Mastering AWS IAM: A Guided Lab Exploration
Mastering AWS IAM: A Guided Lab Exploration
This lab provides a hands-on exploration of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), focusing on users, groups, and policies. We'll walk through a practical scenario, adding users to groups and verifying their inherited permissions. By the end, you'll understand how to manage user access and secure your AWS resources effectively.
Task 1: Exploring Pre-created IAM Users, Groups, and Policies
This section involves examining pre-configured IAM users and groups to understand their default settings and associated policies. We will analyze the permissions granted to these entities, forming a foundation for subsequent tasks.
Exploring Users
Three users—user-1, user-2, and user-3—were pre-created for this lab. Let's investigate user-1:
- Zero Permissions Policies: Initially,
user-1lacks any explicit permissions policies. This means they cannot access any AWS services until added to a group or assigned specific policies. - No Group Membership:
user-1is not a member of any groups, further reinforcing their lack of initial permissions. - Console Password Assigned: A console password is assigned, allowing access to the AWS Management Console. However, without additional policies, this access is limited.
Exploring Groups
Three groups exist: EC2-Admin, EC2-Support, and S3-Support. Let's examine EC2-Support:
- Managed Policy: The group utilizes the
AmazonEC2ReadOnlyAccessmanaged policy. - Policy JSON: This policy, defined in JSON, grants read-only access to Amazon EC2, Elastic Load Balancing, EC2 Auto Scaling, and CloudWatch. It's ideal for support roles.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:Describe*",
"ec2:GetSecurityGroupsForVpc"
],
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:ListMetrics",
"cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
"cloudwatch:Describe*"
],
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "autoscaling:Describe*",
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
The S3-Support group similarly uses the AmazonS3ReadOnlyAccess policy, granting read-only access to S3 buckets.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:Get*",
"s3:List*",
"s3:Describe*",
"s3-object-lambda:Get*",
"s3-object-lambda:List*"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
The EC2-Admin group has the EC2-Admin-Policy, allowing description, starting, and stopping of EC2 instances (with limitations based on instance type).
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Condition": {
"ForAllValues:StringLikeIfExists": {
"ec2:InstanceType": [
"*.nano",
"*.micro"
]
}
},
"Action": [
"ec2:Describe*",
"ec2:StartInstances",
"ec2:StopInstances"
],
"Resource": [
"*"
],
"Effect": "Allow"
}
]
}
Task 2: Adding Users to Groups - A Real-World Scenario
This section simulates a real-world scenario where new employees are assigned roles based on their job functions. We'll add users to the appropriate groups, granting them the necessary permissions.
Adding user-1 to S3-Support
user-1, newly hired S3 support, needs read-only access to S3. Adding them to the S3-Support group achieves this.
Adding user-2 to EC2-Support
Similarly, user-2 (EC2 support) is added to the EC2-Support group.
Adding user-3 to EC2-Admin
Finally, user-3, the EC2 administrator, is added to the EC2-Admin group.
Task 3: Testing User Permissions
Now, let's test the permissions of each user by signing in using their credentials and accessing various AWS services. This practical exercise validates the effectiveness of the IAM configuration.
Signing in as user-1
After signing in with user-1's credentials using the provided sign-in URL, we can observe their access:
- S3 Access:
user-1can view S3 buckets, confirming the read-only access granted via theS3-Supportgroup. - EC2 Access Denied: Attempts to access EC2 services result in an "Access Denied" error, correctly reflecting the lack of EC2 permissions.
Signing in as user-2
Similar steps are followed for user-2. The results highlight their read-only EC2 access and lack of S3 access.
Signing in as user-3
Finally, testing user-3 demonstrates their ability to manage EC2 instances, including starting and stopping them, as expected from their administrative role.
Conclusion
This lab demonstrated the fundamental concepts of IAM user management and policy-based access control. By understanding how to create users, groups, and policies, and by testing the resulting permissions, you can effectively secure your AWS environment and maintain granular control over access to your resources.
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