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AWS: Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management

This course will focus on one of the key security services, AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). It is meant to provide learners with an introduction to and some deeper level content on AWS IAM

4 weeks
1–4 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
This course is archived

About this course

Skip About this course

Security should be your first priority when developing cloud native applications.

The goal of this course is to provide you with foundational knowledge and skills that will enable you to grow in your use of both AWS IAM and the rest of the AWS ecosystem. Throughout the course, the focus will be on the base-level knowledge needed for understanding the functionality of IAM, and simple ways to implement its usage.

We start by introducing you to some background concepts needed to understand how and why identity and access management are necessary, and then go on to show you the first level of AWS IAM components. Through the rest of the course, you will see deeper dives into those and other concepts. The class closes by providing best practices and troubleshooting tips and tools.

While progressing through the course, make sure you are taking advantage of the activities, assessments, and provided notes. They will be great for reinforcing the concepts covered during that week, as well as providing great locations to bookmark for faster reference as you continue growing and learning after the course.

We expect that you have basic knowledge of AWS already. Some examples of concepts you should be familiar with are: you should know the basics of the AWS Global infrastructure, like what regions and availability zones are. You should also understand what an Amazon EC2 instance is, what Amazon S3 is, what a VPC is, as well as other basic AWS terminology.

At a glance

  • Institution: AWS
  • Subject: Computer Science
  • Level: Introductory
  • Prerequisites:

    We expect that you have basic knowledge of AWS already. Some examples of concepts you should be familiar with are: you should know the basics of the AWS Global infrastructure, like what regions and availability zones are. You also should know the at a high-level AWS Identity and Access Management, or IAM, and how it is used to control access to AWS resources. You should also understand what an Amazon EC2 instance is, what Amazon S3 is, what a VPC is, as well as other basic AWS terminology.

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated skills:Troubleshooting (Problem Solving), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Infrastructure, Cloud-Native Computing, Amazon S3, AWS Identity And Access Management (IAM), Amazon Web Services, Identity And Access Management

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • Understand the need for AWS IAM
  • Create AWS IAM users, groups, roles, and policies
  • Identify best practices for using AWS IAM
  • Troubleshoot access permission issues

Week 1: The Basics

  • Welcome to Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management [4 minutes]
    • Video: Welcome to Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management [1 minute]
    • Video: Meet Your Instructors [2 minutes]
    • Video: Welcome to Week 1 [1 minute]
  • Introduction to identity and access management [24 minutes]

    • Video: What is Identity and Access Management [3 minutes]
    • Video: Authentication and Authorization [6 minutes]
    • Readings: Introduction to Identity and Access Management [15 minutes]
    • Key Concepts to AWS Identity and Access Management [1 hour 53 minutes]

    • Video: What is AWS Identity and Access Management [3 minutes]

    • Video: AWS Identities [3 minutes]

    • Video: AWS IAM Users and Groups [8 minutes]

    • Video: AWS IAM Users and Groups Demo [10 minutes]
    • Video: Introduction to AWS IAM Roles [5 minutes]
    • Video: Introduction to AWS IAM Policies [7 minutes]
    • Video: Introduction to Identity Federation [4 minutes]
    • Video: Introduction to Amazon EC2 [4 minutes]
    • Video: Introduction to Amazon S3 [3 minutes]
    • Video: AWS Command Line Interface [4 minutes]
    • Readings: Key Concepts to AWS Identity and Access Management [40 minutes]
    • Activity: Match concepts to their definitions [7 minutes]
    • Assessment: Week 1 Assessment [15 minutes]

Week 2: Access Management and Policies* [2 hours 21 minutes] *

  • Introduction to Access Management [43 minutes]

    • Video: Welcome to Week 2 [1 minute]
    • Video: Access Management [3 minutes]
    • Video: Resources [5 minutes]
    • Video: Tags [4 minutes]
    • Readings: Basics of Access Management [30 minutes]
    • Understanding Policies [1hr 38 minutes]

    • Video: AWS IAM Policies [7 minutes]

    • Video: AWS IAM Policy Types Part 1 [5 minutes]

    • Video: AWS IAM Policy Types Part 2 [6 minutes]

    • Video: Policy Examples [6 minutes]
    • Video: Evaluation Logic [7 minutes]
    • Video: Policy Creator and Generator Demo [9 minutes]
    • Activity: Building Policies [10 minutes]
    • Video: Lab 1 Introduction [3 minutes]
    • Assessment: Week 2 Assessment [15 minutes]
    • Readings: Understanding Policies [30 minutes]

Week 3: Roles* [1 hour 42 minutes] *

  • Core Concepts for Roles [50 minutes]

    • Video: Welcome to Week 3 [1 minute]
    • Video: What are AWS IAM Roles [4 minutes]
    • Video: What is AWS STS [5 minutes]
    • Video: Creating a Role Demo [6 minutes]
    • Video: User Assuming a Role Demo [6 minutes]
    • Video: Common Use Cases [3 minutes]
    • Video: Role Trust Policies [3 minutes]
    • Video: Cross Account Access Demo [7 minutes]
    • Readings: Core Concepts for Roles [15 minutes]
    • Utilizing Roles [52 minutes]

    • Video: Introduction to AWS Lambda [3 minutes]

    • Video: Lambda and Roles Demo [6 minutes]

    • Video: Amazon EC2 and Roles Demo [8 minutes]

    • Video: Service-linked Roles [5 minutes]
    • Video: Use Case – Federation, Roles, and You [3 minutes]
    • Video: Lab 2 Introduction [2 minutes]
    • Assessment: Week 3 Assessment [15 minutes]
    • Readings: Utilizing Roles [10 minutes]

Week 4: Best Practices and Troubleshooting* [1 hour 58 minutes] *

  • Best Practices and Troubleshooting [1 hour 58 minutes]
    • Video: Welcome to Week 4 [1 minute]
    • Video: General Best Practices [5 minutes]
    • Video: AWS SSO [5 minutes]
    • Video: Monitoring AWS IAM Activity with AWS CloudTrail [5 minutes]
    • Video: Troubleshooting Demo Part 1 [5 minutes]
    • Video: Troubleshooting Demo Part 2 [6 minutes]
    • Activity: Best Practices vs. Troubleshooting [10 minutes]
    • Assessment: Week 4 Assessment [10 minutes]
    • Readings: Best Practices and Troubleshooting [40 minutes]
    • Assessment: Final Assessment [30 minutes]
    • Video: Course Outro [1 minute]

Frequently Asked Questions

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Q. Are there any costs associated with this course?
A. Learners can register for the course in an Audit track or Verified Certificate track. The Audit track is free, but limits the duration of access to 6 weeks from registration. The Verified Certificate track costs $169 and provides full access to course content for the duration. Please visit edx.org for more information.

In addition to course registration costs, this course provides optional hands-on exercises which may have an associated charge in your AWS account. Please familiarize yourself with the AWS Free Tier at aws.amazon.com/free/.

Please note that the AWS Free Tier also has a limit on the amount of resources that you can consume before you begin accruing charges. If you perform these hands-on exercises, there is a chance you may incur charges on your AWS account. Please visit the AWS Free Tier page for more information.

Q. Do I need a credit card to create an AWS Account?
A. Yes, you will need a credit card to activate your AWS account.

Q. How much time will this course require?
A. If following the weekly schedule, learners should plan to spend 2-4 hours per week on this course. However, learners may complete the course at their own pace.

Q. Will I receive a certificate for this course?
A. Learners enrolled in the Verified Certificate path will receive a certificate upon successful completion of the course.

Q. What is the grading policy for this course?
A. All learners may take weekly quizzes, which are not graded and allow unlimited retries.

Learners in the Verified Certificate track are able to take the final course assessment in the course. Passing the final assessment is required to obtain the Verified Certificate.

Learners in the Audit track will not have access to the final assessment, and will not be able to earn a certificate.

Q. How are discussions used in this course?
A. This course has discussion groups aligned to each week of the course. We encourage learners to ask questions or offer suggestions and feedback. AWS Instructors will monitor the discussion groups to answer questions specific to the exercises and topics covered in the course.

Q. Will this course help me prepare for an AWS Certification?
A. Earning an AWS Certification typically requires both knowledge and experience. While this course, if taken in isolation, will provide you with relevant information and skills, it likely will not equip you to earn an AWS Certification. For more information about AWS Certifications, including recommended training and experience requirements, visit aws.amazon.com/certification.

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