AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a powerful web service that enables you to effectively manage access to your AWS resources while maintaining security. IAM provides centralized control over permissions, allowing you to determine which users have access to specific AWS resources. This article outlines the key features and components of IAM and how to access and utilize them.
Upon creating an AWS account, you are given an initial sign-in identity known as the AWS account root user. This root user possesses complete access to all AWS services and resources within the account. It’s essential to safeguard these credentials and refrain from using them for routine tasks. Instead, reserve the root user for tasks exclusive to its capabilities. Refer to the AWS Account Management Reference Guide for tasks necessitating root user credentials.
IAM offers several critical features:
Grant others permissions to manage and use your AWS resources without sharing your passwords or access keys.
Allocate varying permissions to different individuals for distinct resources. For example, provide complete access to services like Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, and more for some users, while granting others read-only access to specific S3 buckets or limited control over certain EC2 instances.
IAM facilitates secure credential provisioning for applications running on Amazon EC2 instances, granting them permissions to access other AWS resources, including S3 buckets and DynamoDB tables.
Enhance security by enabling two-factor authentication for both your account and individual users. This mandates the use of both a password or access key and a code from a configured device. You can even employ WebAuthn for MFA if you possess an AWS-supported FIDO security key.
Allow users with existing passwords (e.g., from corporate networks or internet identity providers) to temporarily access your AWS account.
AWS CloudTrail provides log records containing identity information of resource requesters, all tied to IAM identities.
IAM adheres to Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) requirements for processing, storing, and transmitting credit card data.
IAM seamlessly integrates with various AWS services. Refer to the list of supported services.
IAM, like other AWS services, operates on an eventually consistent basis due to data replication across multiple servers. Plan IAM changes accordingly to ensure their propagation.
IAM and AWS Security Token Service (STS) are included with your AWS account at no extra charge. Charges only apply when accessing other AWS services via IAM users or STS temporary credentials.
You can interact with IAM through various methods:
Utilize the browser-based AWS Management Console to manage IAM and AWS resources. Refer to the AWS Sign-In User Guide for more details.
The AWS command line tools enable you to perform IAM and AWS tasks from your system’s command line efficiently. AWS provides the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) and AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell. Explore the user guides for installation and usage instructions.
AWS offers SDKs for various programming languages and platforms, simplifying programmatic access to IAM and AWS services. The SDKs handle tasks like request signing and error management. Review the Tools for Amazon Web Services page for SDK information.
For programmatic access, use the IAM Query API to issue HTTPS requests directly to the service. Sign requests using your credentials. Refer to the IAM API Reference for more details.
In this section, we’ll delve into fundamental IAM components, including IAM Groups, IAM Users, IAM Policies, and IAM Roles.