# Identity and access management for IAM Roles Anywhere
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an AWS service that helps an administrator securely control access to AWS resources. IAM administrators control who can be *authenticated* (signed in) and *authorized* (have permissions) to use IAM Roles Anywhere resources. IAM is an AWS service that you can use with no additional charge.
**Topics**
+ [
## Audience
](#security_iam_audience)
+ [
## Authenticating with identities
](#security_iam_authentication)
+ [
## Managing access using policies
](#security_iam_access-manage)
+ [
# How IAM Roles Anywhere works with IAM
](security_iam_service-with-iam.md)
+ [
# Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere
](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md)
+ [
# Troubleshooting IAM Roles Anywhere identity and access
](security_iam_troubleshoot.md)
+ [
# Using service-linked roles for IAM Roles Anywhere
](using-service-linked-roles.md)
+ [
# AWS managed policies for IAM Roles Anywhere
](security-iam-awsmanpol.md)
## Audience
How you use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) differs based on your role:
+ **Service user** - request permissions from your administrator if you cannot access features (see [Troubleshooting IAM Roles Anywhere identity and access](security_iam_troubleshoot.md))
+ **Service administrator** - determine user access and submit permission requests (see [How IAM Roles Anywhere works with IAM](security_iam_service-with-iam.md))
+ **IAM administrator** - write policies to manage access (see [Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md))
## Authenticating with identities
Authentication is how you sign in to AWS using your identity credentials. You must be authenticated as the AWS account root user, an IAM user, or by assuming an IAM role.
You can sign in as a federated identity using credentials from an identity source like AWS IAM Identity Center (IAM Identity Center), single sign-on authentication, or Google/Facebook credentials. For more information about signing in, see [How to sign in to your AWS account](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/signin/latest/userguide/how-to-sign-in.html) in the *AWS Sign-In User Guide*.
For programmatic access, AWS provides an SDK and CLI to cryptographically sign requests. For more information, see [AWS Signature Version 4 for API requests](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_sigv.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### AWS account root user
When you create an AWS account, you begin with one sign-in identity called the AWS account *root user* that has complete access to all AWS services and resources. We strongly recommend that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks. For tasks that require root user credentials, see [Tasks that require root user credentials](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_root-user.html#root-user-tasks) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Federated identity
As a best practice, require human users to use federation with an identity provider to access AWS services using temporary credentials.
A *federated identity* is a user from your enterprise directory, web identity provider, or Directory Service that accesses AWS services using credentials from an identity source. Federated identities assume roles that provide temporary credentials.
For centralized access management, we recommend AWS IAM Identity Center. For more information, see [What is IAM Identity Center?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/singlesignon/latest/userguide/what-is.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.
### IAM users and groups
An *[IAM user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_users.html)* is an identity with specific permissions for a single person or application. We recommend using temporary credentials instead of IAM users with long-term credentials. For more information, see [Require human users to use federation with an identity provider to access AWS using temporary credentials](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html#bp-users-federation-idp) in the *IAM User Guide*.
An [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_groups.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_groups.html) specifies a collection of IAM users and makes permissions easier to manage for large sets of users. For more information, see [Use cases for IAM users](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/gs-identities-iam-users.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### IAM roles
An *[IAM role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html)* is an identity with specific permissions that provides temporary credentials. You can assume a role by [switching from a user to an IAM role (console)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_use_switch-role-console.html) or by calling an AWS CLI or AWS API operation. For more information, see [Methods to assume a role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_manage-assume.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
IAM roles are useful for federated user access, temporary IAM user permissions, cross-account access, cross-service access, and applications running on Amazon EC2. For more information, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Managing access using policies
You control access in AWS by creating policies and attaching them to AWS identities or resources. A policy defines permissions when associated with an identity or resource. AWS evaluates these policies when a principal makes a request. Most policies are stored in AWS as JSON documents. For more information about JSON policy documents, see [Overview of JSON policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html#access_policies-json) in the *IAM User Guide*.
Using policies, administrators specify who has access to what by defining which **principal** can perform **actions** on what **resources**, and under what **conditions**.
By default, users and roles have no permissions. An IAM administrator creates IAM policies and adds them to roles, which users can then assume. IAM policies define permissions regardless of the method used to perform the operation.
### Identity-based policies
Identity-based policies are JSON permissions policy documents that you attach to an identity (user, group, or role). These policies control what actions identities can perform, on which resources, and under what conditions. To learn how to create an identity-based policy, see [Define custom IAM permissions with customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
Identity-based policies can be *inline policies* (embedded directly into a single identity) or *managed policies* (standalone policies attached to multiple identities). To learn how to choose between managed and inline policies, see [Choose between managed policies and inline policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-choosing-managed-or-inline.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Resource-based policies
Resource-based policies are JSON policy documents that you attach to a resource. Examples include IAM *role trust policies* and Amazon S3 *bucket policies*. In services that support resource-based policies, service administrators can use them to control access to a specific resource. You must [specify a principal](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_principal.html) in a resource-based policy.
Resource-based policies are inline policies that are located in that service. You can't use AWS managed policies from IAM in a resource-based policy.
### Other policy types
AWS supports additional policy types that can set the maximum permissions granted by more common policy types:
+ **Permissions boundaries** – Set the maximum permissions that an identity-based policy can grant to an IAM entity. For more information, see [Permissions boundaries for IAM entities](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_boundaries.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Service control policies (SCPs)** – Specify the maximum permissions for an organization or organizational unit in AWS Organizations. For more information, see [Service control policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_manage_policies_scps.html) in the *AWS Organizations User Guide*.
+ **Resource control policies (RCPs)** – Set the maximum available permissions for resources in your accounts. For more information, see [Resource control policies (RCPs)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_manage_policies_rcps.html) in the *AWS Organizations User Guide*.
+ **Session policies** – Advanced policies passed as a parameter when creating a temporary session for a role or federated user. For more information, see [Session policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html#policies_session) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Multiple policy types
When multiple types of policies apply to a request, the resulting permissions are more complicated to understand. To learn how AWS determines whether to allow a request when multiple policy types are involved, see [Policy evaluation logic](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_evaluation-logic.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
# How IAM Roles Anywhere works with IAM
Before you use IAM to manage access to IAM Roles Anywhere, learn what IAM features are available to use with IAM Roles Anywhere.
**IAM features you can use with AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere**
| IAM feature | IAM Roles Anywhere support |
| --- | --- |
| [Identity-based policies](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies) | Yes |
| [Resource-based policies](#security_iam_service-with-iam-resource-based-policies) | No |
| [Policy actions](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-actions) | Yes |
| [Policy resources](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-resources) | Yes |
| [Policy condition keys](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-conditionkeys) | Yes |
| [ACLs](#security_iam_service-with-iam-acls) | No |
| [ABAC (tags in policies)](#security_iam_service-with-iam-tags) | Partial |
| [Temporary credentials](#security_iam_service-with-iam-roles-tempcreds) | Yes |
| [Principal permissions](#security_iam_service-with-iam-principal-permissions) | Yes |
| [Service roles](#security_iam_service-with-iam-roles-service) | Yes |
| [Service-linked roles](#security_iam_service-with-iam-roles-service-linked) | Yes |
To get a high-level view of how IAM Roles Anywhere and other AWS services work with most IAM features, see [AWS services that work with IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Identity-based policies for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports identity-based policies:** Yes
Identity-based policies are JSON permissions policy documents that you can attach to an identity, such as an IAM user, group of users, or role. These policies control what actions users and roles can perform, on which resources, and under what conditions. To learn how to create an identity-based policy, see [Define custom IAM permissions with customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
With IAM identity-based policies, you can specify allowed or denied actions and resources as well as the conditions under which actions are allowed or denied. To learn about all of the elements that you can use in a JSON policy, see [IAM JSON policy elements reference](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere
To view examples of IAM Roles Anywhere identity-based policies, see [Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md).
## Resource-based policies within IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports resource-based policies:** No
Resource-based policies are JSON policy documents that you attach to a resource. Examples of resource-based policies are IAM *role trust policies* and Amazon S3 *bucket policies*. In services that support resource-based policies, service administrators can use them to control access to a specific resource. For the resource where the policy is attached, the policy defines what actions a specified principal can perform on that resource and under what conditions. You must [specify a principal](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_principal.html) in a resource-based policy. Principals can include accounts, users, roles, federated users, or AWS services.
To enable cross-account access, you can specify an entire account or IAM entities in another account as the principal in a resource-based policy. For more information, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Policy actions for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports policy actions:** Yes
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which **principal** can perform **actions** on what **resources**, and under what **conditions**.
The `Action` element of a JSON policy describes the actions that you can use to allow or deny access in a policy. Include actions in a policy to grant permissions to perform the associated operation.
To see a list of IAM Roles Anywhere actions, see [Actions defined by AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html#awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere-actions-as-permissions) in the *Service Authorization Reference*.
Policy actions in IAM Roles Anywhere use the following prefix before the action:
```
rolesanywhere
```
To specify multiple actions in a single statement, separate them with commas.
```
"Action": [
"rolesanywhere:action1",
"rolesanywhere:action2"
]
```
To view examples of IAM Roles Anywhere identity-based policies, see [Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md).
## Policy resources for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports policy resources:** Yes
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which **principal** can perform **actions** on what **resources**, and under what **conditions**.
The `Resource` JSON policy element specifies the object or objects to which the action applies. As a best practice, specify a resource using its [Amazon Resource Name (ARN)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference-arns.html). For actions that don't support resource-level permissions, use a wildcard (\$1) to indicate that the statement applies to all resources.
```
"Resource": "*"
```
To see a list of IAM Roles Anywhere resource types and their ARNs, see [Resources defined by AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html#awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere-resources-for-iam-policies) in the *Service Authorization Reference*. To learn with which actions you can specify the ARN of each resource, see [Actions defined by AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html#awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere-actions-as-permissions).
To view examples of IAM Roles Anywhere identity-based policies, see [Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md).
## Policy condition keys for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports service-specific policy condition keys:** Yes
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which **principal** can perform **actions** on what **resources**, and under what **conditions**.
The `Condition` element specifies when statements execute based on defined criteria. You can create conditional expressions that use [condition operators](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition_operators.html), such as equals or less than, to match the condition in the policy with values in the request. To see all AWS global condition keys, see [AWS global condition context keys](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_condition-keys.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
To see a list of IAM Roles Anywhere condition keys, see [Condition keys for AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html#awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere-policy-keys) in the *Service Authorization Reference*. To learn with which actions and resources you can use a condition key, see [Actions defined by AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html#awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere-actions-as-permissions).
To view examples of IAM Roles Anywhere identity-based policies, see [Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere](security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.md).
## Access control lists (ACLs) in IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports ACLs:** No
Access control lists (ACLs) control which principals (account members, users, or roles) have permissions to access a resource. ACLs are similar to resource-based policies, although they do not use the JSON policy document format.
## Attribute-based access control (ABAC) with IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports ABAC (tags in policies):** Partial
Attribute-based access control (ABAC) is an authorization strategy that defines permissions based on attributes called tags. You can attach tags to IAM entities and AWS resources, then design ABAC policies to allow operations when the principal's tag matches the tag on the resource.
To control access based on tags, you provide tag information in the [condition element](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition.html) of a policy using the `aws:ResourceTag/key-name`, `aws:RequestTag/key-name`, or `aws:TagKeys` condition keys.
If a service supports all three condition keys for every resource type, then the value is **Yes** for the service. If a service supports all three condition keys for only some resource types, then the value is **Partial**.
For more information about ABAC, see [Define permissions with ABAC authorization](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/introduction_attribute-based-access-control.html) in the *IAM User Guide*. To view a tutorial with steps for setting up ABAC, see [Use attribute-based access control (ABAC)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/tutorial_attribute-based-access-control.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Using Temporary credentials with IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports temporary credentials:** Yes
Temporary credentials provide short-term access to AWS resources and are automatically created when you use federation or switch roles. AWS recommends that you dynamically generate temporary credentials instead of using long-term access keys. For more information, see [Temporary security credentials in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_temp.html) and [AWS services that work with IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Cross-service principal permissions for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports forward access sessions (FAS):** Yes
Forward access sessions (FAS) use the permissions of the principal calling an AWS service, combined with the requesting AWS service to make requests to downstream services. For policy details when making FAS requests, see [Forward access sessions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_forward_access_sessions.html).
## Service roles for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports service roles:** Yes
A service role is an [IAM role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html) that a service assumes to perform actions on your behalf. An IAM administrator can create, modify, and delete a service role from within IAM. For more information, see [Create a role to delegate permissions to an AWS service](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_create_for-service.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
**Warning**
Changing the permissions for a service role might break IAM Roles Anywhere functionality. Edit service roles only when IAM Roles Anywhere provides guidance to do so.
## Service-linked roles for IAM Roles Anywhere
**Supports service-linked roles:** Yes
A service-linked role is a type of service role that is linked to an AWS service. The service can assume the role to perform an action on your behalf. Service-linked roles appear in your AWS account and are owned by the service. An IAM administrator can view, but not edit the permissions for service-linked roles.
For details about creating or managing service-linked roles, see [AWS services that work with IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html). Find a service in the table that includes a `Yes` in the **Service-linked role** column. Choose the **Yes** link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.
# Identity-based policy examples for IAM Roles Anywhere
By default, users and roles don't have permission to create or modify IAM Roles Anywhere resources. To grant users permission to perform actions on the resources that they need, an IAM administrator can create IAM policies.
To learn how to create an IAM identity-based policy by using these example JSON policy documents, see [Create IAM policies (console)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create-console.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
For details about actions and resource types defined by IAM Roles Anywhere, including the format of the ARNs for each of the resource types, see [Actions, resources, and condition keys for AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_awsidentityandaccessmanagementrolesanywhere.html) in the *Service Authorization Reference*.
**Topics**
+ [
## Policy best practices
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-policy-best-practices)
+ [
## Using the IAM Roles Anywhere console
](#security_iam_id-based-policy-examples-console)
+ [
## Allow users to view their own permissions
](#security_iam_id-based-policy-examples-view-own-permissions)
## Policy best practices
Identity-based policies determine whether someone can create, access, or delete IAM Roles Anywhere resources in your account. These actions can incur costs for your AWS account. When you create or edit identity-based policies, follow these guidelines and recommendations:
+ **Get started with AWS managed policies and move toward least-privilege permissions** – To get started granting permissions to your users and workloads, use the *AWS managed policies* that grant permissions for many common use cases. They are available in your AWS account. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining AWS customer managed policies that are specific to your use cases. For more information, see [AWS managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#aws-managed-policies) or [AWS managed policies for job functions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_job-functions.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Apply least-privilege permissions** – When you set permissions with IAM policies, grant only the permissions required to perform a task. You do this by defining the actions that can be taken on specific resources under specific conditions, also known as *least-privilege permissions*. For more information about using IAM to apply permissions, see [ Policies and permissions in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Use conditions in IAM policies to further restrict access** – You can add a condition to your policies to limit access to actions and resources. For example, you can write a policy condition to specify that all requests must be sent using SSL. You can also use conditions to grant access to service actions if they are used through a specific AWS service, such as CloudFormation. For more information, see [ IAM JSON policy elements: Condition](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Use IAM Access Analyzer to validate your IAM policies to ensure secure and functional permissions** – IAM Access Analyzer validates new and existing policies so that the policies adhere to the IAM policy language (JSON) and IAM best practices. IAM Access Analyzer provides more than 100 policy checks and actionable recommendations to help you author secure and functional policies. For more information, see [Validate policies with IAM Access Analyzer](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access-analyzer-policy-validation.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Require multi-factor authentication (MFA)** – If you have a scenario that requires IAM users or a root user in your AWS account, turn on MFA for additional security. To require MFA when API operations are called, add MFA conditions to your policies. For more information, see [ Secure API access with MFA](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_mfa_configure-api-require.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
For more information about best practices in IAM, see [Security best practices in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Using the IAM Roles Anywhere console
To access the AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere console, you must have a minimum set of permissions. These permissions must allow you to list and view details about the IAM Roles Anywhere resources in your AWS account. If you create an identity-based policy that is more restrictive than the minimum required permissions, the console won't function as intended for entities (users or roles) with that policy.
You don't need to allow minimum console permissions for users that are making calls only to the AWS CLI or the AWS API. Instead, allow access to only the actions that match the API operation that they're trying to perform.
To ensure that users and roles can still use the IAM Roles Anywhere console, also attach the IAM Roles Anywhere `ConsoleAccess` or `ReadOnly` AWS managed policy to the entities. For more information, see [Adding permissions to a user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_users_change-permissions.html#users_change_permissions-add-console) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Allow users to view their own permissions
This example shows how you might create a policy that allows IAM users to view the inline and managed policies that are attached to their user identity. This policy includes permissions to complete this action on the console or programmatically using the AWS CLI or AWS API.
```
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "ViewOwnUserInfo",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"iam:GetUserPolicy",
"iam:ListGroupsForUser",
"iam:ListAttachedUserPolicies",
"iam:ListUserPolicies",
"iam:GetUser"
],
"Resource": ["arn:aws:iam::*:user/${aws:username}"]
},
{
"Sid": "NavigateInConsole",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"iam:GetGroupPolicy",
"iam:GetPolicyVersion",
"iam:GetPolicy",
"iam:ListAttachedGroupPolicies",
"iam:ListGroupPolicies",
"iam:ListPolicyVersions",
"iam:ListPolicies",
"iam:ListUsers"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
# Troubleshooting IAM Roles Anywhere identity and access
Use the following information to help you diagnose and fix common issues that you might encounter when working with IAM Roles Anywhere and IAM.
**Topics**
+ [
## I am not authorized to perform an action in IAM Roles Anywhere
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-no-permissions)
+ [
## I am not authorized to perform iam:PassRole
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-passrole)
+ [
## I want to view my access keys
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-access-keys)
+ [
## I'm an administrator and want to allow others to access IAM Roles Anywhere
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-admin-delegate)
+ [
## I want to allow people outside of my AWS account to access my IAM Roles Anywhere resources
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-cross-account-access)
+ [
## Invalidating a IAM Roles Anywhere session
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-invalidate-session)
## I am not authorized to perform an action in IAM Roles Anywhere
If the AWS Management Console tells you that you're not authorized to perform an action, then you must contact your administrator for assistance. Your administrator is the person that provided you with your user name and password.
The following example error occurs when the `mateojackson` IAM user tries to use the console to view details about a fictional `my-example-widget` resource but does not have the fictional `rolesanywhere:GetWidget` permissions.
```
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/mateojackson is not authorized to perform: rolesanywhere:GetWidget on resource: my-example-widget
```
In this case, Mateo asks his administrator to update his policies to allow him to access the `my-example-widget` resource using the `rolesanywhere:GetWidget` action.
## I am not authorized to perform iam:PassRole
If you receive an error that you're not authorized to perform the `iam:PassRole` action, your policies must be updated to allow you to pass a role to IAM Roles Anywhere.
Some AWS services allow you to pass an existing role to that service instead of creating a new service role or service-linked role. To do this, you must have permissions to pass the role to the service.
The following example error occurs when an IAM user named `marymajor` tries to use the console to perform an action in IAM Roles Anywhere. However, the action requires the service to have permissions that are granted by a service role. Mary does not have permissions to pass the role to the service.
```
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/marymajor is not authorized to perform: iam:PassRole
```
In this case, Mary's policies must be updated to allow her to perform the `iam:PassRole` action.
If you need help, contact your AWS administrator. Your administrator is the person who provided you with your sign-in credentials.
## I want to view my access keys
After you create your IAM user access keys, you can view your access key ID at any time. However, you can't view your secret access key again. If you lose your secret key, you must create a new access key pair.
Access keys consist of two parts: an access key ID (for example, `AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE`) and a secret access key (for example, `wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY`). Like a user name and password, you must use both the access key ID and secret access key together to authenticate your requests. Manage your access keys as securely as you do your user name and password.
**Important**
Do not provide your access keys to a third party, even to help [find your canonical user ID](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/accounts/latest/reference/manage-acct-identifiers.html#FindCanonicalId). By doing this, you might give someone permanent access to your AWS account.
When you create an access key pair, you are prompted to save the access key ID and secret access key in a secure location. The secret access key is available only at the time you create it. If you lose your secret access key, you must add new access keys to your IAM user. You can have a maximum of two access keys. If you already have two, you must delete one key pair before creating a new one. To view instructions, see [Managing access keys](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_access-keys.html#Using_CreateAccessKey) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## I'm an administrator and want to allow others to access IAM Roles Anywhere
To allow others to access IAM Roles Anywhere, you must grant permission to the people or applications that need access. If you are using AWS IAM Identity Center to manage people and applications, you assign permission sets to users or groups to define their level of access. Permission sets automatically create and assign IAM policies to IAM roles that are associated with the person or application. For more information, see [Permission sets](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/singlesignon/latest/userguide/permissionsetsconcept.html) in the *AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide*.
If you are not using IAM Identity Center, you must create IAM entities (users or roles) for the people or applications that need access. You must then attach a policy to the entity that grants them the correct permissions in IAM Roles Anywhere. After the permissions are granted, provide the credentials to the user or application developer. They will use those credentials to access AWS. To learn more about creating IAM users, groups, policies, and permissions, see [IAM Identities](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id.html) and [Policies and permissions in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## I want to allow people outside of my AWS account to access my IAM Roles Anywhere resources
You can create a role that users in other accounts or people outside of your organization can use to access your resources. You can specify who is trusted to assume the role. For services that support resource-based policies or access control lists (ACLs), you can use those policies to grant people access to your resources.
To learn more, consult the following:
+ To learn whether IAM Roles Anywhere supports these features, see [How IAM Roles Anywhere works with IAM](security_iam_service-with-iam.md).
+ To learn how to provide access to your resources across AWS accounts that you own, see [Providing access to an IAM user in another AWS account that you own](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_aws-accounts.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn how to provide access to your resources to third-party AWS accounts, see [Providing access to AWS accounts owned by third parties](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_third-party.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn how to provide access through identity federation, see [Providing access to externally authenticated users (identity federation)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_federated-users.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn the difference between using roles and resource-based policies for cross-account access, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Invalidating a IAM Roles Anywhere session
You can invalidate a IAM Roles Anywhere session if you need to revoke access for certificates issued by AWS Private Certificate Authority (AWS Private CA) or another certificate authority.
**To invalidate a IAM Roles Anywhere session**
1. To get an updated certificate revocation list (CRL), do one of the following:
+ If you use AWS Private CA, see [Revoking IAM role session permissions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_use_revoke-sessions.html#revoke-session).
+ If you use a different certificate authority:
1. Follow their documentation for revoking certificate access and invalidating sessions.
1. Request a new CRL from your certificate authority.
1. After you get your updated CRL, import it using one of the following:
+ The [ImportCrl](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rolesanywhere/latest/APIReference/API_ImportCrl.html) API operation
+ The [import-crl](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/rolesanywhere/import-crl.html) AWS CLI command
# Using service-linked roles for IAM Roles Anywhere
AWS Identity and Access Management Roles Anywhere uses IAM[ service-linked roles](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_terms-and-concepts.html#iam-term-service-linked-role). A service-linked role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to IAM Roles Anywhere. Service-linked roles are predefined by IAM Roles Anywhere and include all the permissions that the service requires to publish CloudWatch metrics and ensure the private certificate authorities you use as trust anchors can be accessed as part of authenticating with IAM Roles Anywhere. They also ensure that you receive auditing information regarding IAM Roles Anywhere. Service-linked roles are different from the roles that you configure for the service and obtain temporary credentials for.
A service-linked role makes setting up IAM Roles Anywhere easier because you don’t have to manually add the necessary permissions. IAM Roles Anywhere defines the permissions of its service-linked roles. Unless defined otherwise, only IAM Roles Anywhere can assume its service-linked roles. The defined permissions include the trust policy and the permissions policy. The permissions policy cannot be attached to any other IAM entity.
You can delete a service-linked role only after first deleting its related resources. This protects your IAM Roles Anywhere resources because you can't inadvertently remove permission to access the resources.
For information about other services that support service-linked roles, see [AWS services that work with IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html) and look for the services that have **Yes **in the **Service-linked roles** column. Choose a **Yes** with a link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.
## Service-linked role permissions for IAM Roles Anywhere
IAM Roles Anywhere uses the service-linked role named **AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere** which allows IAM Roles Anywhere to publish CloudWatch metrics and check the configuration of AWS Private CA in your account. This service-linked role has an IAM policy attached to it named [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rolesanywhere/latest/userguide/security-iam-awsmanpol.html#security-iam-awsmanpol-AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rolesanywhere/latest/userguide/security-iam-awsmanpol.html#security-iam-awsmanpol-AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere).
The AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
+ `rolesanywhere.amazonaws.com`
The role permissions policy named AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy allows IAM Roles Anywhere to complete the following actions on the specified resources:
+ Actions on CloudWatch:
+ `cloudwatch:PutMetricData` – Allows IAM Roles Anywhere to publish metric data points to the `AWS/RolesAnywhere` and `AWS/Usage` namespaces.
+ Actions on AWS Private CA:
+ `acm-pca:GetCertificateAuthorityCertificate` – Allows IAM Roles Anywhere to retrieve the certificate and certificate chain for your private certificate authority.
+ `acm-pca:DescribeCertificateAuthority` – Allows IAM Roles Anywhere to list information about your private certificate authority.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:PutMetricData"
],
"Resource": "*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"cloudwatch:namespace": [
"AWS/RolesAnywhere",
"AWS/Usage"
]
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"acm-pca:GetCertificateAuthorityCertificate",
"acm-pca:DescribeCertificateAuthority"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:acm-pca:*:*:*"
}
]
}
```
------
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:PutMetricData"
],
"Resource": "*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"cloudwatch:namespace": [
"AWS/RolesAnywhere",
"AWS/Usage"
]
}
}
}
]
}
```
------
You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. For more information, see [Service-linked role permissions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#service-linked-role-permissions) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Creating a service-linked role for IAM Roles Anywhere
You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you create your first trust anchor in the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API, IAM Roles Anywhere creates the service-linked role for you.
If you delete this service-linked role, and then need to create it again, you can use the same process to recreate the role in your account. Note that credentials will still be issued, but metrics will not be reported.
You can also use the IAM console to create a service-linked role when you have trust anchors in your account but no service-linked role. In the AWS CLI or the AWS API, create a service-linked role with the `rolesanywhere.amazonaws.com` service name. For more information, see [Creating a service-linked role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#create-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*. If you delete this service-linked role, you can use this same process to create the role again.
## Editing a service-linked role for IAM Roles Anywhere
IAM Roles Anywhere does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere service-linked role. After you create a service-linked role, you cannot change the name of the role because various entities might reference the role. However, you can edit the description of the role using IAM. For more information, see [Editing a service-linked role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#edit-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Deleting a service-linked role for IAM Roles Anywhere
If you no longer need to use a feature or service that requires a service-linked role, we recommend that you delete that role. That way you don’t have an unused entity that is not actively monitored or maintained. However, you must clean up the resources for your service-linked role before you can manually delete it.
**Note**
If IAM Roles Anywhere is using the role when you try to delete the resources, then the deletion might fail. If that happens, wait for a few minutes and try the operation again.
**To delete IAM Roles Anywhere resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere**
+ Delete all trust anchors in your account in all Regions that contain them.
**To manually delete the service-linked role using IAM**
+ For information about using the IAM console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForRolesAnywhere service-linked role, see [Deleting a service-linked role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#delete-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Supported regions for IAM Roles Anywhere service-linked roles
IAM Roles Anywhere supports using service-linked roles in all of the regions where the service is available. For more information, see [AWS regions and endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html).
****
| Region name | Region identity | Support in IAM Roles Anywhere |
| --- | --- | --- |
| US East (N. Virginia) | us-east-1 | Yes |
| US East (Ohio) | us-east-2 | Yes |
| US West (N. California) | us-west-1 | Yes |
| US West (Oregon) | us-west-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai) | ap-south-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Osaka) | ap-northeast-3 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Seoul) | ap-northeast-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore) | ap-southeast-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney) | ap-southeast-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo) | ap-northeast-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) | ap-east-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Jakarta) | ap-southeast-3 | Yes |
| Canada (Central) | ca-central-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Frankfurt) | eu-central-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Ireland) | eu-west-1 | Yes |
| Europe (London) | eu-west-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Paris) | eu-west-3 | Yes |
| Europe (Milan) | eu-south-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Stockholm) | eu-north-1 | Yes |
| Africa (Cape Town) | af-south-1 | Yes |
| South America (São Paulo) | sa-east-1 | Yes |
| Middle East (Bahrain) | me-south-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) | ap-south-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Zurich) | eu-central-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Spain) | eu-south-2 | Yes |
| Middle East (UAE) | me-central-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Melbourne) | ap-southeast-4 | Yes |
| Israel (Tel Aviv) | il-central-1 | Yes |
| Canada West (Calgary) | ca-west-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Thailand) | ap-southeast-7 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Malaysia) | ap-southeast-5 | Yes |
| Mexico (Central) | mx-central-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Taipei) | ap-east-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (New Zealand) | ap-southeast-6 | Yes |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West) | us-gov-west-1 | Yes |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East) | us-gov-east-1 | Yes |
# AWS managed policies for IAM Roles Anywhere
An AWS managed policy is a standalone policy that is created and administered by AWS. AWS managed policies are designed to provide permissions for many common use cases so that you can start assigning permissions to users, groups, and roles.
Keep in mind that AWS managed policies might not grant least-privilege permissions for your specific use cases because they're available for all AWS customers to use. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining [ customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#customer-managed-policies) that are specific to your use cases.
You cannot change the permissions defined in AWS managed policies. If AWS updates the permissions defined in an AWS managed policy, the update affects all principal identities (users, groups, and roles) that the policy is attached to. AWS is most likely to update an AWS managed policy when a new AWS service is launched or new API operations become available for existing services.
For more information, see [AWS managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#aws-managed-policies) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## AWS managed policy: AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy
AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy provides the required permissions to publish metrics data to CloudWatch namespaces (`AWS/RolesAnywhere` and `AWS/Usage`). This policy also grants permissions to list information about your private certificate authority (CA) and retrieve the certificate and certificate chain for your private CA from AWS Private CA.
You can't attach AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy to your IAM entities. This policy is attached to a service-linked role that allows IAM Roles Anywhere to perform actions on your behalf. For more information, see [ Service-linked role permissions for IAM Roles Anywhere](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rolesanywhere/latest/userguide/using-service-linked-roles.html#slr-permissions).
This policy grants administrative permissions that allow IAM Roles Anywhere to publish CloudWatch metrics and check the configuration of AWS Private CA.
**Permissions details**
This policy includes the following permissions.
+ `cloudwatch` – Allows principals to publish metric data points to the `AWS/RolesAnywhere` and `AWS/Usage` namespaces.
+ `acm-pca` – Allows principals to list information about your private certificate authority (CA) and retrieve the certificate and certificate chain for your private CA from AWS Private CA.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:PutMetricData"
],
"Resource": "*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"cloudwatch:namespace": [
"AWS/RolesAnywhere",
"AWS/Usage"
]
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"acm-pca:GetCertificateAuthorityCertificate",
"acm-pca:DescribeCertificateAuthority"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:acm-pca:*:*:*"
}
]
}
```
------
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:PutMetricData"
],
"Resource": "*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"cloudwatch:namespace": [
"AWS/RolesAnywhere",
"AWS/Usage"
]
}
}
}
]
}
```
------
For more information and definition of this policy, see: [AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AWSRolesAnywhereServicePolicy.html).
## AWS managed policy: AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess
This policy provides all permissions to IAM Roles Anywhere resources, including but not limited to: CreateProfile, DeleteTrustAnchor, DisableCRL, ResetNotificationSettings.
You can attach the AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess policy to your IAM identities.
This policy grants full access permissions that allow users to view, create, update, and delete all IAM Roles Anywhere resources.
**Permissions details**
This policy includes the following permissions:
+ `rolesanywhere` – Allows principals to perform all actions on IAM Roles Anywhere resources including trust anchors, profiles, CRLs, subjects, and notification settings.
+ `iam:PassRole` – Allows principals to pass a role to IAM Roles Anywhere.
+ `iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole` – Allows principals to create the service-linked role for IAM Roles Anywhere. This permission is needed when the service-linked role doesn't exist in the account yet.
For more information and definition of this policy, see [AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess.html).
## AWS managed policy: AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly
This policy provides read-only permissions to IAM Roles Anywhere resources, including but not limited to: GetTrustAnchor, ListProfiles, GetCRL.
You can attach the AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly policy to your IAM identities.
This policy grants read-only permissions that allow users to view IAM Roles Anywhere resources but not modify them.
**Permissions details**
This policy includes the following permissions:
+ `rolesanywhere` – Allows principals to view all IAM Roles Anywhere resources including trust anchors, profiles, CRLs, and subjects.
For more information and definition of this policy, see [AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly.html).
## IAM Roles Anywhere updates to AWS managed policies
View details about updates to AWS managed policies for IAM Roles Anywhere since this service began tracking these changes. For automatic alerts about changes to this page, subscribe to the RSS feed on the IAM Roles Anywhere [ Document history](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rolesanywhere/latest/userguide/doc-history.html) page.
| Change | Description | Date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AWSRolesAnywhereFullAccess) – New policy | IAM Roles Anywhere added a new policy to allow users to grant full access IAM Roles Anywhere permissions to principals in a standardized way. | July 16, 2025 |
| [AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AWSRolesAnywhereReadOnly) – New policy | IAM Roles Anywhere added a new policy to allow users to grant read only IAM Roles Anywhere permissions to principals in a standardized way. | July 16, 2025 |
| IAM Roles Anywhere started tracking changes | IAM Roles Anywhere started tracking changes for its AWS managed policies. | February 27, 2023 |