Day 10 of 100 Days AWS Cloud Challenge — Mastering AWS IAM Admin: A Comprehensive Guide to AWS Management Console Login, MFA Setup, and URL Alias Management
🎯Day 10 of 100 Days AWS Cloud Challenge🎯
📚 Synopsis
In this blog post, we explore AWS IAM Admin functionalities, guiding readers through essential tasks for robust cloud security. We cover logging in to the AWS Management Console with an IAM Admin user, enabling MFA, changing the URL Alias, validating MFA with the new Alias, and deleting the Alias. Gain cloud security expertise and master AWS IAM Admin capabilities with confidence. Join us for this illuminating journey to strengthen your cloud security!
📋 Prerequisites
- 📌 AWS Root Account (In case you do not have one, To create one follow this blog: AWS Account signup Free Tier Account
- 📌 Internet Connection.
💡 Plan of Execution
- 📌 Introduction
- 📌How to log in with an IAM Admin user to access the AWS Management Console and change the password in the first login?
- 📌How to enable MFA for IAM ADMIN Users?
- 📌How to change the URL Alias?
- 📌 How to validate MFA for IAM ADMIN User with new URL Alias?
- 📌 How to delete the URL Alias?
🥳 conclusion
💡 Plan of Execution:
📌 Introduction:
In the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, maintaining a robust and secure access control system is paramount. This is where AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) Admin comes into play. As a foundational service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), IAM Admin holds the key to managing user access, permissions, and security within the AWS environment.
IAM Admin serves as the gatekeeper, granting or denying users access to specific AWS resources, ensuring data integrity, and safeguarding your cloud infrastructure from unauthorized access. With the ability to create and manage users, groups, roles, and policies, IAM Admin empowers organizations to maintain a strong security posture while providing seamless access to cloud resources for authorized personnel.
📌How to log in with an IAM Admin user to access the AWS Management Console and change the password in the first login?
📌 step-by-step Procedure to login to IAM Admin User account 📌
- Open any browser and access this URL.
- Click on “Sign In to the console”, choose “IAM user”, Provide “Account ID”, Enter “Username and password, and Click on “Sign in”.
3. We must change the password to access the AWS Management Console,
📌 Enter the old password provided by the root user.
📌Enter New password
📌Retype the new password and Click on “Confirm password change”
4. Now, we can able to see the AWS Management Console.
📌How to enable MFA for IAM ADMIN Users?
📌I have explained the importance and why we should enable MFA when we log in to our account and how to enable MFA in a step-by-step process. Click here to access the blog 📌
1. As I don’t have MFA enabled. A Warning will be displayed in the IAM Dashboard.
2. After successfully enabling MFA, an additional layer of security protection becomes visible.
📌How to change the URL Alias?
📌 Easy to remember URL — An alias provides a more user-friendly and memorable domain name for your AWS resources, making it simpler for your customers or users to access your services.
- Sign into the AWS Management Console with your admin user and credentials and then open the “IAM console” or access this URL.
- In the navigation search bar on the top, search for IAM, and then choose IAM.
3. In the IAM Dashboard, from the top right side, under “AWS Account”, we can see Account Alias and click the “Create” button beside the 12-digit Account ID.
📌 Observe Our Account ID will be changed post-creation of the alias. 📌
Ex: sign-in page URL has the following format for Account ID, by default.
🎯 https://Your_Account_ID.signin.aws.amazon.com/console/ 🎯
📌 Our sign-in URL also will be changed post alias creation📌
Ex: sign-in page URL has the following format for Account Alias, by default.
🎯 https://Your_Account_Alias.signin.aws.amazon.com/console/ 🎯
4. In “Create Alias Wizard”, enter the preferred alias as per your request and click on “ Save changes”.
Note: Preferred alias should not be more than 63 characters. Valid characters are a-z, 0–9, and — (hyphen).
5. We have successfully created the alias for the account and received a confirmation of its success.
6. An account alias has been created and copy the URL to validate with MFA.
7. Let’s logout, then re-login with the new URL and validate the MFA.
📌 How to validate MFA for IAM ADMIN User with new URL Alias?
- Now, I’ll be using the new URL (https://rajaram-erraguntla.signin.aws.amazon.com/console) which we created with an alias, and validate the MFA.
- Enter the username, and password, click on “Sign in”, provide the “MFA Code” and click on “Submit”.
3. Upon using the new alias, we have successfully logged in and validated the MFA for the user.
📌 How to delete the URL Alias?
- In the navigation search bar on the top, search for IAM, and then choose IAM.
2. In the IAM Dashboard, from the top right side, under “AWS Account”, we can see Account Alias and click the “delete” button beside Account Alias.
3. A wizard will be opened and Click on the “Delete” Button — This will delete the alias.
4. A successful Alias deleted for this account.
5. Now, we can only log in to the AWS Account using Account ID, as we have deleted the Account Alias. The URL format would be like below.
🥳 conclusion:
As we conclude our journey into AWS IAM Admin functionalities, we’ve equipped you with the tools to bolster your cloud security with confidence. By following the step-by-step guides, you can now effortlessly log in to the AWS Management Console with your IAM Admin user and enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for added protection.
Customizing access with URL Aliases allows you to streamline AWS resource management while validating MFA with the new Alias ensures secure and seamless cloud console access.
With this newfound knowledge and cloud security expertise, you are empowered to take full advantage of AWS IAM Admin capabilities, safeguarding your cloud infrastructure from unauthorized access and potential threats.
Stay vigilant and continue to explore AWS’s robust security features, as the cloud landscape evolves. Embrace the power of AWS IAM, and let it fortify your cloud environment, enabling you to harness the full potential of cloud computing with peace of mind. Securely unlock the limitless possibilities of AWS, and embark on a successful cloud journey!
🙏Thanks for Reading 🙏
🌟 I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to every one of you who took the time to read my blog. I am truly grateful for your presence on this learning journey. 🌟
💡 I would also like to extend an open invitation for feedback. As I continue to share my knowledge and insights, I understand that growth comes from acknowledging and learning from our mistakes. So, if you spot any errors or have suggestions for improvement, I genuinely encourage you to correct me.
