AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) Command Line Interface (CLI) Examples (with examples)
AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) is a service that provides secure access control for AWS resources. It allows you to manage users, groups, roles, and policies to control who can access and perform actions on your AWS resources. The AWS CLI provides a convenient way to interact with IAM using the aws iam command. In this article, we will explore eight different use cases of the aws iam command, along with code examples for each.
Use Case 1: Show aws iam Help Page
Code:
aws iam help
Motivation:
The aws iam help command is useful when you want to refer to the documentation or need assistance with any IAM-related commands. It provides a comprehensive list of available IAM CLI commands and their descriptions.
Example Output:
The command will display the AWS IAM CLI help page, including all available IAM commands and their descriptions.
Use Case 2: List Users
Code:
aws iam list-users
Motivation:
The aws iam list-users command allows you to list all the IAM users in your AWS account. This can be useful when you want to gather information about all the users present in your account or perform operations on specific users.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing information about all the IAM users in your AWS account, including their usernames, ARNs (Amazon Resource Names), creation dates, and more.
Use Case 3: List Policies
Code:
aws iam list-policies
Motivation:
The aws iam list-policies command is used to list all the IAM policies in your AWS account. IAM policies define permissions for users, groups, and roles, determining what actions they can perform on AWS resources.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing information about all the IAM policies in your AWS account. Each policy includes details such as its name, ARN, default version ID, creation date, and more.
Use Case 4: List Groups
Code:
aws iam list-groups
Motivation:
The aws iam list-groups command allows you to list all the IAM groups in your AWS account. IAM groups are used to logically group users and attach policies to them collectively, simplifying the management of permissions.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing information about all the IAM groups in your AWS account. Each group includes details such as its name, ARN, creation date, and more.
Use Case 5: Get Users in a Group
Code:
aws iam get-group --group-name group_name
Motivation:
The aws iam get-group command retrieves information about a specific IAM group, including the users that are part of the group. This is useful when you want to understand the group’s membership or perform actions on the users belonging to the group.
Arguments:
--group-name: The name of the group for which you want to retrieve information.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing detailed information about the specified IAM group, including its name, ARN, creation date, and the users belonging to the group.
Use Case 6: Describe an IAM Policy
Code:
aws iam get-policy --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/policy_name
Motivation:
The aws iam get-policy command allows you to retrieve detailed information about a specific IAM policy. You can use this command to understand the policy’s permissions and attach it to users, groups, or roles effectively.
Arguments:
--policy-arn: The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the IAM policy you want to describe.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing detailed information about the specified IAM policy, including its name, ARN, default version ID, and the permissions defined within the policy.
Use Case 7: List Access Keys
Code:
aws iam list-access-keys
Motivation:
The aws iam list-access-keys command is used to retrieve a list of access keys associated with the IAM user that runs the command. Access keys are used to authenticate and authorize API requests made to AWS services.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing information about all the access keys associated with the IAM user running the command. This includes details such as the access key ID, status, and the associated IAM user.
Use Case 8: List Access Keys for a Specific User
Code:
aws iam list-access-keys --user-name user_name
Motivation:
The aws iam list-access-keys command can be used to retrieve a list of access keys associated with a specific IAM user. This is useful when you want to manage or audit access keys for a particular user.
Arguments:
--user-name: The name of the IAM user for which you want to retrieve access keys.
Example Output:
The command will return a JSON object containing information about all the access keys associated with the specified IAM user. This includes details such as the access key ID, status, and the associated IAM user.
In this article, we explored eight different use cases of the aws iam command, covering a range of IAM management tasks such as listing users, groups, policies, and access keys. The AWS IAM CLI provides a powerful toolset for managing IAM resources and controlling access to your AWS infrastructure. By leveraging these commands in your CLI workflows, you can automate IAM tasks and improve your overall AWS security posture.
