# Using shared AWS resources
<a name="getting-started-shared"></a>

To start using resources that were shared with your account using AWS Resource Access Manager, complete the following tasks.

**Topics**
+ [Respond to the resource share invitation](#getting-started-shared-respond-invitation)
+ [Use the resources that are shared with you](#getting-started-shared-use-resources)

## Respond to the resource share invitation
<a name="getting-started-shared-respond-invitation"></a>

If you receive an invitation to join a resource share, you must accept it to gain access to the shared resources. 

Invitations aren't used in the following scenarios:
+ If you're part of an organization in AWS Organizations and sharing in your organization is enabled, then principals in the organization automatically get access to the shared resources without invitations.
+ If you share with the AWS account that owns the resource, then the principals in that account automatically get access to the shared resources without invitations.

------
#### [ Console ]

**To respond to invitations**

1. Open the **[Shared with me : Resource shares](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ram/home#SharedResourceShares:)** page in the AWS RAM console.
**Note**  
A resource share is visible in only the AWS Region in which it was created. If an expected resource share doesn't appear in the console, you might need to switch to a different AWS Region using the drop-down control in the upper-right corner.

1. Review the list of resource shares to which you have been granted access.

   The **Status** column indicates your current participation status for the resource share. The `Pending` status indicates that you have been added to a resource share, but you have not yet accepted or rejected the invitation.

1. To respond to the resource share invitation, select the resource share ID and choose **Accept resource share** to accept the invitation, or **Reject resource share** to decline the invitation. If you reject the invitation, you don't get access to the resources. If you accept the invitation, you gain access to the resources.

------
#### [ AWS CLI ]

To start, get a list of the resource share invitations that are available to you. The following example command was run in the `us-west-2` Region, and shows one resource share is available in the `PENDING` state.

```
$ aws ram get-resource-share-invitations
{
    "resourceShareInvitations": [
        {
            "resourceShareInvitationArn": "arn:aws:ram:us-west-2:111122223333:resource-share-invitation/1234abcd-ef12-9876-5432-aaaaaa111111",
            "resourceShareName": "MyNewResourceShare",
            "resourceShareArn": "arn:aws:ram:us-west-2:111122223333:resource-share/1234abcd-ef12-9876-5432-bbbbbb222222",
            "senderAccountId": "111122223333",
            "receiverAccountId": "444455556666",
            "invitationTimestamp": "2021-09-15T15:00:32.568000-07:00",
            "status": "PENDING"
        }
    ]
}
```

You can use the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the invitation from the previous command as a parameter in the next command to accept that invitation.

```
$ aws ram accept-resource-share-invitation \
    --resource-share-invitation-arn arn:aws:ram:us-west-2:111122223333:resource-share-invitation/1234abcd-ef12-9876-5432-aaaaaa111111
{
    "resourceShareInvitation": {
        "resourceShareInvitationArn": "arn:aws:ram:us-west-2:111122223333:resource-share-invitation/1234abcd-ef12-9876-5432-aaaaaa111111",
        "resourceShareName": "MyNewResourceShare",
        "resourceShareArn": "arn:aws:ram:us-west-2:111122223333:resource-share/1234abcd-ef12-9876-5432-bbbbbb222222",
        "senderAccountId": "111122223333",
        "receiverAccountId": "444455556666",
        "invitationTimestamp": "2021-09-15T15:14:12.580000-07:00",
        "status": "ACCEPTED"
    }
}
```

The output shows that the `status` has changed to `ACCEPTED`. The resources that are included in that resource share are now available to principals in the accepting account.

------

## Use the resources that are shared with you
<a name="getting-started-shared-use-resources"></a>

After you accept the invitation to join a resource share, you can perform specific actions on the shared resources. These actions vary by resource type. For more information, see [Shareable AWS resources](shareable.md). The resources are available directly in each resource's service console and API/CLI operations. If the resource is regional, then you must use the correct AWS Region in the service console or API/CLI command. If the resource is global, then you must use the designated home Region, US East (N. Virginia), `us-east-1` To view the resource in AWS RAM, you must open the AWS RAM console to the AWS Region that the resource share was created in.