IAM 101

Question 1

How broad is the IAM namespace?

Answer 1

IAM has a global namespace

Question 2

What permissions does an IAM user have when first created?

Answer 2

A new user has NO permissions when first created (think least privileges)

Question 3

Which account is the root account in IAM?

Answer 3

• The root account is the account created when you first setup your AWS account.

Question 4

What access does the root account have?

Answer 4

The root account has complete admin access (god mode)

Question 5

What are Access Key ID and Secret Access Key used for?

Answer 5

• Access Key ID and Secret Access Key are used for programmatic access (AWS APIs and CLI)…think of it like the username/password for programmatic access
• Access Key ID and Secret Access Key can NOT be used to log in to the console.

Question 6

Can you Access Key ID and Secret Access Key be used to log in to the AWS CLIs/API?

Answer 6

Yes

Question 7

Can your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key be used to log in to the AWS console?

Answer 7

No

Question 8

How are you assigned an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key?

Answer 8

• Access Key ID and Secret Access Key are assigned to new users upon creation
• You can only view them ONCE.

Question 9

If you lose your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key, how can you recover them?

Answer 9

You can’t!

_{(You’ll need to generate a new pair)}