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Getting Started with AWS IAM

Welcome to AWS IAM​

IAM (Identity and Access Management) is the security layer for your entire AWS account. Every API call to AWS — whether from the console, CLI, SDK, or a service like EC2 or Lambda — is authenticated and authorized through IAM.

Getting IAM right is not optional. Misconfigured IAM is the root cause of most AWS security incidents — overly permissive roles, leaked access keys, and publicly accessible resources.

The root account should never be used day-to-day. IAM exists precisely to avoid that.

What You'll Learn​

  • The root account — what it is, why to avoid it, and how to protect it with MFA
  • IAM users — creating accounts for team members with scoped permissions
  • IAM groups — assigning permissions to teams rather than individuals
  • IAM roles — the preferred way to grant AWS services access to other AWS services
  • Policies — JSON documents that define what actions are allowed or denied
  • The principle of least privilege — granting only the permissions actually needed
  • Access keys — when to use them and how to rotate them safely
  • IAM roles for EC2 — letting your server call AWS APIs without hardcoded credentials

Prerequisites​

  • An AWS account (root account access to set up initial IAM)
  • Basic understanding of what AWS services you're using (EC2, S3, RDS, etc.)