# Identity and access management for Amazon VPC
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an AWS service that helps an administrator securely control access to AWS resources. IAM administrators control who can be *authenticated* (signed in) and *authorized* (have permissions) to use Amazon VPC resources. IAM is an AWS service that you can use with no additional charge.
**Topics**
+ [
## Audience
](#security_iam_audience)
+ [
## Authenticate with identities
](#security_iam_authentication)
+ [
## Manage access using policies
](#security_iam_access-manage)
+ [
# How Amazon VPC works with IAM
](security_iam_service-with-iam.md)
+ [
# Amazon VPC policy examples
](vpc-policy-examples.md)
+ [
# Troubleshoot Amazon VPC identity and access
](security_iam_troubleshoot.md)
+ [
# AWS managed policies for Amazon Virtual Private Cloud
](security-iam-awsmanpol.md)
+ [
# Using service-linked roles for VPC
](using-service-linked-roles.md)
## Audience
How you use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) differs, depending on the work you do in Amazon VPC.
**Service user** – If you use the Amazon VPC service to do your job, your administrator provides you with the credentials and permissions that you need. As you use more Amazon VPC features to do your work, you might need additional permissions. Understanding how access is managed can help you request the right permissions from your administrator. If you cannot access a feature in Amazon VPC, see [Troubleshoot Amazon VPC identity and access](security_iam_troubleshoot.md).
**Service administrator** – If you're in charge of Amazon VPC resources at your company, you probably have full access to Amazon VPC. It's your job to determine which Amazon VPC features and resources your employees should access. You submit requests to your IAM administrator to change the permissions of your service users. Review the information on this page to understand the basic concepts of IAM. To learn more about how your company can use IAM with Amazon VPC, see [How Amazon VPC works with IAM](security_iam_service-with-iam.md).
**IAM administrator** – If you're an IAM administrator, you might want to learn details about how you can write policies to manage access to Amazon VPC. To view example policies, see [Amazon VPC policy examples](vpc-policy-examples.md).
## Authenticate with identities
Authentication is how you sign in to AWS using your identity credentials. You must be authenticated as the AWS account root user, an IAM user, or by assuming an IAM role.
You can sign in as a federated identity using credentials from an identity source like AWS IAM Identity Center (IAM Identity Center), single sign-on authentication, or Google/Facebook credentials. For more information about signing in, see [How to sign in to your AWS account](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/signin/latest/userguide/how-to-sign-in.html) in the *AWS Sign-In User Guide*.
For programmatic access, AWS provides an SDK and CLI to cryptographically sign requests. For more information, see [AWS Signature Version 4 for API requests](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_sigv.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### AWS account root user
When you create an AWS account, you begin with one sign-in identity called the AWS account *root user* that has complete access to all AWS services and resources. We strongly recommend that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks. For tasks that require root user credentials, see [Tasks that require root user credentials](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_root-user.html#root-user-tasks) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### IAM users and groups
An *[IAM user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_users.html)* is an identity with specific permissions for a single person or application. We recommend using temporary credentials instead of IAM users with long-term credentials. For more information, see [Require human users to use federation with an identity provider to access AWS using temporary credentials](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html#bp-users-federation-idp) in the *IAM User Guide*.
An [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_groups.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_groups.html) specifies a collection of IAM users and makes permissions easier to manage for large sets of users. For more information, see [Use cases for IAM users](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/gs-identities-iam-users.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### IAM roles
An *[IAM role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html)* is an identity with specific permissions that provides temporary credentials. You can assume a role by [switching from a user to an IAM role (console)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_use_switch-role-console.html) or by calling an AWS CLI or AWS API operation. For more information, see [Methods to assume a role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_manage-assume.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
IAM roles are useful for federated user access, temporary IAM user permissions, cross-account access, cross-service access, and applications running on Amazon EC2. For more information, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Manage access using policies
You control access in AWS by creating policies and attaching them to AWS identities or resources. A policy defines permissions when associated with an identity or resource. AWS evaluates these policies when a principal makes a request. Most policies are stored in AWS as JSON documents. For more information about JSON policy documents, see [Overview of JSON policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html#access_policies-json) in the *IAM User Guide*.
Using policies, administrators specify who has access to what by defining which **principal** can perform **actions** on what **resources**, and under what **conditions**.
By default, users and roles have no permissions. An IAM administrator creates IAM policies and adds them to roles, which users can then assume. IAM policies define permissions regardless of the method used to perform the operation.
### Identity-based policies
Identity-based policies are JSON permissions policy documents that you attach to an identity (user, group, or role). These policies control what actions identities can perform, on which resources, and under what conditions. To learn how to create an identity-based policy, see [Define custom IAM permissions with customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
Identity-based policies can be *inline policies* (embedded directly into a single identity) or *managed policies* (standalone policies attached to multiple identities). To learn how to choose between managed and inline policies, see [Choose between managed policies and inline policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-choosing-managed-or-inline.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Resource-based policies
Resource-based policies are JSON policy documents that you attach to a resource. Examples include IAM *role trust policies* and Amazon S3 *bucket policies*. In services that support resource-based policies, service administrators can use them to control access to a specific resource. You must [specify a principal](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_principal.html) in a resource-based policy.
Resource-based policies are inline policies that are located in that service. You can't use AWS managed policies from IAM in a resource-based policy.
### Access control lists (ACLs)
Access control lists (ACLs) control which principals (account members, users, or roles) have permissions to access a resource. ACLs are similar to resource-based policies, although they do not use the JSON policy document format.
Amazon S3, AWS WAF, and Amazon VPC are examples of services that support ACLs. To learn more about ACLs, see [Access control list (ACL) overview](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/acl-overview.html) in the *Amazon Simple Storage Service Developer Guide*.
### Other policy types
AWS supports additional policy types that can set the maximum permissions granted by more common policy types:
+ **Permissions boundaries** – Set the maximum permissions that an identity-based policy can grant to an IAM entity. For more information, see [Permissions boundaries for IAM entities](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_boundaries.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Service control policies (SCPs)** – Specify the maximum permissions for an organization or organizational unit in AWS Organizations. For more information, see [Service control policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_manage_policies_scps.html) in the *AWS Organizations User Guide*.
+ **Resource control policies (RCPs)** – Set the maximum available permissions for resources in your accounts. For more information, see [Resource control policies (RCPs)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_manage_policies_rcps.html) in the *AWS Organizations User Guide*.
+ **Session policies** – Advanced policies passed as a parameter when creating a temporary session for a role or federated user. For more information, see [Session policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html#policies_session) in the *IAM User Guide*.
### Multiple policy types
When multiple types of policies apply to a request, the resulting permissions are more complicated to understand. To learn how AWS determines whether to allow a request when multiple policy types are involved, see [Policy evaluation logic](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_evaluation-logic.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
# How Amazon VPC works with IAM
Before you use IAM to manage access to Amazon VPC, you should understand what IAM features are available to use with Amazon VPC. To get a high-level view of how Amazon VPC and other AWS services work with IAM, see [AWS services that work with IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
**Topics**
+ [
## Actions
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-actions)
+ [
## Resources
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-resources)
+ [
## Condition keys
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-id-based-policies-conditionkeys)
+ [
## Amazon VPC resource-based policies
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-resource-based-policies)
+ [
## Authorization based on tags
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-tags)
+ [
## IAM roles
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-roles)
With IAM identity-based policies, you can specify allowed or denied actions. For some actions, you can specify the resources and conditions under which actions are allowed or denied. Amazon VPC 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements.html) 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. Include actions in a policy to grant permissions to perform the associated operation.
Amazon VPC shares its API namespace with Amazon EC2. Policy actions in Amazon VPC use the following prefix before the action: `ec2:`. For example, to grant a user permission to create a VPC using the `CreateVpc` API operation, you grant access to the `ec2:CreateVpc` action. Policy statements must include either an `Action` or `NotAction` element.
To specify multiple actions in a single statement, separate them with commas as shown in the following example.
```
"Action": [
"ec2:action1",
"ec2:action2"
]
```
You can specify multiple actions using wildcards (\$1). For example, to specify all actions that begin with the word `Describe`, include the following action.
```
"Action": "ec2:Describe*"
```
To see a list of Amazon VPC actions, see [Actions defined by Amazon EC2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_amazonec2.html#amazonec2-actions-as-permissions) in the *Service Authorization Reference*.
## 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. As a best practice, specify a resource using its [Amazon Resource Name (ARN)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference-arns.html). For actions that don't support resource-level permissions, use a wildcard (\$1) to indicate that the statement applies to all resources.
```
"Resource": "*"
```
The VPC resource has the ARN shown in the following example.
```
arn:${Partition}:ec2:${Region}:${Account}:vpc/${VpcId}
```
For example, to specify the `vpc-1234567890abcdef0` VPC in your statement, use the ARN shown in the following example.
```
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:vpc/vpc-1234567890abcdef0"
```
To specify all VPCs in a specific Region that belong to a specific account, use the wildcard (\$1).
```
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:vpc/*"
```
Some Amazon VPC actions, such as those for creating resources, cannot be performed on a specific resource. In those cases, you must use the wildcard (\$1).
```
"Resource": "*"
```
Many Amazon EC2 API actions involve multiple resources. To specify multiple resources in a single statement, separate the ARNs with commas.
```
"Resource": [
"resource1",
"resource2"
]
```
To see a list of Amazon VPC resource types and their ARNs, see [Resource types defined by Amazon EC2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_amazonec2.html#amazonec2-resources-for-iam-policies) in the *Service Authorization Reference*.
## 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 specifies when statements execute based on defined criteria. You can create conditional expressions that use [condition operators](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition_operators.html), such as equals or less than, to match the condition in the policy with values in the request. To see all AWS global condition keys, see [AWS global condition context keys](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_condition-keys.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
All Amazon EC2 actions support the `aws:RequestedRegion` and `ec2:Region` condition keys. For more information, see [Example: Restrict access to a specific Region](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ExamplePolicies_EC2.html#iam-example-region).
Amazon VPC defines its own set of condition keys and also supports using some global condition keys. To see a list of Amazon VPC condition keys, see [Condition keys for Amazon EC2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_amazonec2.html#amazonec2-policy-keys) in the *Service Authorization Reference*. To learn with which actions and resources you can use a condition key, see [Actions defined by Amazon EC2](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/service-authorization/latest/reference/list_amazonec2.html#amazonec2-actions-as-permissions).
## Amazon VPC resource-based policies
Resource-based policies are JSON policy documents that specify what actions a specified principal can perform on the Amazon VPC resource and under what conditions.
To enable cross-account access, you can specify an entire account or IAM entities in another account as the [principal in a resource-based policy](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_principal.html). Adding a cross-account principal to a resource-based policy is only half of establishing the trust relationship. When the principal and the resource are in different AWS accounts, you must also grant the principal entity permission to access the resource. Grant permission by attaching an identity-based policy to the entity. However, if a resource-based policy grants access to a principal in the same account, no additional identity-based policy is required. For more information, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Authorization based on tags
You can attach tags to Amazon VPC resources or pass tags in a request. To control access based on tags, you provide tag information in the [condition element](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition.html) of a policy using condition keys. For more information, see [Grant permission to tag resources during creation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/supported-iam-actions-tagging.html) in the *Amazon EC2 User Guide*.
To view an example identity-based policy for limiting access to a resource based on the tags on that resource, see [Launch instances into a specific VPC](vpc-policy-examples.md#subnet-ami-example-iam).
## IAM roles
An [IAM role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html#id_roles_terms-and-concepts) is an entity within your AWS account that has specific permissions.
### Use temporary credentials
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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_AssumeRole.html) or [GetFederationToken](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_GetFederationToken.html).
Amazon VPC supports using temporary credentials.
### Service-linked roles
[Service-linked roles](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html#id_roles_terms-and-concepts) 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.
[Transit gateways](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/tgw/service-linked-roles.html) support service-linked roles.
### Service roles
This feature allows a service to assume a [service role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles.html#id_roles_terms-and-concepts) 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.
Amazon VPC supports service roles for flow logs. When you create a flow log, you must choose a role that allows the flow logs service to access CloudWatch Logs. For more information, see [IAM role for publishing flow logs to CloudWatch Logs](flow-logs-iam-role.md).
# Amazon VPC policy examples
By default, IAM roles don't have permission to create or modify VPC resources. They also can't perform tasks using the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS API. An IAM administrator must create IAM policies that grant roles permission to perform specific API operations on the specified resources they need. The administrator must then attach those policies to the IAM roles that require those permissions.
To learn how to create an IAM identity-based policy using these example JSON policy documents, see [Creating IAM policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create.html#access_policies_create-json-editor) in the *IAM User Guide*.
**Topics**
+ [
## Policy best practices
](#security_iam_service-with-iam-policy-best-practices)
+ [
## Use the Amazon VPC console
](#security_iam_id-based-policy-examples-console)
+ [
## Create a VPC with a public subnet
](#vpc-public-subnet-iam)
+ [
## Modify and delete VPC resources
](#modify-vpc-resources-iam)
+ [
## Manage security groups
](#vpc-security-groups-iam)
+ [
## Manage security group rules
](#vpc-security-group-rules-iam)
+ [
## Launch instances into a specific subnet
](#subnet-sg-example-iam)
+ [
## Launch instances into a specific VPC
](#subnet-ami-example-iam)
+ [
## Block public access to VPCs and subnets
](#vpc-bpa-example-iam)
+ [
## Additional Amazon VPC policy examples
](#security-iam-additional-examples)
## Policy best practices
Identity-based policies determine whether someone can create, access, or delete Amazon VPC resources in your account. These actions can incur costs for your AWS account. When you create or edit identity-based policies, follow these guidelines and recommendations:
+ **Get started with AWS managed policies and move toward least-privilege permissions** – To get started granting permissions to your users and workloads, use the *AWS managed policies* that grant permissions for many common use cases. They are available in your AWS account. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining AWS customer managed policies that are specific to your use cases. For more information, see [AWS managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#aws-managed-policies) or [AWS managed policies for job functions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_job-functions.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Apply least-privilege permissions** – When you set permissions with IAM policies, grant only the permissions required to perform a task. You do this by defining the actions that can be taken on specific resources under specific conditions, also known as *least-privilege permissions*. For more information about using IAM to apply permissions, see [ Policies and permissions in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Use conditions in IAM policies to further restrict access** – You can add a condition to your policies to limit access to actions and resources. For example, you can write a policy condition to specify that all requests must be sent using SSL. You can also use conditions to grant access to service actions if they are used through a specific AWS service, such as CloudFormation. For more information, see [ IAM JSON policy elements: Condition](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_policies_elements_condition.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Use IAM Access Analyzer to validate your IAM policies to ensure secure and functional permissions** – IAM Access Analyzer validates new and existing policies so that the policies adhere to the IAM policy language (JSON) and IAM best practices. IAM Access Analyzer provides more than 100 policy checks and actionable recommendations to help you author secure and functional policies. For more information, see [Validate policies with IAM Access Analyzer](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access-analyzer-policy-validation.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ **Require multi-factor authentication (MFA)** – If you have a scenario that requires IAM users or a root user in your AWS account, turn on MFA for additional security. To require MFA when API operations are called, add MFA conditions to your policies. For more information, see [ Secure API access with MFA](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_mfa_configure-api-require.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
For more information about best practices in IAM, see [Security best practices in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Use the Amazon VPC console
To access the Amazon VPC console, you must have a minimum set of permissions. These permissions must allow you to list and view details about the Amazon VPC resources in your AWS account. If you create an identity-based policy that is more restrictive than the minimum required permissions, the console won't function as intended for entities (IAM roles) with that policy.
The following policy grants a role permission to list resources in the VPC console, but not to create, update, or delete them.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeAccountAttributes",
"ec2:DescribeAddresses",
"ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones",
"ec2:DescribeClassicLinkInstances",
"ec2:DescribeClientVpnEndpoints",
"ec2:DescribeCustomerGateways",
"ec2:DescribeDhcpOptions",
"ec2:DescribeEgressOnlyInternetGateways",
"ec2:DescribeFlowLogs",
"ec2:DescribeInternetGateways",
"ec2:DescribeManagedPrefixLists",
"ec2:DescribeMovingAddresses",
"ec2:DescribeNatGateways",
"ec2:DescribeNetworkAcls",
"ec2:DescribeNetworkInterfaceAttribute",
"ec2:DescribeNetworkInterfacePermissions",
"ec2:DescribeNetworkInterfaces",
"ec2:DescribePrefixLists",
"ec2:DescribeRouteTables",
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroupReferences",
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups",
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroupRules",
"ec2:DescribeStaleSecurityGroups",
"ec2:DescribeSubnets",
"ec2:DescribeTags",
"ec2:DescribeTrafficMirrorFilters",
"ec2:DescribeTrafficMirrorSessions",
"ec2:DescribeTrafficMirrorTargets",
"ec2:DescribeTransitGateways",
"ec2:DescribeTransitGatewayVpcAttachments",
"ec2:DescribeTransitGatewayRouteTables",
"ec2:DescribeVpcAttribute",
"ec2:DescribeVpcClassicLink",
"ec2:DescribeVpcClassicLinkDnsSupport",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpoints",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpointConnectionNotifications",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpointConnections",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpointServiceConfigurations",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpointServicePermissions",
"ec2:DescribeVpcEndpointServices",
"ec2:DescribeVpcPeeringConnections",
"ec2:DescribeVpcs",
"ec2:DescribeVpnConnections",
"ec2:DescribeVpnGateways",
"ec2:GetManagedPrefixListAssociations",
"ec2:GetManagedPrefixListEntries"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
You don't need to allow minimum console permissions for roles that are making calls only to the AWS CLI or the AWS API. Instead, allow access only to actions that match the API operation that the role needs to perform.
## Create a VPC with a public subnet
The following example enables roles to create VPCs, subnets, route tables, and internet gateways. Roles can also attach an internet gateway to a VPC and create routes in route tables. The `ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute` action enables roles to enable DNS hostnames for the VPC, so that each instance launched into a VPC receives a DNS hostname.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:CreateVpc",
"ec2:CreateSubnet",
"ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones",
"ec2:CreateRouteTable",
"ec2:CreateRoute",
"ec2:CreateInternetGateway",
"ec2:AttachInternetGateway",
"ec2:AssociateRouteTable",
"ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
The preceding policy also enables roles to create a VPC in the Amazon VPC console.
## Modify and delete VPC resources
You might want to control the VPC resources that roles can modify or delete. For example, the following policy allows roles to work with and delete route tables that have the tag `Purpose=Test`. The policy also specifies that roles can only delete internet gateways that have the tag `Purpose=Test`. Roles cannot work with route tables or internet gateways that do not have this tag.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:DeleteInternetGateway",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:internet-gateway/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:ResourceTag/Purpose": "Test"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DeleteRouteTable",
"ec2:CreateRoute",
"ec2:ReplaceRoute",
"ec2:DeleteRoute"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:route-table/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:ResourceTag/Purpose": "Test"
}
}
}
]
}
```
------
## Manage security groups
The following policy allows roles to manage security groups. The first statement allows roles to delete any security group with the tag `Stack=test` and to manage the inbound and outbound rules for any security group with the tag `Stack=test`. The second statement requires roles to tag any security groups that they create with the tag `Stack=Test`. The third statement allows roles to create tags when creating a security group. The fourth statement allows roles to view any security group and security group rule. The fifth statement allows roles to create a security group in a VPC.
**Note**
This policy cannot be used by the AWS CloudFormation service to create a security group with required tags. If you remove the condition on the `ec2:CreateSecurityGroup` action that requires the tag, the policy will work.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress",
"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupEgress",
"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress",
"ec2:UpdateSecurityGroupRuleDescriptionsEgress",
"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupEgress",
"ec2:DeleteSecurityGroup",
"ec2:ModifySecurityGroupRules",
"ec2:UpdateSecurityGroupRuleDescriptionsIngress"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:security-group/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:ResourceTag/Stack": "test"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:CreateSecurityGroup",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:security-group/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"aws:RequestTag/Stack": "test"
},
"ForAnyValue:StringEquals": {
"aws:TagKeys": "Stack"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:CreateTags",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:security-group/*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:CreateAction": "CreateSecurityGroup"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroupRules",
"ec2:DescribeVpcs",
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups"
],
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:CreateSecurityGroup",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:*:*:vpc/*"
}
]
}
```
------
To allow roles to change the security group that's associated with an instance, add the `ec2:ModifyInstanceAttribute` action to your policy.
To allow roles to change security groups for a network interface, add the `ec2:ModifyNetworkInterfaceAttribute` action to your policy.
## Manage security group rules
The following policy grants roles permission to view all security groups and security group rules, add and remove inbound and outbound rules for the security groups for a specific VPC, and modify rule descriptions for the specified VPC. The first statement uses the `ec2:Vpc` condition key to scope permissions to a specific VPC.
The second statement grants roles permission to describe all security groups, security group rules, and tags. This enables roles to view security group rules in order to modify them.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress",
"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress",
"ec2:UpdateSecurityGroupRuleDescriptionsIngress",
"ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupEgress",
"ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupEgress",
"ec2:UpdateSecurityGroupRuleDescriptionsEgress",
"ec2:ModifySecurityGroupRules"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:security-group/*",
"Condition": {
"ArnEquals": {
"ec2:Vpc": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:vpc/vpc-1234567890abcdef0"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups",
"ec2:DescribeSecurityGroupRules",
"ec2:DescribeTags"
],
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:ModifySecurityGroupRules"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:security-group-rule/*"
}
]
}
```
------
## Launch instances into a specific subnet
The following policy grants roles permission to launch instances into a specific subnet and to use a specific security group in the request. The policy does this by specifying the ARN for the subnet and the ARN for the security group. If roles attempt to launch an instance into a different subnet or using a different security group, the request will fail (unless another policy or statement grants roles permission to do so).
The policy also grants permission to use the network interface resource. When launching into a subnet, the `RunInstances` request creates a primary network interface by default, so the role needs permission to create this resource when launching the instance.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:RunInstances",
"Resource": [
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1::image/ami-*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:instance/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:subnet/subnet-1234567890abcdef0",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:network-interface/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:volume/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:key-pair/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:security-group/sg-0abcdef1234567890"
]
}
]
}
```
------
## Launch instances into a specific VPC
The following policy grants roles permission to launch instances into any subnet within a specific VPC. The policy does this by applying a condition key (`ec2:Vpc`) to the subnet resource.
The policy also grants roles permission to launch instances using only AMIs that have the tag "`department=dev`".
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:RunInstances",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:subnet/*",
"Condition": {
"ArnEquals": {
"ec2:Vpc": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:vpc/vpc-1234567890abcdef0"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:RunInstances",
"Resource": "arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1::image/ami-*",
"Condition": {
"StringEquals": {
"ec2:ResourceTag/department": "dev"
}
}
},
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": "ec2:RunInstances",
"Resource": [
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:instance/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:volume/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:network-interface/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:key-pair/*",
"arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:security-group/*"
]
}
]
}
```
------
## Block public access to VPCs and subnets
The following policy examples grant roles permission to work with the [VPC Block Public Access (BPA) feature](security-vpc-bpa.md) to block public access to resources in VPCs and subnets.
Example 1 - Allow read-only access to VPC BPA account-wide settings and VPC BPA exclusions.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "VPCBPAReadOnlyAccess",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeVpcBlockPublicAccessOptions",
"ec2:DescribeVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusions"
],
"Effect": "Allow",
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
Example 2 - Allow full read and write access to VPC BPA account-wide settings and VPC BPA exclusions.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "VPCBPAFullAccess",
"Action": [
"ec2:DescribeVpcBlockPublicAccessOptions",
"ec2:DescribeVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusions",
"ec2:ModifyVpcBlockPublicAccessOptions",
"ec2:CreateVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusion",
"ec2:ModifyVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusion",
"ec2:DeleteVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusion"
],
"Effect": "Allow",
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
Example 3 - Allow access to all EC2 APIs except modifying VPC BPA settings and creating exclusions.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "EC2FullAccess",
"Action": [
"ec2:*"
],
"Effect": "Allow",
"Resource": "*"
},
{
"Sid": "VPCBPAPartialAccess",
"Action": [
"ec2:ModifyVpcBlockPublicAccessOptions",
"ec2:CreateVpcBlockPublicAccessExclusion"
],
"Effect": "Deny",
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
## Additional Amazon VPC policy examples
You can find additional example IAM policies related to Amazon VPC in the following documentation:
+ [Managed prefix lists](managed-prefix-lists.md#managed-prefix-lists-iam)
+ [Traffic mirroring](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/mirroring/traffic-mirroring-security.html)
+ [Transit gateways](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/tgw/transit-gateway-authentication-access-control.html#tgw-example-iam-policies)
+ [VPC endpoints and VPC endpoint services (AWS PrivateLink)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/privatelink/security_iam_id-based-policy-examples.html)
+ [VPC peering](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/peering/security-iam.html)
# Troubleshoot Amazon VPC identity and access
Use the following information to help you diagnose and fix common issues that you might encounter when working with Amazon VPC and IAM.
**Topics**
+ [
## I am not authorized to perform an action in Amazon VPC
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-no-permissions)
+ [
## I am not authorized to perform iam:PassRole
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-passrole)
+ [
## I want to allow people outside of my AWS account to access my Amazon VPC resources
](#security_iam_troubleshoot-cross-account-access)
## I am not authorized to perform an action in Amazon VPC
If the AWS Management Console tells you that you're not authorized to perform an action, then you must contact your administrator for assistance. Your administrator is the person that provided you with your sign-in credentials.
The following example error occurs when the `mateojackson` IAM user tries to use the console to view details about a subnet but belongs to an IAM role that does not have `ec2:DescribeSubnets` permissions.
```
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/mateojackson is not authorized to perform: ec2:DescribeSubnets on resource: subnet-id
```
In this case, Mateo asks his administrator to update the policy to allow him to access the subnet.
## I am not authorized to perform iam:PassRole
If you receive an error that you're not authorized to perform the `iam:PassRole` action, your policies must be updated to allow you to pass a role to Amazon VPC.
Some AWS services allow you to pass an existing role to that service instead of creating a new service role or service-linked role. To do this, you must have permissions to pass the role to the service.
The following example error occurs when an IAM user named `marymajor` tries to use the console to perform an action in Amazon VPC. However, the action requires the service to have permissions that are granted by a service role. Mary does not have permissions to pass the role to the service.
```
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/marymajor is not authorized to perform: iam:PassRole
```
In this case, Mary's policies must be updated to allow her to perform the `iam:PassRole` action.
If you need help, contact your AWS administrator. Your administrator is the person who provided you with your sign-in credentials.
## I want to allow people outside of my AWS account to access my Amazon VPC resources
You can create a role that users in other accounts or people outside of your organization can use to access your resources. You can specify who is trusted to assume the role. For services that support resource-based policies or access control lists (ACLs), you can use those policies to grant people access to your resources.
To learn more, consult the following:
+ To learn whether Amazon VPC supports these features, see [How Amazon VPC works with IAM](security_iam_service-with-iam.md).
+ To learn how to provide access to your resources across AWS accounts that you own, see [Providing access to an IAM user in another AWS account that you own](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_aws-accounts.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn how to provide access to your resources to third-party AWS accounts, see [Providing access to AWS accounts owned by third parties](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_third-party.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn how to provide access through identity federation, see [Providing access to externally authenticated users (identity federation)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_common-scenarios_federated-users.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
+ To learn the difference between using roles and resource-based policies for cross-account access, see [Cross account resource access in IAM](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies-cross-account-resource-access.html) in the *IAM User Guide*.
# AWS managed policies for Amazon Virtual Private Cloud
An AWS managed policy is a standalone policy that is created and administered by AWS. AWS managed policies are designed to provide permissions for many common use cases so that you can start assigning permissions to users, groups, and roles.
Keep in mind that AWS managed policies might not grant least-privilege permissions for your specific use cases because they're available for all AWS customers to use. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining [ customer managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#customer-managed-policies) that are specific to your use cases.
You cannot change the permissions defined in AWS managed policies. If AWS updates the permissions defined in an AWS managed policy, the update affects all principal identities (users, groups, and roles) that the policy is attached to. AWS is most likely to update an AWS managed policy when a new AWS service is launched or new API operations become available for existing services.
For more information, see [AWS managed policies](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#aws-managed-policies) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess
You can attach the `AmazonVPCFullAccess` policy to your IAM identities. This policy grants permissions that allow full access to Amazon VPC.
To view the permissions for this policy, see [AmazonVPCFullAccess](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AmazonVPCFullAccess.html) in the *AWS Managed Policy Reference*.
## AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess
You can attach the `AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess` policy to your IAM identities. This policy grants permissions that allow read-only access to Amazon VPC.
To view the permissions for this policy, see [AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess.html) in the *AWS Managed Policy Reference*.
## AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations
You can attach the `AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations` policy to your IAM identities. This policy grants permissions that allow the identity to create network interfaces and attach them to cross-account resources.
To view the permissions for this policy, see [AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations.html) in the *AWS Managed Policy Reference*.
## AWS managed policy: AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway
You can attach the `AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway` policy to your IAM identities. This policy grants permissions that allow the identity to work on your behalf to automatically scale regional NAT Gateways.
To view the permissions for this policy, see [AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway ](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-managed-policy/latest/reference/AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway.html) in the *AWS Managed Policy Reference*.
## Amazon VPC updates to AWS managed policies
View details about updates to AWS managed policies for Amazon VPC since this service began tracking these changes in March 2021.
| Change | Description | Date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCFullAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Actions added to the AWSIPAMServiceRolePolicy managed policy (ec2:ModifyManagedPrefixList, ec2:DescribeManagedPrefixLists, and ec2:GetManagedPrefixListEntries) to enable IPAM modify and read managed prefix lists. | October 31, 2025 |
| [AWS managed policy: AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway) – New policy | New AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway policy allows the identity to automatically scale regional NAT Gateways. | November 19, 2025 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCFullAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the AssociateSecurityGroupVpc, DescribeSecurityGroupVpcAssociations, and DisassociateSecurityGroupVpc actions, which allow you to associate, disassociate, and view security group associations with VPCs. | December 9, 2024 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the DescribeSecurityGroupVpcAssociations action, which allows you to view security group associations with VPCs. | December 9, 2024 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCFullAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the GetSecurityGroupsForVpc action, which allows you to get security groups that are usable in your VPC. | February 8, 2024 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the GetSecurityGroupsForVpc action, which allows you to get security groups that are usable in your VPC. | February 8, 2024 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCCrossAccountNetworkInterfaceOperations) – Update to an existing policy | Added the AssignIpv6Addresses and UnassignIpv6Addresses actions, which allow you to manage the IPv6 addresses associated with network interfaces. | September 25, 2023 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the DescribeSecurityGroupRules action, which allows you to view [security group rules](security-group-rules.md). | August 2, 2021 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCFullAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added the DescribeSecurityGroupRules and ModifySecurityGroupRules actions, which allow you to view and modify [security group rules](security-group-rules.md). | August 2, 2021 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCFullAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCFullAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added actions for carrier gateways, IPv6 pools, local gateways, and local gateway route tables. | June 23, 2021 |
| [AWS managed policy: AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess](#security-iam-awsmanpol-AmazonVPCReadOnlyAccess) – Update to an existing policy | Added actions for carrier gateways, IPv6 pools, local gateways, and local gateway route tables. | June 23, 2021 |
# Using service-linked roles for VPC
Amazon VPC uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) [service-linked roles](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_terms-and-concepts.html#iam-term-service-linked-role). A service-linked role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to VPC. Service-linked roles are predefined by VPC and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other AWS services on your behalf.
A service-linked role makes setting up VPC easier because you don't have to manually add the necessary permissions. VPC defines the permissions of its service-linked roles, and unless defined otherwise, only VPC 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 their related resources. This protects your VPC 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference_aws-services-that-work-with-iam.html) and look for the services that have **Yes** in the **Service-linked roles** column. Choose a **Yes** with a link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.
## Service-linked role permissions for VPC
VPC uses the service-linked role named **AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway** – This service-linked role enables Amazon VPC to allocate Elastic IP addresses on your behalf to automatically scale regional NAT Gateways, to associate and disassociate your existing Elastic IPs to regional NAT Gateways at your request, and to describe Network Interfaces to identify your existing infrastructure to automatically expand into new Availability Zones.
The AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
+ `ec2-nat-gateway.amazonaws.com`
The role permissions policy named AWSNATGatewayServiceRolePolicy allows VPC to complete the following actions on the specified resources:
+ Action: `AllocateAddress` on Service Managed EIPs to allocate EIPs on your behalf. Service Managed EIPs handles subsequent tagging with service managed tags and ReleaseAddress automatically.
+ Action: `AssociateAddress` on your pre-existing Elastic IP addresses to manually associate them to your regional NAT Gateway at your request.
+ Action: `DisassociateAddress` on your pre-existing Elastic IP addresses to remove them from the regional NAT Gateway at your request.
+ Action: `DescribeAddresses` to obtain Public IP Address information from customer-provided EIPs on associate.
+ Action: `DescribeNetworkInterface` on your existing Network Interfaces to automatically identify the Availability Zones your infrastructure resides in to automatically scale out to new zones.
You must configure permissions to allow your users, groups, or roles to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. For more information, see [Service-linked role permissions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#service-linked-role-permissions) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Creating a service-linked role for VPC
You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you create a NAT Gateway with a "regional" Availability Mode in the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API, VPC creates the service-linked role for you.
**Important**
This service-linked role can appear in your account if you completed an action in another service that uses the features supported by this role. Also, if you were using the VPC service before January 1, 2017, when it began supporting service-linked roles, then VPC created the AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway role in your account. To learn more, see [A new role appeared in my AWS account](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/troubleshoot_roles.html#troubleshoot_roles_new-role-appeared).
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 NAT Gateway with a "regional" Availability Mode, VPC creates the service-linked role for you again.
You can also use the IAM console to create a service-linked role with the **AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway** use case. In the AWS CLI or the AWS API, create a service-linked role with the `ec2-nat-gateway.amazonaws.com` service name. For more information, see [Creating a service-linked role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#create-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*. If you delete this service-linked role, you can use this same process to create the role again.
## Editing a service-linked role for VPC
VPC does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway 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](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#edit-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Deleting a service-linked role for VPC
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.
**Note**
If the VPC service is using the role when you try to delete the resources, then the deletion might fail. If that happens, wait for a few minutes and try the operation again.
**To delete VPC resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway**
+ Delete all regional NAT Gateways across all Regions in which they have been deployed.
**To manually delete the service-linked role using IAM**
Use the IAM console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway service-linked role. For more information, see [Deleting a service-linked role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/using-service-linked-roles.html#delete-service-linked-role) in the *IAM User Guide*.
## Supported Regions for VPC service-linked roles
VPC supports using service-linked roles in all of the Regions where the service is available. For more information, see [AWS Regions and endpoints](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/rande.html).
VPC does not support using service-linked roles in every Region where the service is available. You can use the AWSServiceRoleForNATGateway role in the following Regions.
| Region name | Region identity | Support in VPC |
| --- | --- | --- |
| US East (N. Virginia) | us-east-1 | Yes |
| US East (Ohio) | us-east-2 | Yes |
| US West (N. California) | us-west-1 | Yes |
| US West (Oregon) | us-west-2 | Yes |
| Africa (Cape Town) | af-south-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) | ap-east-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Taipei) | ap-east-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Jakarta) | ap-southeast-3 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai) | ap-south-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) | ap-south-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Osaka) | ap-northeast-3 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Seoul) | ap-northeast-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore) | ap-southeast-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney) | ap-southeast-2 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo) | ap-northeast-1 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Melbourne) | ap-southeast-4 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Malaysia) | ap-southeast-5 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (New Zealand) | ap-southeast-6 | Yes |
| Asia Pacific (Thailand) | ap-southeast-7 | Yes |
| Canada (Central) | ca-central-1 | Yes |
| Canada West (Calgary) | ca-west-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Frankfurt) | eu-central-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Zurich) | eu-central-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Ireland) | eu-west-1 | Yes |
| Europe (London) | eu-west-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Milan) | eu-south-1 | Yes |
| Europe (Spain) | eu-south-2 | Yes |
| Europe (Paris) | eu-west-3 | Yes |
| Europe (Stockholm) | eu-north-1 | Yes |
| Israel (Tel Aviv) | il-central-1 | Yes |
| Middle East (Bahrain) | me-south-1 | Yes |
| Middle East (UAE) | me-central-1 | Yes |
| Middle East (Saudi Arabia) | me-west-1 | Yes |
| Mexico (Central) | mx-central-1 | Yes |
| South America (São Paulo) | sa-east-1 | Yes |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East) | us-gov-east-1 | No |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West) | us-gov-west-1 | No |