Using Service-Linked Roles for AWS RAM

AWS Resource Access Manager 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 the AWS RAM service. Service-linked roles are predefined by AWS and include all the permissions that AWS RAM needs to call other AWS services on your behalf.

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

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 AWS RAM

AWS RAM uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForResourceAccessManager when you enable sharing with AWS Organizations. This role grants permissions to the AWS RAM service to view organization details, such as the list of member accounts and which organizational units each account is in.

This service-linked role trusts the following service to assume the role:

The role permissions policy named AWSResourceAccessManagerServiceRolePolicy is attached to this service-linked role, and allows AWS RAM to complete the following actions on the specified resources:

For a principal to turn on AWS RAM sharing within your organization, that principal (an IAM entity such as a user, group, or role), must have permission to create a service-linked role. For more information, see Service-Linked Role Permissions in the IAM User Guide.

Creating a Service-Linked Role for AWS RAM

You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you turn on AWS RAM sharing within your organization in the AWS Management Console, or run the EnableSharingWithAwsOrganization in your account using the AWS CLI or an AWS API, AWS RAM creates the service-linked role for you.

Call enable-sharing-with-aws-organizations to create the service linked role in your account.

If you delete this service-linked role, then AWS RAM no longer has permissions to view the details of your organization's structure.

Editing a service-linked role for AWS RAM

AWS RAM does not allow you to edit the AWSResourceAccessManagerServiceRolePolicy 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 AWS RAM

You can use the IAM console, the AWS CLI or the AWS API to manually delete the service-linked role.

To manually delete the service-linked role using IAM

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

Supported Regions for AWS RAM Service-Linked Roles

AWS RAM supports using service-linked roles in all of the Regions where the service is available. For more information, see AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.