Setting up AWS Systems Manager

Complete the tasks in this section to set up and configure roles, user accounts, permissions, and initial resources for AWS Systems Manager. The tasks described in this section are typically performed by AWS account and systems administrators. After these steps are complete, users in your organization can use Systems Manager to configure, manage, and access your managed nodes. A managed node is any machine configured for use with Systems Manager in a hybrid and multicloud environment.

Note

If you plan to use Amazon EC2 instances and your own computing resources in a hybrid and multicloud environment, follow the steps in Using Systems Manager with EC2 instances. That topic presents steps in the best order for completing Systems Manager setup for EC2 instances and non-EC2 machines.

If you already use other AWS services, you have completed some of these steps. However, other steps are specific to Systems Manager. Therefore, we recommend reviewing this entire section to ensure that you're ready to use all Systems Manager capabilities.

Topics

• Using Systems Manager with EC2 instances
• Using Systems Manager in hybrid and multicloud environments
• Managing edge devices with Systems Manager
• Creating an AWS Organizations delegated administrator for Systems Manager
• General setup for AWS Systems Manager

General setup for AWS Systems Manager

If you haven't already done so, sign up for an AWS account and create an administrative user.

Sign up for an AWS account

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

To sign up for an AWS account

1. Open https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup.

2. Follow the online instructions.

   Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

   When you sign up for an AWS account, an AWS account root user is created. The root user has access to all AWS services and resources in the account. As a security best practice, assign administrative access to a user, and use only the root user to perform tasks that require root user access.

AWS sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to https://aws.amazon.com/ and choosing My Account.

Create a user with administrative access

After you sign up for an AWS account, secure your AWS account root user, enable AWS IAM Identity Center, and create an administrative user so that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks.

Secure your AWS account root user

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

   For help signing in by using root user, see Signing in as the root user in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

2. Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for your root user.

   For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for your AWS account root user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

Create a user with administrative access

1. Enable IAM Identity Center.

   For instructions, see Enabling AWS IAM Identity Center in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

2. In IAM Identity Center, grant administrative access to a user.

   For a tutorial about using the IAM Identity Center directory as your identity source, see Configure user access with the default IAM Identity Center directory in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Sign in as the user with administrative access

• To sign in with your IAM Identity Center user, use the sign-in URL that was sent to your email address when you created the IAM Identity Center user.

  For help signing in using an IAM Identity Center user, see Signing in to the AWS access portal in the AWS Sign-In User Guide.

Assign access to additional users

1. In IAM Identity Center, create a permission set that follows the best practice of applying least-privilege permissions.

   For instructions, see Create a permission set in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

2. Assign users to a group, and then assign single sign-on access to the group.

   For instructions, see Add groups in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.