AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store

AWS Secrets Manager or AWS SSM Parameter Store?

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Question

The company that I work for is heavily invested in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store. But, I have been reading up on AWS Secrets Manager and I’m confused on what the difference is?

Response

AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store is a cost effective configuration store as there isn’t a charge for standard parameters. Parameter Store supports the storage of common configuration data like a URL and also data that’s more complex like a list of strings. But, AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store also supports more sensitive configuration data like secrets, passwords and tokens.

How to use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store as a .NET Configuration Provider

Many changes were made to configuration in .NET Core. Long gone are the days where you have few configuration options. In .NET, there are now out of the box options for INI,  JSON, XML, command-line arguments, in-memory stores, environment variables and key-per-file, et al. And, if those options weren’t enough, you can still develop your own provider.  On top of that, .NET now offers tiers of configuration, where one tier can override another.  This feature comes in very handy for supporting multiple environments.