What is IAM?

IAM is a globally resilient web service that helps you securely control access to AWS resources.

• IAM is where you manage your AWS users and their access to AWS accounts and services.

• IAM is commonly used to manage:

  • Users

  • Groups

  • IAM Access Policies

  • Roles

• Note: The user created when you created the AWS account is called the "root" user.

• By default, the root user has full administrative rights and access to every part of the account.

• By default, any new users you create in the AWS accounts are created with no access to any AWS services.

• For all users (besides the root user), permissions must be given that grant access to AWS services.

IAM Groups

An IAM group is a collection of IAM users. Groups allow you to set and manage permissions for multiple users at the same time.

• Groups are a more convenient and efficient way to manage account permissions.

• A user can have access to up to 10 groups. One user can be part of several groups.

IAM Roles

A role that a service assumes to perform actions on your behalf is called a service role. Allows EC2 instances to call AWS services on your behalf. For example, you can an EC2 instance to store all the log files in an S3 bucket.

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