Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a plethora of solutions, where resources can be provisioned across multiple AWS regions and accounts. If you are studying for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) exam, it could be helpful to review this topic. In this article, we’re going to discuss three ways to provision resources across multiple regions and accounts: AWS Resource Access Manager (AWS RAM), CloudFormation StackSets, and Identity and Access Management (IAM) cross-account roles.
1. AWS Resource Access Manager (AWS RAM)
AWS RAM is a service that allows you to share your resources with any AWS account or within your AWS Organization. These resources could include subnets, Transit Gateways, or license configurations, and they could be spread across multiple accounts or even different regions. AWS RAM eliminates the need to create duplicate resources in each account, saving time and effort. Through consolidation of resources, AWS RAM enhances security, governance, and efficiencies.
To share resources, you simply create a resource share, specify the resources to add to it, and specify the principals that can access the resources. Here’s a sample AWS CLI command to create a resource share:
bash
aws ram create-resource-share --name "ExampleResourceShare" --resource-arns arn:aws:resource-type:region:account:resource --principals 123456789012
2. AWS CloudFormation StackSets
CloudFormation StackSets take automation a step further by allowing you to create, update, or delete stacks across multiple accounts and regions with a single AWS CloudFormation template. StackSets is especially useful in a multi-account environment, as it provides centralized control over AWS resources, ensuring compliance and consistent configurations across accounts.
A common use case for StackSets would be to automatically deploy a suite of logs and metrics to every account and region in your organization.
You might define a CloudFormation template that specifies the AWS resources you want to deploy, then use a StackSet to deploy the corresponding stacks to the required accounts and regions.
3. IAM Cross-Account Roles
IAM cross-account roles enable you to delegate access to your AWS resources without the need to share your root or long-term credentials. By using IAM roles, you can define access permissions specifying who can assume the role, and what actions they can perform when they assume the role.
IAM roles are useful when you have multiple AWS accounts. Instead of managing individual IAM users in each account, you can create an IAM role in your secondary account, then grant your primary AWS account permissions to assume that role.
To create a cross-account access role via AWS CLI, you use the following command:
bash
aws iam create-role --role-name ExampleRole --assume-role-policy-document file://TrustPolicy.json
In conclusion, AWS provides several options – AWS RAM, CloudFormation StackSets, and IAM cross-account roles – to manage resources across multiple regions and accounts in a secure, efficient, and scalable manner. Understanding these options and how to use them is crucial for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate (SOA-C02) exam, as well as for practical application in handling AWS multi-account environments.
Practice Test
True or False: AWS RAM cannot share resources with other AWS accounts.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: AWS RAM allows you to share your AWS resources with any AWS account or within your AWS organization.
In CloudFormation StackSets, what does the administrator account do?
- a) Define and manage AWS CloudFormation stacks
- b) Share the execution role to manage StackSets
- c) Implement and manage any StackSet
Answer: a) Define and manage AWS CloudFormation stacks
Explanation: The administrator account is the AWS account where you create AWS CloudFormation StackSets and define and manage AWS CloudFormation stacks.
What does IAM cross-account roles help with in AWS?
- a) Help to control access to your AWS resources
- b) Allow you to share your resources with only specific AWS accounts
- c) Help to restrict the deletion of your resources
Answer: a) Help to control access to your AWS resources
Explanation: IAM cross-account roles allow the delegation of permissions to IAM users in another AWS account, thus controlling access to your AWS resources.
True or False: It is impossible to grant IAM users in your account access to resources in other AWS accounts.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: You can grant access by using resource-based policies or IAM roles.
What is the main purpose of AWS Resource Access Manager (AWS RAM)?
- a) Sharing resources among multiple AWS accounts
- b) Managing resources among multiple AWS accounts
- c) Replicating resources across multiple AWS accounts
Answer: a) Sharing resources among multiple AWS accounts
Explanation: AWS RAM is a service that enables you to share your resources with any AWS accounts or within your AWS organization.
Can CloudFormation StackSets extend CloudFormation to manage stacks over multiple accounts and regions?
- a) Yes
- b) No
Answer: a) Yes
Explanation: CloudFormation StackSets allows you to create, update or delete stacks across multiple accounts and regions with a single operation.
True or False: You can use AWS RAM to share transit gateways and subnets across multiple AWS accounts and regions.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: AWS RAM allows you to share specific types of resources with other accounts, including transit gateways and subnets.
Where do you define the execution role for CloudFormation StackSet operations?
- a) In the target accounts
- b) In the master account
- c) Across all accounts
Answer: a) In the target accounts
Explanation: The execution role is a specific IAM role in target accounts that grants permission for stack operations.
Is it possible to assume IAM roles from another AWS account?
- a) Yes
- b) No
Answer: a) Yes
Explanation: IAM roles allows for delegation of permissions to IAM users in another AWS account which they can assume.
True or False: AWS RAM does not permit resource sharing with organizational units (OUs).
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: AWS RAM supports resource sharing with your entire organization, organizational units, or specific AWS accounts.
Interview Questions
What is AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM)?
AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) is a service that enables you to easily and securely share AWS resources with any AWS account or, if you have enabled sharing within your AWS Organizations, with organizational units (OUs) within your organization.
What does CloudFormation StackSets allow?
AWS CloudFormation StackSets enables you to create, update, or delete stacks across multiple accounts and regions with a single AWS CloudFormation template.
What is AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)?
AWS IAM is a service that allows you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely. With IAM, you create and manage AWS users and groups, and use permissions to grant or deny their access to AWS resources.
How can you use IAM roles for cross-account access?
IAM roles for cross-account access enable you to delegate access to your AWS resources without sharing your AWS security credentials. Instead, you grant the second account permissions to assume a role that you have defined, and then the users in that account can use the role’s permissions to access your resources.
How can you share resources using AWS RAM?
In AWS RAM, you create a Resource Share to define the resources you want to share and with whom you want to share them. You can share resources with AWS accounts, organizational units, or AWS Organizations.
Can you share resources across all AWS services using AWS RAM?
No, not all AWS resources can be shared using AWS RAM. There is a defined list of shareable resource types for each AWS service.
What are the key features of AWS CloudFormation StackSets?
CloudFormation StackSets allows you to create, update, or delete stacks across multiple accounts and regions with a single CloudFormation template. It extends the functionality of stacks to manage resources across multiple accounts and regions, supporting the full set of stack capabilities, and provides a number of additional features such as stack set operations and stack instance status.
Can IAM policies be used to provide secure cross-account access?
Yes, IAM policies can be used to provide secure cross-account access. You can create resource-based policies and attach them to the specified resource or you can attach identity-based policies to the cross-account role in the trusting account.
What is the primary benefit of using AWS RAM for resource sharing?
AWS RAM simplifies the process of sharing your resources. It eliminates the need for creating duplicate resources in multiple accounts which saves on cost and reduces the overhead of managing those resources in each individual account.
How do you manage AWS resources across multiple accounts using CloudFormation StackSets?
To manage AWS resources across multiple accounts using CloudFormation StackSets, you first create an AWS CloudFormation template, and then create a stack set from the template. You specify the accounts (and, optionally, the regions) where you want to create stacks based on that template.
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