NotesIAM
IAM
Understand the fundamentals of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), including users, permissions, policies, access keys, MFA, and how AWS securely controls access to resources.
Updated Sep 25, 2026
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AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) Quick Notes
Core Characteristics
- Permissions: Possesses all authorization/permissions that the AWS account and root user have.
- Cost: Completely free (no additional cost).
- Scope: Global service with global resilience (not tied to a specific region).
- Control Boundary: Grants or denies access to identities within its own AWS account. It has no direct control over external accounts or external users.
- Best Practices: Used in combination with Identity Federation and MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication).
IAM Users & Credentials
- Credentials per User: 1 IAM user =
1 username+1 password. - Access Keys:
- An IAM user can have a maximum of two access keys.
- Lifecycle management: Access keys can be created, deleted, made inactive, or made active.
- CLI Configuration: To check or configure the secret access key locally:
aws configure --profile iamadmin-general