AWS IAM Setup Skill

Configure secure identity and access management for AWS resources.

Quick Reference

Attribute	Value
AWS Service	IAM
Complexity	Medium
Est. Time	15-30 min
Prerequisites	AWS account, admin access

Parameters

Required

Parameter	Type	Description	Validation
entity_type	string	user, role, group, policy	enum
entity_name	string	Name for the entity	^[a-zA-Z0-9+=,.@_-]{1,64}$
action	string	create, update, delete, attach	enum

Optional

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
path	string	/	IAM path for organization
max_session_duration	int	3600	Role session duration (seconds)
permissions_boundary	string	null	ARN of permissions boundary
tags	object	{}	Resource tags

Implementation

Create IAM User

# Create user with console access
aws iam create-user --user-name $USERNAME --path /developers/

# Create access keys
aws iam create-access-key --user-name $USERNAME

# Attach managed policy
aws iam attach-user-policy \
  --user-name $USERNAME \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/PowerUserAccess

Create IAM Role

# Create role with trust policy
aws iam create-role \
  --role-name $ROLE_NAME \
  --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json \
  --max-session-duration 7200

# Attach policy
aws iam attach-role-policy \
  --role-name $ROLE_NAME \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/ReadOnlyAccess

Trust Policy Example

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }
  ]
}

Retry Logic

def iam_operation_with_retry(operation, max_retries=3):
    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        try:
            return operation()
        except iam.exceptions.LimitExceededException:
            time.sleep(2 ** attempt)
    raise Exception("Max retries exceeded")

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Symptom	Cause	Solution
EntityAlreadyExists	Duplicate name	Use unique name or update
MalformedPolicyDocument	Invalid JSON	Validate policy syntax
LimitExceeded	Too many entities	Delete unused or request increase

Debug Checklist

• Policy JSON valid?
• Trust relationship allows assumed principal?
• Path matches organization standards?
• MFA configured for privileged users?

Security Best Practices

1. Least Privilege: Grant minimum required permissions
2. Use Roles: Prefer roles over long-term credentials
3. MFA Required: Enforce MFA for console access
4. No Root Usage: Never use root for daily operations
5. Regular Rotation: Rotate access keys every 90 days

Test Template

def test_iam_role_creation():
    # Arrange
    role_name = "test-role-" + str(uuid.uuid4())[:8]

    # Act
    role = create_iam_role(role_name, trust_policy)

    # Assert
    assert role["Arn"].endswith(role_name)

    # Cleanup
    delete_iam_role(role_name)

Assets

• assets/iam-policies.yaml - Common policy templates

References

• IAM Best Practices
• Policy Reference