Using Service-Linked Roles for Amazon Route 53 Resolver

Route 53 Resolver uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) service-linked roles. A service-linked role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to Resolver. Service-linked roles are predefined by Resolver and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other AWS services on your behalf.

A service-linked role makes setting up Resolver easier because you don’t have to manually add the necessary permissions. Resolver defines the permissions of its service-linked roles, and unless defined otherwise, only Resolver can assume its roles. The defined permissions include the trust policy and the permissions policy, and that permissions policy cannot be attached to any other IAM entity.

You can delete a service-linked role only after first deleting the related resources. This protects your Resolver resources because you can't inadvertently remove permission to access the resources.

For information about other services that support service-linked roles, see AWS Services that Work with IAM and look for the services that have Yes in the Service-Linked Role column. Choose a Yes with a link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.

Service-Linked Role Permissions for Resolver

Resolver uses the AWSServiceRoleForRoute53Resolver service-linked role to deliver query logs on your behalf.

The role permissions policy allows Resolver to complete the following actions on your resources:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Action": [
        "logs:CreateLogDelivery",
        "logs:GetLogDelivery",
        "logs:UpdateLogDelivery",
        "logs:DeleteLogDelivery",
        "logs:ListLogDeliveries",
        "logs:DescribeResourcePolicies",
        "logs:DescribeLogGroups",
        "s3:GetBucketPolicy"
      ],
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. For more information, see Service-Linked Role Permissions in the IAM User Guide.

Creating a Service-Linked Role for Resolver

You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you create a resolver query log configuration association in the Amazon Route 53 console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API, Resolver creates the service-linked role for you.

If you delete this service-linked role, and then need to create it again, you can use the same process to recreate the role in your account. When you create a new Resolver query log configuration association, the AWSServiceRoleForRoute53Resolver service-linked role is created for you again.

Editing a Service-Linked Role for Resolver

Resolver does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForRoute53Resolver service-linked role. After you create a service-linked role, you cannot change the name of the role because various entities might reference the role. However, you can edit the description of the role using IAM. For more information, see Editing a Service-Linked Role in the IAM User Guide.

Deleting a Service-Linked Role for Resolver

If you no longer need to use a feature or service that requires a service-linked role, we recommend that you delete that role. That way you don’t have an unused entity that is not actively monitored or maintained. However, you must clean up the resources for your service-linked role before you can manually delete it.

To manually delete the service-linked role using IAM

Use the IAM console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForRoute53Resolver service-linked role. For more information, see Deleting a Service-Linked Role in the IAM User Guide.

Supported Regions for Resolver Service-Linked Roles

Resolver does not support using service-linked roles in every Region where the service is available. You can use the AWSServiceRoleForRoute53Resolver role in the following Regions.