This component is responsible for provisioning all primary user and system roles into the centralized identity account.
This is expected to be used alongside the aws-team-roles
component to provide fine-grained role
delegation across the account hierarchy.
The "teams" created in the identity
account by this module can be thought of as access control "groups": a user who is
allowed access one of these teams gets access to a set of roles (and corresponding permissions) across a set of
accounts. Generally, there is nothing else provisioned in the identity
account, so the teams have limited access to
resources in the identity
account by design.
Teams are implemented as IAM Roles in each account. Access to the "teams" in the identity
account is controlled by the
aws-saml
and aws-sso
components. Access to the roles in all the other accounts is controlled by the "assume role"
policies of those roles, which allow the "team" or AWS SSO Permission set to assume the role (or not).
Every account besides the identity
account has a set of IAM roles created by the aws-team-roles
component. In that
component, the account's roles are assigned privileges, and those privileges ultimately determine what a user can do in
that account.
Access to the roles can be granted in a number of ways. One way is by listing "teams" created by this component as
"trusted" (trusted_teams
), meaning that users who have access to the team role in the identity
account are allowed
(trusted) to assume the role configured in the target account. Another is by listing an AWS SSO Permission Set in the
account (trusted_permission_sets
).
Users can again access to a role in the identity
account through either (or both) of 2 mechanisms:
- SAML access is globally configured via the
aws-saml
component, enabling an external SAML Identity Provider (IdP) to control access to roles in theidentity
account. (SAML access can be separately configured for other accounts, see theaws-saml
andaws-team-roles
components for more on that.) - Individual roles are enabled for SAML access by setting
aws_saml_login_enabled: true
in the role configuration. - Individual users are granted access to these roles by configuration in the SAML IdP.
The aws-sso
component can create AWS Permission Sets that allow users to assume specific roles in the identity
account. See the aws-sso
component for details.
Stack Level: Global Deployment: Must be deployed by SuperAdmin using atmos
CLI
Here's an example snippet for how to use this component. The component should only be applied once, which is typically
done via the identity stack (e.g. gbl-identity.yaml
).
components:
terraform:
aws-teams:
backend:
s3:
role_arn: null
vars:
teams_config:
# Viewer has the same permissions as Observer but only in this account. It is not allowed access to other accounts.
# Viewer also serves as the default configuration for all roles via the YAML anchor.
viewer: &user-template
# `max_session_duration` set the maximum session duration (in seconds) for the IAM roles.
# This setting can have a value from 3600 (1 hour) to 43200 (12 hours).
# For roles people log into via SAML, a long duration is convenient to prevent them
# from having to frequently re-authenticate.
# For roles assumed from some other role, the setting is practically irrelevant, because
# the AssumeRole API limits the duration to 1 hour in any case.
# References:
# - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_use.html
# - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_AssumeRole.html
max_session_duration: 43200 # 12 hours in seconds
# role_policy_arns are the IAM Policy ARNs to attach to this policy. In addition to real ARNs,
# you can use keys in the `custom_policy_map` in `main.tf` to select policies defined in the component.
# If you are using keys from the map, plans look better if you put them after the real role ARNs.
role_policy_arns:
- "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/job-function/ViewOnlyAccess"
role_description: "Team restricted to viewing resources in the identity account"
# If `aws_saml_login_enabled: true` then the role will be available via SAML logins.
# Otherwise, it will only be accessible via `assume role`.
aws_saml_login_enabled: false
# The following attributes control access to this role via `assume role`.
# `trusted_*` grants access, `denied_*` denies access.
# If a role is both trusted and denied, it will not be able to access this role.
# Permission sets specify users operating from the given AWS SSO permission set in this account.
trusted_permission_sets: []
denied_permission_sets: []
# Primary roles specify the short role names of roles in the primary (identity)
# account that are allowed to assume this role.
trusted_teams: []
denied_teams: ["viewer"]
# Role ARNs specify Role ARNs in any account that are allowed to assume this role.
# BE CAREFUL: there is nothing limiting these Role ARNs to roles within our organization.
trusted_role_arns: []
denied_role_arns: []
admin:
<<: *user-template
role_description:
"Team with PowerUserAccess permissions in `identity` and AdministratorAccess to all other accounts except
`root`"
# Limit `admin` to Power User to prevent accidentally destroying the admin role itself
# Use SuperAdmin to administer IAM access
role_policy_arns: ["arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/PowerUserAccess"]
# TODO Create a "security" team with AdministratorAccess to audit and security, remove "admin" write access to those accounts
aws_saml_login_enabled: true
# list of roles in primary that can assume into this role in delegated accounts
# primary admin can assume delegated admin
trusted_teams: ["admin"]
# GH runner should be moved to its own `ghrunner` role
trusted_permission_sets: ["IdentityAdminTeamAccess"]
spacelift:
<<: *user-template
role_description: Team for our privileged Spacelift server
role_policy_arns:
- team_role_access
aws_saml_login_enabled: false
trusted_teams:
- admin
trusted_role_arns: ["arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/eg-ue2-auto-spacelift-worker-pool-admin"]
Name | Version |
---|---|
terraform | >= 1.0.0 |
aws | >= 4.9.0, < 6.0.0 |
local | >= 1.3 |
Name | Version |
---|---|
aws | >= 4.9.0, < 6.0.0 |
local | >= 1.3 |
Name | Source | Version |
---|---|---|
account_map | cloudposse/stack-config/yaml//modules/remote-state | 1.8.0 |
assume_role | ../account-map/modules/team-assume-role-policy | n/a |
aws_saml | cloudposse/stack-config/yaml//modules/remote-state | 1.8.0 |
iam_roles | ../account-map/modules/iam-roles | n/a |
this | cloudposse/label/null | 0.25.0 |
Name | Type |
---|---|
aws_iam_policy.team_role_access | resource |
aws_iam_role.default | resource |
aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.default | resource |
local_file.account_info | resource |
aws_iam_policy_document.assume_role_aggregated | data source |
aws_iam_policy_document.team_role_access | data source |
Name | Description | Type | Default | Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
account_map_component_name | The name of the account-map component | string |
"account-map" |
no |
account_map_environment_name | The name of the environment where account_map is provisioned |
string |
"gbl" |
no |
account_map_stage_name | The name of the stage where account_map is provisioned |
string |
"root" |
no |
additional_tag_map | Additional key-value pairs to add to each map in tags_as_list_of_maps . Not added to tags or id .This is for some rare cases where resources want additional configuration of tags and therefore take a list of maps with tag key, value, and additional configuration. |
map(string) |
{} |
no |
attributes | ID element. Additional attributes (e.g. workers or cluster ) to add to id ,in the order they appear in the list. New attributes are appended to the end of the list. The elements of the list are joined by the delimiter and treated as a single ID element. |
list(string) |
[] |
no |
aws_saml_component_name | The name of the aws-saml component | string |
"aws-saml" |
no |
aws_saml_environment_name | The name of the environment where SSO is provisioned | string |
"gbl" |
no |
aws_saml_stage_name | The name of the stage where SSO is provisioned | string |
"identity" |
no |
context | Single object for setting entire context at once. See description of individual variables for details. Leave string and numeric variables as null to use default value.Individual variable settings (non-null) override settings in context object, except for attributes, tags, and additional_tag_map, which are merged. |
any |
{ |
no |
delimiter | Delimiter to be used between ID elements. Defaults to - (hyphen). Set to "" to use no delimiter at all. |
string |
null |
no |
descriptor_formats | Describe additional descriptors to be output in the descriptors output map.Map of maps. Keys are names of descriptors. Values are maps of the form {<br/> format = string<br/> labels = list(string)<br/>} (Type is any so the map values can later be enhanced to provide additional options.)format is a Terraform format string to be passed to the format() function.labels is a list of labels, in order, to pass to format() function.Label values will be normalized before being passed to format() so they will beidentical to how they appear in id .Default is {} (descriptors output will be empty). |
any |
{} |
no |
enabled | Set to false to prevent the module from creating any resources | bool |
null |
no |
environment | ID element. Usually used for region e.g. 'uw2', 'us-west-2', OR role 'prod', 'staging', 'dev', 'UAT' | string |
null |
no |
id_length_limit | Limit id to this many characters (minimum 6).Set to 0 for unlimited length.Set to null for keep the existing setting, which defaults to 0 .Does not affect id_full . |
number |
null |
no |
import_role_arn | IAM Role ARN to use when importing a resource | string |
null |
no |
label_key_case | Controls the letter case of the tags keys (label names) for tags generated by this module.Does not affect keys of tags passed in via the tags input.Possible values: lower , title , upper .Default value: title . |
string |
null |
no |
label_order | The order in which the labels (ID elements) appear in the id .Defaults to ["namespace", "environment", "stage", "name", "attributes"]. You can omit any of the 6 labels ("tenant" is the 6th), but at least one must be present. |
list(string) |
null |
no |
label_value_case | Controls the letter case of ID elements (labels) as included in id ,set as tag values, and output by this module individually. Does not affect values of tags passed in via the tags input.Possible values: lower , title , upper and none (no transformation).Set this to title and set delimiter to "" to yield Pascal Case IDs.Default value: lower . |
string |
null |
no |
labels_as_tags | Set of labels (ID elements) to include as tags in the tags output.Default is to include all labels. Tags with empty values will not be included in the tags output.Set to [] to suppress all generated tags.Notes: The value of the name tag, if included, will be the id , not the name .Unlike other null-label inputs, the initial setting of labels_as_tags cannot bechanged in later chained modules. Attempts to change it will be silently ignored. |
set(string) |
[ |
no |
name | ID element. Usually the component or solution name, e.g. 'app' or 'jenkins'. This is the only ID element not also included as a tag .The "name" tag is set to the full id string. There is no tag with the value of the name input. |
string |
null |
no |
namespace | ID element. Usually an abbreviation of your organization name, e.g. 'eg' or 'cp', to help ensure generated IDs are globally unique | string |
null |
no |
regex_replace_chars | Terraform regular expression (regex) string. Characters matching the regex will be removed from the ID elements. If not set, "/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/" is used to remove all characters other than hyphens, letters and digits. |
string |
null |
no |
region | AWS Region | string |
n/a | yes |
stage | ID element. Usually used to indicate role, e.g. 'prod', 'staging', 'source', 'build', 'test', 'deploy', 'release' | string |
null |
no |
tags | Additional tags (e.g. {'BusinessUnit': 'XYZ'} ).Neither the tag keys nor the tag values will be modified by this module. |
map(string) |
{} |
no |
teams_config | A roles map to configure the accounts. | map(object({ |
n/a | yes |
tenant | ID element _(Rarely used, not included by default)_. A customer identifier, indicating who this instance of a resource is for | string |
null |
no |
trusted_github_repos | Map where keys are role names (same keys as teams_config ) and values are lists ofGitHub repositories allowed to assume those roles. See account-map/modules/github-assume-role-policy.mixin.tf for specifics about repository designations. |
map(list(string)) |
{} |
no |
Name | Description |
---|---|
role_arns | List of role ARNs |
team_name_role_arn_map | Map of team names to role ARNs |
team_names | List of team names |
teams_config | Map of team config with name, target arn, and description |
The aws-teams
architecture, when enabling access to a role via lots of AWS SSO Profiles, can create large "assume
role" policies, large enough to exceed the default quota of 2048 characters. If you run into this limitation, you will
get an error like this:
Error: error updating IAM Role (acme-gbl-root-tfstate-backend-analytics-ro) assume role policy: LimitExceeded: Cannot exceed quota for ACLSizePerRole: 2048
This can happen in either/both the identity
and root
accounts (for Terraform state access). So far, we have always
been able to resolve this by requesting a quota increase, which is automatically granted a few minutes after making the
request. To request the quota increase:
-
Log in to the AWS Web console as admin in the affected account
-
Set your region to N. Virginia
us-east-1
-
Navigate to the Service Quotas page via the account dropdown menu
-
Click on AWS Services in the left sidebar
-
Search for "IAM" and select "AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)". (If you don't find that option, make sure you have selected the
us-east-1
region. -
Find and select "Role trust policy length"
-
Request an increase to 4096 characters
-
Wait for the request to be approved, usually less than a few minutes
- cloudposse/terraform-aws-components- Cloud Posse's upstream component
Tip
Cloud Posse uses atmos
to easily orchestrate multiple environments using Terraform.
Works with Github Actions, Atlantis, or Spacelift.
Watch demo of using Atmos with Terraform

Example of running
atmos
to manage infrastructure from our Quick Start tutorial.
Check out these related projects.
- Cloud Posse Terraform Modules - Our collection of reusable Terraform modules used by our reference architectures.
- Atmos - Atmos is like docker-compose but for your infrastructure
Tip
Use Cloud Posse's ready-to-go terraform architecture blueprints for AWS to get up and running quickly.
β
We build it together with your team.
β
Your team owns everything.
β
100% Open Source and backed by fanatical support.
π Learn More
Cloud Posse is the leading DevOps Accelerator for funded startups and enterprises.
Your team can operate like a pro today.
Ensure that your team succeeds by using Cloud Posse's proven process and turnkey blueprints. Plus, we stick around until you succeed.
- Reference Architecture. You'll get everything you need from the ground up built using 100% infrastructure as code.
- Deployment Strategy. Adopt a proven deployment strategy with GitHub Actions, enabling automated, repeatable, and reliable software releases.
- Site Reliability Engineering. Gain total visibility into your applications and services with Datadog, ensuring high availability and performance.
- Security Baseline. Establish a secure environment from the start, with built-in governance, accountability, and comprehensive audit logs, safeguarding your operations.
- GitOps. Empower your team to manage infrastructure changes confidently and efficiently through Pull Requests, leveraging the full power of GitHub Actions.
- Training. Equip your team with the knowledge and skills to confidently manage the infrastructure, ensuring long-term success and self-sufficiency.
- Support. Benefit from a seamless communication over Slack with our experts, ensuring you have the support you need, whenever you need it.
- Troubleshooting. Access expert assistance to quickly resolve any operational challenges, minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity.
- Code Reviews. Enhance your teamβs code quality with our expert feedback, fostering continuous improvement and collaboration.
- Bug Fixes. Rely on our team to troubleshoot and resolve any issues, ensuring your systems run smoothly.
- Migration Assistance. Accelerate your migration process with our dedicated support, minimizing disruption and speeding up time-to-value.
- Customer Workshops. Engage with our team in weekly workshops, gaining insights and strategies to continuously improve and innovate.
This project is under active development, and we encourage contributions from our community.
Many thanks to our outstanding contributors:
For π bug reports & feature requests, please use the issue tracker.
In general, PRs are welcome. We follow the typical "fork-and-pull" Git workflow.
- Review our Code of Conduct and Contributor Guidelines.
- Fork the repo on GitHub
- Clone the project to your own machine
- Commit changes to your own branch
- Push your work back up to your fork
- Submit a Pull Request so that we can review your changes
NOTE: Be sure to merge the latest changes from "upstream" before making a pull request!
Join our Open Source Community on Slack. It's FREE for everyone! Our "SweetOps" community is where you get to talk with others who share a similar vision for how to rollout and manage infrastructure. This is the best place to talk shop, ask questions, solicit feedback, and work together as a community to build totally sweet infrastructure.
Sign up for our newsletter and join 3,000+ DevOps engineers, CTOs, and founders who get insider access to the latest DevOps trends, so you can always stay in the know. Dropped straight into your Inbox every week β and usually a 5-minute read.
Join us every Wednesday via Zoom for your weekly dose of insider DevOps trends, AWS news and Terraform insights, all sourced from our SweetOps community, plus a live Q&A that you canβt find anywhere else. It's FREE for everyone!
Preamble to the Apache License, Version 2.0
Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
distributed with this work for additional information
regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
software distributed under the License is distributed on an
"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
specific language governing permissions and limitations
under the License.
All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright Β© 2017-2025 Cloud Posse, LLC