Concepts

When it comes to managing access to AWS resources and services securely, AWS offers a suite of identity services to fit a variety of use cases. Federated access allows users from external systems to gain access to AWS resources without the need to create individual IAM users for each of them within AWS. This is particularly useful for organizations that want to manage user access centrally, often using their existing identity solutions, such as Active Directory or LDAP directories.

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)

AWS IAM is a foundational service that helps you securely control access to AWS services and resources. With IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups, and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources.

IAM allows you to:

  • Create IAM users and assign them individual security credentials (like access keys, passwords, and multi-factor authentication devices).
  • Create IAM roles for different scenarios, including federated user access. A role can be assumed by anyone who needs it and has the correct permissions.
  • Manage permissions by creating policies in JSON format, which define what actions are allowed or denied on specific AWS resources.

AWS IAM Identity Center (Previously AWS Single Sign-On)

AWS IAM Identity Center simplifies the management of SSO access and user permissions to all of your AWS accounts in AWS Organizations. With IAM Identity Center, you can create SSO access to AWS SSO-integrated applications, such as Salesforce, Box, and Office 365.

Key features of IAM Identity Center include:

  • The ability to manage SSO access and permissions to all your AWS accounts in AWS Organizations.
  • Centralized management of federated access across multiple AWS accounts.
  • Customizable identity synchronization which connects IAM Identity Center to external identity sources.
  • A user portal where end users can find and access all their assigned AWS accounts, cloud applications, and custom applications in one place.

Integration with External Identity Providers

To enable federated access, both IAM and IAM Identity Center allow integration with external identity providers. Organizations can leverage their existing identity solutions (like Microsoft AD or LDAP) to permit users to access the AWS Management Console or call AWS APIs using their existing corporate credentials.

Examples of Federated Access Scenarios

  1. Federating with a Corporate Directory: This allows users in an organization to use their corporate credentials to access the AWS Management Console or make programmatic calls to AWS APIs.
  2. Single Sign-On to AWS accounts: With AWS IAM Identity Center, you can allow users to sign in once to a central portal and gain access to multiple AWS accounts and applications without needing to sign in again.
  3. Cross-Account Access: You can use IAM roles to allow users who are authenticated in one AWS account to access resources in another AWS account.

IAM Policies and Permissions

IAM policies dictate the level of access a user or federated user has within AWS. These policies are written in JSON and consist of statements that declare the allowed or denied actions.

Here’s a very simple example policy that grants read-only access to Amazon S3:

{
“Version”: “2012-10-17”,
“Statement”: [
{
“Effect”: “Allow”,
“Action”: “s3:Get*”,
“Resource”: “*”
}
]
}

Considerations for Certification

When preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) exam, it’s essential to understand federated access and identity services in depth. Specifically, you should be familiar with:

  • The differences between IAM users, groups, roles, and policies.
  • How to establish trust between AWS and third-party identity providers.
  • Best practices for securing IAM and IAM Identity Center, including the principle of least privilege.
  • How IAM Identity Center can be used to manage SSO and federated access.
  • The process of integrating AWS IAM with external directories for federated user access.

In summary, AWS federated access and identity services like IAM and IAM Identity Center provide robust mechanisms for managing users and their permissions across AWS environments. Understanding how these services work is crucial for designing secure, efficient, and scalable systems on AWS, which is key for anyone preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam.

Answer the Questions in Comment Section

AWS IAM roles can be assumed by users within the same AWS account only.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: False

Explanation: AWS IAM roles can be assumed by users from different AWS accounts or federated users, not just by users within the same AWS account.

Which AWS service allows for single sign-on (SSO) capabilities to AWS accounts and business applications?

  • 1) AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS Single Sign-On)
  • 2) AWS Shield
  • 3) AWS WAF
  • 4) AWS Secrets Manager

Answer: AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS Single Sign-On)

Explanation: AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS Single Sign-On) provides single sign-on capabilities to AWS accounts and business applications.

You can apply IAM policies to groups in AWS IAM.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: True

Explanation: In AWS IAM, you can create groups and apply policies to them, which can be inherited by all users within those groups.

Which of the following is an advantage of using federated access with AWS IAM?

  • 1) Centralized management of user access
  • 2) Lower cost due to the removal of AWS infrastructure
  • 3) Automatic deletion of resources when the user leaves the organization
  • 4) All of the above

Answer: Centralized management of user access

Explanation: Federated access through AWS IAM allows centralized management of user access across multiple AWS accounts and applications.

What is the maximum session duration for a role assumed by an IAM user using AWS CLI or AWS APIs?

  • 1) 1 hour
  • 2) 12 hours
  • 3) 36 hours
  • 4) It is configurable up to a maximum of 12 hours

Answer: It is configurable up to a maximum of 12 hours

Explanation: When an IAM user assumes a role using AWS CLI or AWS APIs, the maximum session duration is configurable up to a maximum of 12 hours.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an optional security feature in AWS IAM.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: True

Explanation: MFA is an optional, but highly recommended, security feature that adds an extra layer of protection on top of your username and password in AWS IAM.

An IAM user can belong to multiple groups at the same time.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: True

Explanation: An IAM user can be a member of multiple groups, and permissions from each group will effectively aggregate.

Which of the following actions can be controlled with AWS IAM policies?

  • 1) Network access to AWS resources
  • 2) Authentication of users to AWS resources
  • 3) Authorization to access AWS resources
  • 4) All of the above

Answer: Authorization to access AWS resources

Explanation: AWS IAM policies are primarily used to define authorization, specifying what actions users or other entities are allowed to perform on AWS resources.

AWS IAM Identity Center supports automatic provisioning of user accounts in AWS based on their corporate directory.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: True

Explanation: AWS IAM Identity Center supports automatic provisioning, allowing user accounts to be created and managed based on the users’ corporate directory.

IAM policies can be attached at which levels?

  • 1) Users
  • 2) Groups
  • 3) Roles
  • 4) All of the above

Answer: All of the above

Explanation: IAM policies can be attached to users, groups, and roles in AWS IAM to manage permissions effectively.

AWS recommends using the root user account for day-to-day operations.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: False

Explanation: AWS recommends that the root user account should only be used for certain account and service management tasks, and not for day-to-day operations.

You can use service-specific conditions in IAM policies to allow access to certain AWS services only if specific conditions are met.

  • 1) True
  • 2) False

Answer: True

Explanation: IAM policies support conditions that allow you to specify rules such as what IP range must be used, what time of day it must be, etc., when granting access to AWS services.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
27 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dragan Hubert
5 months ago

Great blog post! AWS IAM has always been a bit daunting. This helped clarify a lot of things.

Angelo Moulin
8 months ago

Can someone explain the main differences between AWS IAM and AWS IAM Identity Center?

Charlie Meyer
7 months ago

I found the section on AWS SSO particularly useful for the SAA-C03 exam.

Ella Tuomi
8 months ago

How does AWS IAM Identity Center handle multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

دانیال سلطانی نژاد

Thank you for this comprehensive guide!

بیتا كامياران

Very helpful for beginners prepping for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam.

Melinda Søfteland
7 months ago

I’m a bit confused about service control policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations. Any pointers?

آرتين رضایی

How effective is AWS IAM in large enterprise environments?

27
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x