBytes();

PHP

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

use Google\Cloud\Kms\V1\Client\KeyManagementServiceClient;
use Google\Cloud\Kms\V1\GenerateRandomBytesRequest;
use Google\Cloud\Kms\V1\ProtectionLevel;

/**
 * Generate a random byte string using Cloud KMS.
 *
 * @param string $projectId The Google Cloud project ID.
 * @param string $locationId The location ID (e.g. us-east1).
 * @param int $numBytes The number of bytes to generate.
 */
function generate_random_bytes(
    string $projectId,
    string $locationId = 'us-east1',
    int $numBytes = 256
) {
    // Create the Cloud KMS client.
    $client = new KeyManagementServiceClient();

    // Build the parent name.
    $locationName = $client->locationName($projectId, $locationId);

    // Call the API.
    $generateRandomBytesRequest = (new GenerateRandomBytesRequest())
        ->setLocation($locationName)
        ->setLengthBytes($numBytes)
        ->setProtectionLevel(ProtectionLevel::HSM);
    $randomBytesResponse = $client->generateRandomBytes($generateRandomBytesRequest);

    // The data comes back as raw bytes, which may include non-printable
    // characters. This base64-encodes the result so it can be printed below.
    $encodedData = base64_encode($randomBytesResponse->getData());
    printf('Random bytes: %s' . PHP_EOL, $encodedData);

    return $randomBytesResponse;
}

Python

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.


# Import base64 for encoding the bytes for printing.
import base64

# Import the client library.
from google.cloud import kms


def generate_random_bytes(project_id: str, location_id: str, num_bytes: int) -> bytes:
    """
    Generate random bytes with entropy sourced from the given location.

    Args:
        project_id (string): Google Cloud project ID (e.g. 'my-project').
        location_id (string): Cloud KMS location (e.g. 'us-east1').
        num_bytes (integer): number of bytes of random data.

    Returns:
        bytes: Encrypted ciphertext.

    """

    # Create the client.
    client = kms.KeyManagementServiceClient()

    # Build the location name.
    location_name = client.common_location_path(project_id, location_id)

    # Call the API.
    protection_level = kms.ProtectionLevel.HSM
    random_bytes_response = client.generate_random_bytes(
        request={
            "location": location_name,
            "length_bytes": num_bytes,
            "protection_level": protection_level,
        }
    )

    print(f"Random bytes: {base64.b64encode(random_bytes_response.data)}")
    return random_bytes_response

Ruby

To learn how to install and use the client library for Cloud KMS, see Cloud KMS client libraries.

To authenticate to Cloud KMS, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

# TODO(developer): uncomment these values before running the sample.
# project_id  = "my-project"
# location_id = "us-east1"
# num_bytes = 256

# Require the library.
require "google/cloud/kms"

# Create the client.
client = Google::Cloud::Kms.key_management_service

# Build the parent location name.
location_name = client.location_path project:    project_id,
                                     location:   location_id

# Call the API.
response = client.generate_random_bytes location: location_name, length_bytes: num_bytes, protection_level: :HSM

# The data comes back as raw bytes, which may include non-printable
# characters. This base64-encodes the result so it can be printed below.
encoded_data = Base64.strict_encode64 response.data

puts "Random bytes: #{encoded_data}"

What's next

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