What are some common use cases for IAM roles?

What are some common use cases for IAM roles?

IAM roles are used to grant permissions to AWS services without needing to share long-term credentials. Common use cases include allowing EC2 instances to access S3 buckets, enabling Lambda functions to interact with DynamoDB, and granting temporary access to users from external accounts.

Can you give me an example of how an EC2 instance uses an IAM role?

Sure! When you launch an EC2 instance, you can assign an IAM role to it. This role can allow the instance to access specific AWS resources, like reading from an S3 bucket or writing logs to CloudWatch, without embedding AWS credentials in the instance.

What are the benefits of using IAM roles instead of IAM users?

Using IAM roles enhances security by avoiding the need for long-term credentials. Roles can be assumed temporarily, reducing the risk of credential leakage and allowing for more granular access control.

Are there any limitations to using IAM roles?

Yes, IAM roles have some limitations, such as the maximum number of roles that can be created per account and the need for proper trust relationships to be established for cross-account access.