Configure SDK authentication with AWS - AWS SDK for .NET
Enable and configure IAM Identity CenterConfigure the SDK to use IAM Identity Center.Start an AWS access portal sessionAdditional information

Configure SDK authentication with AWS

You must establish how your code authenticates with AWS when developing with AWS services. There are different ways in which you can configure programmatic access to AWS resources, depending on the environment and the AWS access available to you.

To see various methods of authentication for the SDK, see Authentication and access in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide.

This topic assumes that a new user is developing locally, has not been given a method of authentication by their employer, and will be using AWS IAM Identity Center to obtain temporary credentials. If your environment doesn't fall under these assumptions, some of the information in this topic might not apply to you, or some of the information might have already been given to you.

Configuring this environment requires several steps, which are summarized as follows:

  1. Enable and configure IAM Identity Center

  2. Configure the SDK to use IAM Identity Center.

  3. Start an AWS access portal session

Enable and configure IAM Identity Center

To use IAM Identity Center, it must first be enabled and configured. To see details about how to do this for the SDK, look at Step 1 in the topic for IAM Identity Center authentication in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide. Specifically, follow any necessary instructions under I do not have established access through IAM Identity Center.

Configure the SDK to use IAM Identity Center.

Information about how to configure the SDK to use IAM Identity Center is in Step 2 in the topic for IAM Identity Center authentication in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide. After you complete this configuration, your system should contain the following elements:

  • The AWS CLI, which you use to start an AWS access portal session before you run your application.

  • The shared AWS config file that contains a [default] profile with a set of configuration values that can be referenced from the SDK. To find the location of this file, see Location of the shared files in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide. The AWS SDK for .NET uses the profile's SSO token provider to acquire credentials before sending requests to AWS. The sso_role_name value, which is an IAM role connected to an IAM Identity Center permission set, should allow access to the AWS services used in your application.

    The following sample config file shows a default profile set up with SSO token provider. The profile's sso_session setting refers to the named sso-session section. The sso-session section contains settings to initiate an AWS access portal session.

    [default]
sso_session = my-sso
sso_account_id = 111122223333
sso_role_name = SampleRole
region = us-east-1
output = json

[sso-session my-sso]
sso_region = us-east-1
sso_start_url = https://provided-domain.awsapps.com/start
sso_registration_scopes = sso:account:access
Important

If you're using AWS IAM Identity Center for authentication, your application must reference the following NuGet packages so that SSO resolution can work:

  • AWSSDK.SSO

  • AWSSDK.SSOOIDC

Failure to reference these packages will result in a runtime exception.

Start an AWS access portal session

Before running an application that accesses AWS services, you need an active AWS access portal session for the SDK to use IAM Identity Center authentication to resolve credentials. Depending on your configured session lengths, your access will eventually expire and the SDK will encounter an authentication error. To sign in to the AWS access portal, run the following command in the AWS CLI.

aws sso login

Since you have a default profile setup, you do not need to call the command with a --profile option. If your SSO token provider configuration is using a named profile, the command is aws sso login --profile named-profile.

To test if you already have an active session, run the following AWS CLI command.

aws sts get-caller-identity

The response to this command should report the IAM Identity Center account and permission set configured in the shared config file.

Note

If you already have an active AWS access portal session and run aws sso login, you will not be required to provide credentials.

The sign-in process might prompt you to allow the AWS CLI access to your data. Because the AWS CLI is built on top of the SDK for Python, permission messages may contain variations of the botocore name.

Additional information

  • For additional information about using IAM Identity Center and SSO in a development environment, see Single sign-on in the Advanced auth section. This information includes alternative and more advanced methods, as well as tutorials that show you how to use these methods.

  • For more options on authentication for the SDK, such as the use of profiles and environment variables, see the configuration chapter in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide.

  • To learn more about best practices, see Security best practices in IAM in the IAM User Guide.

  • To create short-term AWS credentials, see Temporary Security Credentials in the IAM User Guide.

  • To learn about other credential providers, see Standardized credential providers in the AWS SDKs and Tools Reference Guide.