How AWS IoT works with IAM
Before you use IAM to manage access to AWS IoT, you should understand which IAM features are available to use with AWS IoT. To get a high-level view of how AWS IoT and other AWS services work with IAM, see AWS Services That Work with IAM in the IAM User Guide.
Topics
AWS IoT identity-based policies
With IAM identity-based policies, you can specify allowed or denied actions and resources as well as the conditions under which actions are allowed or denied. AWS IoT supports specific actions, resources, and condition keys. To learn about all of the elements that you use in a JSON policy, see IAM JSON Policy Elements Reference in the IAM User Guide.
Actions
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which principal can perform actions on what resources, and under what conditions.
The Action
element of a JSON policy describes the
actions that you can use to allow or deny access in a policy. Policy
actions usually have the same name as the associated AWS API operation. There are some exceptions, such as permission-only
actions that don't have a matching API operation. There are also some operations that require multiple actions in a policy.
These additional actions are called dependent actions.
Include actions in a policy to grant permissions to perform the associated operation.
The following table lists the IAM IoT actions, the associated AWS IoT API, and the resource the action manipulates.
Policy actions | AWS IoT API | Resources |
---|---|---|
iot:AcceptCertificateTransfer | AcceptCertificateTransfer |
NoteThe AWS account specified in the ARN must be the account to which the certificate is being transferred. |
iot:AddThingToThingGroup | AddThingToThingGroup |
|
iot:AssociateTargetsWithJob | AssociateTargetsWithJob | none |
iot:AttachPolicy | AttachPolicy |
or
|
iot:AttachPrincipalPolicy | AttachPrincipalPolicy |
|
iot:AttachSecurityProfile | AttachSecurityProfile |
|
iot:AttachThingPrincipal | AttachThingPrincipal |
|
iot:CancelCertificateTransfer | CancelCertificateTransfer |
NoteThe AWS account specified in the ARN must be the account to which the certificate is being transferred. |
iot:CancelJob | CancelJob |
|
iot:CancelJobExecution | CancelJobExecution |
|
iot:ClearDefaultAuthorizer | ClearDefaultAuthorizer | None |
iot:CreateAuthorizer | CreateAuthorizer |
|
iot:CreateCertificateFromCsr | CreateCertificateFromCsr | * |
iot:CreateDimension | CreateDimension |
|
iot:CreateJob | CreateJob |
|
iot:CreateJobTemplate | CreateJobTemplate |
|
iot:CreateKeysAndCertificate | CreateKeysAndCertificate | * |
iot:CreatePolicy | CreatePolicy |
|
iot:CreatePolicyVersion | CreatePolicyVersion |
NoteThis must be an AWS IoT policy, not an IAM policy. |
iot:CreateRoleAlias | CreateRoleAlias |
(parameter: roleAlias)
|
iot:CreateSecurityProfile | CreateSecurityProfile |
|
iot:CreateThing | CreateThing |
|
iot:CreateThingGroup | CreateThingGroup |
for group being created and for parent group, if used |
iot:CreateThingType | CreateThingType |
|
iot:CreateTopicRule | CreateTopicRule |
|
iot:DeleteAuthorizer | DeleteAuthorizer |
|
iot:DeleteCACertificate | DeleteCACertificate |
|
iot:DeleteCertificate | DeleteCertificate |
|
iot:DeleteDimension | DeleteDimension |
|
iot:DeleteJob | DeleteJob |
|
iot:DeleteJobTemplate | DeleteJobTemplate |
|
iot:DeleteJobExecution | DeleteJobExecution |
|
iot:DeletePolicy | DeletePolicy |
|
iot:DeletePolicyVersion | DeletePolicyVersion |
|
iot:DeleteRegistrationCode | DeleteRegistrationCode | * |
iot:DeleteRoleAlias | DeleteRoleAlias |
|
iot:DeleteSecurityProfile | DeleteSecurityProfile |
|
iot:DeleteThing | DeleteThing |
|
iot:DeleteThingGroup | DeleteThingGroup |
|
iot:DeleteThingType | DeleteThingType |
|
iot:DeleteTopicRule | DeleteTopicRule |
|
iot:DeleteV2LoggingLevel | DeleteV2LoggingLevel |
|
iot:DeprecateThingType | DeprecateThingType |
|
iot:DescribeAuthorizer | DescribeAuthorizer |
(parameter: authorizerName) none |
iot:DescribeCACertificate | DescribeCACertificate |
|
iot:DescribeCertificate | DescribeCertificate |
|
iot:DescribeDefaultAuthorizer | DescribeDefaultAuthorizer | None |
iot:DescribeEndpoint | DescribeEndpoint | * |
iot:DescribeEventConfigurations | DescribeEventConfigurations | none |
iot:DescribeIndex | DescribeIndex |
|
iot:DescribeJob | DescribeJob |
|
iot:DescribeJobExecution | DescribeJobExecution | None |
iot:DescribeJobTemplate | DescribeJobTemplate |
|
iot:DescribeRoleAlias | DescribeRoleAlias |
|
iot:DescribeThing | DescribeThing |
|
iot:DescribeThingGroup | DescribeThingGroup |
|
iot:DescribeThingRegistrationTask | DescribeThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:DescribeThingType | DescribeThingType |
|
iot:DetachPolicy | DetachPolicy |
or
|
iot:DetachPrincipalPolicy | DetachPrincipalPolicy |
|
iot:DetachSecurityProfile | DetachSecurityProfile |
|
iot:DetachThingPrincipal | DetachThingPrincipal |
|
iot:DisableTopicRule | DisableTopicRule |
|
iot:EnableTopicRule | EnableTopicRule |
|
iot:GetEffectivePolicies | GetEffectivePolicies |
|
iot:GetIndexingConfiguration | GetIndexingConfiguration | None |
iot:GetJobDocument | GetJobDocument |
|
iot:GetLoggingOptions | GetLoggingOptions | * |
iot:GetPolicy | GetPolicy |
|
iot:GetPolicyVersion | GetPolicyVersion |
|
iot:GetRegistrationCode | GetRegistrationCode | * |
iot:GetTopicRule | GetTopicRule |
|
iot:ListAttachedPolicies | ListAttachedPolicies |
or
|
iot:ListAuthorizers | ListAuthorizers | None |
iot:ListCACertificates | ListCACertificates | * |
iot:ListCertificates | ListCertificates | * |
iot:ListCertificatesByCA | ListCertificatesByCA | * |
iot:ListIndices | ListIndices | None |
iot:ListJobExecutionsForJob | ListJobExecutionsForJob | None |
iot:ListJobExecutionsForThing | ListJobExecutionsForThing | None |
iot:ListJobs | ListJobs |
if thingGroupName parameter used |
iot:ListJobTemplates | ListJobs | None |
iot:ListOutgoingCertificates | ListOutgoingCertificates | * |
iot:ListPolicies | ListPolicies | * |
iot:ListPolicyPrincipals | ListPolicyPrincipals | * |
iot:ListPolicyVersions | ListPolicyVersions |
|
iot:ListPrincipalPolicies | ListPrincipalPolicies |
|
iot:ListPrincipalThings | ListPrincipalThings |
|
iot:ListRoleAliases | ListRoleAliases | None |
iot:ListTargetsForPolicy | ListTargetsForPolicy |
|
iot:ListThingGroups | ListThingGroups | None |
iot:ListThingGroupsForThing | ListThingGroupsForThing |
|
iot:ListThingPrincipals | ListThingPrincipals |
|
iot:ListThingRegistrationTaskReports | ListThingRegistrationTaskReports | None |
iot:ListThingRegistrationTasks | ListThingRegistrationTasks | None |
iot:ListThingTypes | ListThingTypes | * |
iot:ListThings | ListThings | * |
iot:ListThingsInThingGroup | ListThingsInThingGroup |
|
iot:ListTopicRules | ListTopicRules | * |
iot:ListV2LoggingLevels | ListV2LoggingLevels | None |
iot:RegisterCACertificate | RegisterCACertificate | * |
iot:RegisterCertificate | RegisterCertificate | * |
iot:RegisterThing | RegisterThing | None |
iot:RejectCertificateTransfer | RejectCertificateTransfer |
|
iot:RemoveThingFromThingGroup | RemoveThingFromThingGroup |
|
iot:ReplaceTopicRule | ReplaceTopicRule |
|
iot:SearchIndex | SearchIndex |
|
iot:SetDefaultAuthorizer | SetDefaultAuthorizer |
|
iot:SetDefaultPolicyVersion | SetDefaultPolicyVersion |
|
iot:SetLoggingOptions | SetLoggingOptions |
|
iot:SetV2LoggingLevel | SetV2LoggingLevel |
|
iot:SetV2LoggingOptions | SetV2LoggingOptions |
|
iot:StartThingRegistrationTask | StartThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:StopThingRegistrationTask | StopThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:TestAuthorization | TestAuthorization |
|
iot:TestInvokeAuthorizer | TestInvokeAuthorizer | None |
iot:TransferCertificate | TransferCertificate |
|
iot:UpdateAuthorizer | UpdateAuthorizer |
|
iot:UpdateCACertificate | UpdateCACertificate |
|
iot:UpdateCertificate | UpdateCertificate |
|
iot:UpdateDimension | UpdateDimension |
|
iot:UpdateEventConfigurations | UpdateEventConfigurations | None |
iot:UpdateIndexingConfiguration | UpdateIndexingConfiguration | None |
iot:UpdateRoleAlias | UpdateRoleAlias |
|
iot:UpdateSecurityProfile | UpdateSecurityProfile |
|
iot:UpdateThing | UpdateThing |
|
iot:UpdateThingGroup | UpdateThingGroup |
|
iot:UpdateThingGroupsForThing | UpdateThingGroupsForThing |
|
Policy actions in AWS IoT use the following prefix before the action:
iot:
. For example, to grant someone permission to list
all IoT things registered in their AWS account with the ListThings
API, you include the iot:ListThings
action in their policy. Policy
statements must include either an Action
or NotAction
element. AWS IoT defines its own set of actions that describe tasks that you
can perform with this service.
To specify multiple actions in a single statement, separate them with commas as follows:
"Action": [ "ec2:action1", "ec2:action2"
You can specify multiple actions using wildcards (*). For example, to specify all
actions that begin with the word Describe
, include the following
action:
"Action": "iot:Describe*"
To see a list of AWS IoT actions, see Actions Defined by AWS IoT in the IAM User Guide.
Device Advisor actions
The following table lists the IAM IoT Device Advisor actions, the associated AWS IoT Device Advisor API, and the resource the action manipulates.
Policy actions | AWS IoT API | Resources |
---|---|---|
iotdeviceadvisor:CreateSuiteDefinition | CreateSuiteDefinition |
None |
iotdeviceadvisor:DeleteSuiteDefinition | DeleteSuiteDefinition |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:GetSuiteDefinition | GetSuiteDefinition |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:GetSuiteRun | GetSuiteRun |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:GetSuiteRunReport | GetSuiteRunReport |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:ListSuiteDefinitions | ListSuiteDefinitions | None |
iotdeviceadvisor:ListSuiteRuns | ListSuiteRuns |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:ListTagsForResource | ListTagsForResource |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:StartSuiteRun | StartSuiteRun |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:TagResource | TagResource |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:UntagResource | UntagResource |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:UpdateSuiteDefinition | UpdateSuiteDefinition |
|
iotdeviceadvisor:StopSuiteRun | StopSuiteRun |
|
Policy actions in AWS IoT Device Advisor use the following prefix before the
action: iotdeviceadvisor:
. For example, to grant someone permission
to list all suite definitions registered in their AWS account with the
ListSuiteDefinitions API, you include the
iotdeviceadvisor:ListSuiteDefinitions
action in their
policy.
Resources
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which principal can perform actions on what resources, and under what conditions.
The Resource
JSON policy element specifies the object or objects to which the action applies. Statements must include either a
Resource
or a NotResource
element. As a best practice, specify a resource using its Amazon Resource Name (ARN). You can do this for actions that support a
specific resource type, known as resource-level permissions.
For actions that don't support resource-level permissions, such as listing operations, use a wildcard (*) to indicate that the statement applies to all resources.
"Resource": "*"
Policy actions | AWS IoT API | Resources |
---|---|---|
iot:AcceptCertificateTransfer | AcceptCertificateTransfer |
NoteThe AWS account specified in the ARN must be the account to which the certificate is being transferred. |
iot:AddThingToThingGroup | AddThingToThingGroup |
|
iot:AssociateTargetsWithJob | AssociateTargetsWithJob | None |
iot:AttachPolicy | AttachPolicy |
or
|
iot:AttachPrincipalPolicy | AttachPrincipalPolicy |
|
iot:AttachThingPrincipal | AttachThingPrincipal |
|
iot:CancelCertificateTransfer | CancelCertificateTransfer |
NoteThe AWS account specified in the ARN must be the account to which the certificate is being transferred. |
iot:CancelJob | CancelJob |
|
iot:CancelJobExecution | CancelJobExecution |
|
iot:ClearDefaultAuthorizer | ClearDefaultAuthorizer | None |
iot:CreateAuthorizer | CreateAuthorizer |
|
iot:CreateCertificateFromCsr | CreateCertificateFromCsr | * |
iot:CreateJob | CreateJob |
|
iot:CreateJobTemplate | CreateJobTemplate |
|
iot:CreateKeysAndCertificate | CreateKeysAndCertificate | * |
iot:CreatePolicy | CreatePolicy |
|
CreatePolicyVersion | iot:CreatePolicyVersion |
NoteThis must be an AWS IoT policy, not an IAM policy. |
iot:CreateRoleAlias | CreateRoleAlias |
(parameter: roleAlias)
|
iot:CreateThing | CreateThing |
|
iot:CreateThingGroup | CreateThingGroup |
for group being created and for parent group, if used |
iot:CreateThingType | CreateThingType |
|
iot:CreateTopicRule | CreateTopicRule |
|
iot:DeleteAuthorizer | DeleteAuthorizer |
|
iot:DeleteCACertificate | DeleteCACertificate |
|
iot:DeleteCertificate | DeleteCertificate |
|
iot:DeleteJob | DeleteJob |
|
iot:DeleteJobExecution | DeleteJobExecution |
|
iot:DeleteJobTemplate | DeleteJobTemplate |
|
iot:DeletePolicy | DeletePolicy |
|
iot:DeletePolicyVersion | DeletePolicyVersion |
|
iot:DeleteRegistrationCode | DeleteRegistrationCode | * |
iot:DeleteRoleAlias | DeleteRoleAlias |
|
iot:DeleteThing | DeleteThing |
|
iot:DeleteThingGroup | DeleteThingGroup |
|
iot:DeleteThingType | DeleteThingType |
|
iot:DeleteTopicRule | DeleteTopicRule |
|
iot:DeleteV2LoggingLevel | DeleteV2LoggingLevel |
|
iot:DeprecateThingType | DeprecateThingType |
|
iot:DescribeAuthorizer | DescribeAuthorizer |
(parameter: authorizerName) none |
iot:DescribeCACertificate | DescribeCACertificate |
|
iot:DescribeCertificate | DescribeCertificate |
|
iot:DescribeDefaultAuthorizer | DescribeDefaultAuthorizer | None |
iot:DescribeEndpoint | DescribeEndpoint | * |
iot:DescribeEventConfigurations | DescribeEventConfigurations | none |
iot:DescribeIndex | DescribeIndex |
|
iot:DescribeJob | DescribeJob |
|
iot:DescribeJobExecution | DescribeJobExecution | None |
iot:DescribeJobTemplate | DescribeJobTemplate |
|
iot:DescribeRoleAlias | DescribeRoleAlias |
|
iot:DescribeThing | DescribeThing |
|
iot:DescribeThingGroup | DescribeThingGroup |
|
iot:DescribeThingRegistrationTask | DescribeThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:DescribeThingType | DescribeThingType |
|
iot:DetachPolicy | DetachPolicy |
or
|
iot:DetachPrincipalPolicy | DetachPrincipalPolicy |
|
iot:DetachThingPrincipal | DetachThingPrincipal |
|
iot:DisableTopicRule | DisableTopicRule |
|
iot:EnableTopicRule | EnableTopicRule |
|
iot:GetEffectivePolicies | GetEffectivePolicies |
|
iot:GetIndexingConfiguration | GetIndexingConfiguration | None |
iot:GetJobDocument | GetJobDocument |
|
iot:GetLoggingOptions | GetLoggingOptions | * |
iot:GetPolicy | GetPolicy |
|
iot:GetPolicyVersion | GetPolicyVersion |
|
iot:GetRegistrationCode | GetRegistrationCode | * |
iot:GetTopicRule | GetTopicRule |
|
iot:ListAttachedPolicies | ListAttachedPolicies |
or
|
iot:ListAuthorizers | ListAuthorizers | None |
iot:ListCACertificates | ListCACertificates | * |
iot:ListCertificates | ListCertificates | * |
iot:ListCertificatesByCA | ListCertificatesByCA | * |
iot:ListIndices | ListIndices | None |
iot:ListJobExecutionsForJob | ListJobExecutionsForJob | None |
iot:ListJobExecutionsForThing | ListJobExecutionsForThing | None |
iot:ListJobs | ListJobs |
if thingGroupName parameter used |
iot:ListJobTemplates | ListJobTemplates | None |
iot:ListOutgoingCertificates | ListOutgoingCertificates | * |
iot:ListPolicies | ListPolicies | * |
iot:ListPolicyPrincipals | ListPolicyPrincipals |
|
iot:ListPolicyVersions | ListPolicyVersions |
|
iot:ListPrincipalPolicies | ListPrincipalPolicies |
|
iot:ListPrincipalThings | ListPrincipalThings |
|
iot:ListRoleAliases | ListRoleAliases | None |
iot:ListTargetsForPolicy | ListTargetsForPolicy |
|
iot:ListThingGroups | ListThingGroups | None |
iot:ListThingGroupsForThing | ListThingGroupsForThing |
|
iot:ListThingPrincipals | ListThingPrincipals |
|
iot:ListThingRegistrationTaskReports | ListThingRegistrationTaskReports | None |
iot:ListThingRegistrationTasks | ListThingRegistrationTasks | None |
iot:ListThingTypes | ListThingTypes | * |
iot:ListThings | ListThings | * |
iot:ListThingsInThingGroup | ListThingsInThingGroup |
|
iot:ListTopicRules | ListTopicRules | * |
iot:ListV2LoggingLevels | ListV2LoggingLevels | None |
iot:RegisterCACertificate | RegisterCACertificate | * |
iot:RegisterCertificate | RegisterCertificate | * |
iot:RegisterThing | RegisterThing | None |
iot:RejectCertificateTransfer | RejectCertificateTransfer |
|
iot:RemoveThingFromThingGroup | RemoveThingFromThingGroup |
|
iot:ReplaceTopicRule | ReplaceTopicRule |
|
iot:SearchIndex | SearchIndex |
|
iot:SetDefaultAuthorizer | SetDefaultAuthorizer |
|
iot:SetDefaultPolicyVersion | SetDefaultPolicyVersion |
|
iot:SetLoggingOptions | SetLoggingOptions | * |
iot:SetV2LoggingLevel | SetV2LoggingLevel | * |
iot:SetV2LoggingOptions | SetV2LoggingOptions | * |
iot:StartThingRegistrationTask | StartThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:StopThingRegistrationTask | StopThingRegistrationTask | None |
iot:TestAuthorization | TestAuthorization |
|
iot:TestInvokeAuthorizer | TestInvokeAuthorizer | None |
iot:TransferCertificate | TransferCertificate |
|
iot:UpdateAuthorizer | UpdateAuthorizer |
|
iot:UpdateCACertificate | UpdateCACertificate |
|
iot:UpdateCertificate | UpdateCertificate |
|
iot:UpdateEventConfigurations | UpdateEventConfigurations | None |
iot:UpdateIndexingConfiguration | UpdateIndexingConfiguration | None |
iot:UpdateRoleAlias | UpdateRoleAlias |
|
iot:UpdateThing | UpdateThing |
|
iot:UpdateThingGroup | UpdateThingGroup |
|
iot:UpdateThingGroupsForThing | UpdateThingGroupsForThing |
|
For more information about the format of ARNs, see Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) and AWS Service Namespaces.
Some AWS IoT actions, such as those for creating resources, cannot be performed on a specific resource. In those cases, you must use the wildcard (*).
"Resource": "*"
To see a list of AWS IoT resource types and their ARNs, see Resources Defined by AWS IoT in the IAM User Guide. To learn with which actions you can specify the ARN of each resource, see Actions Defined by AWS IoT.
Device Advisor resources
To define resource-level restrictions for AWS IoT Device Advisor IAM policies, use the following resource ARN formats for suite definitions and suite runs.
- Suite definition resource ARN format
-
arn:aws:iotdeviceadvisor:
region
:account-id
:suitedefinition/suite-definition-id
- Suite run resource ARN format
-
arn:aws:iotdeviceadvisor:
region
:account-id
:suiterun/suite-definition-id
/suite-run-id
Condition keys
Administrators can use AWS JSON policies to specify who has access to what. That is, which principal can perform actions on what resources, and under what conditions.
The Condition
element (or Condition
block) lets you specify conditions in which a
statement is in effect. The Condition
element is optional. You can create
conditional expressions that use condition
operators, such as equals or less than, to match the condition in the
policy with values in the request.
If you specify multiple Condition
elements in a statement, or
multiple keys in a single Condition
element, AWS evaluates them using
a logical AND
operation. If you specify multiple values for a single
condition key, AWS evaluates the condition using a logical OR
operation. All of the conditions must be met before the statement's permissions are
granted.
You can also use placeholder variables when you specify conditions. For example, you can grant an IAM user permission to access a resource only if it is tagged with their IAM user name. For more information, see IAM policy elements: variables and tags in the IAM User Guide.
AWS supports global condition keys and service-specific condition keys. To see all AWS global condition keys, see AWS global condition context keys in the IAM User Guide.
AWS IoT defines its own set of condition keys and also supports using some global condition keys. To see all AWS global condition keys, see AWS Global Condition Context Keys in the IAM User Guide.
AWS IoT condition keys | Description | Type |
---|---|---|
aws:RequestTag/${ |
A tag key that is present in the request that the user makes to AWS IoT. | String |
aws:ResourceTag/${ |
The tag key component of a tag attached to an AWS IoT resource. | String |
aws:TagKeys |
The list of all the tag key names associated with the resource in the request. | String |
To see a list of AWS IoT condition keys, see Condition Keys for AWS IoT in the IAM User Guide. To learn with which actions and resources you can use a condition key, see Actions Defined by AWS IoT.
Examples
To view examples of AWS IoT identity-based policies, see AWS IoT identity-based policy examples.
AWS IoT resource-based policies
Resource-based policies are JSON policy documents that specify what actions a specified principal can perform on the AWS IoT resource and under what conditions.
AWS IoT does not support IAM resource-based policies. It does, however, support AWS IoT resource-based policies. For more information, see AWS IoT Core policies.
Authorization based on AWS IoT tags
You can attach tags to AWS IoT resources or pass tags in a request to
AWS IoT. To control access based on tags, you provide tag information in the
condition
element of a policy using the
iot:ResourceTag/
,
key-name
aws:RequestTag/
, or
key-name
aws:TagKeys
condition keys. For more information, see Using tags with IAM policies. For more information
about tagging AWS IoT resources, see Tagging your AWS IoT resources.
To view an example identity-based policy for limiting access to a resource based on the tags on that resource, see Viewing AWS IoT resources based on tags.
AWS IoT IAM roles
An IAM role is an entity within your AWS account that has specific permissions.
Using temporary credentials with AWS IoT
You can use temporary credentials to sign in with federation, assume an IAM role, or to assume a cross-account role. You obtain temporary security credentials by calling AWS STS API operations such as AssumeRole or GetFederationToken.
AWS IoT supports using temporary credentials.
Service-linked roles
Service-linked roles allow AWS services to access resources in other services to complete an action on your behalf. Service-linked roles appear in your IAM account and are owned by the service. An IAM administrator can view but not edit the permissions for service-linked roles.
AWS IoT does not supports service-linked roles.
Service roles
This feature allows a service to assume a service role on your behalf. This role allows the service to access resources in other services to complete an action on your behalf. Service roles appear in your IAM account and are owned by the account. This means that an IAM administrator can change the permissions for this role. However, doing so might break the functionality of the service.