Using service-linked roles for Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) service-linked roles. A service-linked role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to Amazon RDS. Service-linked roles are predefined by Amazon RDS and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other AWS services on your behalf.
A service-linked role makes using Amazon RDS easier because you don't have to manually add the necessary permissions. Amazon RDS defines the permissions of its service-linked roles, and unless defined otherwise, only Amazon RDS can assume its roles. The defined permissions include the trust policy and the permissions policy, and that permissions policy cannot be attached to any other IAM entity.
You can delete the roles only after first deleting their related resources. This protects your Amazon RDS resources because you can't inadvertently remove permission to access the resources.
For information about other services that support service-linked roles, see AWS services that work with IAM and look for the services that have Yes in the Service-Linked Role column. Choose a Yes with a link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.
Service-linked role permissions for Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForRDS to allow Amazon RDS to call AWS services on behalf of your DB instances.
The AWSServiceRoleForRDS service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
-
rds.amazonaws.com
This service-linked role has a permissions policy attached to it called
AmazonRDSServiceRolePolicy
that grants it permissions to operate in your
account.
For more information about this policy, including the JSON policy document, see AmazonRDSServiceRolePolicy in the AWS Managed Policy Reference Guide.
Note
You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. If you encounter the following error message:
Unable to create the resource. Verify that you have permission to create service linked role. Otherwise wait and try again later.
Make sure you have the following permissions enabled:
{ "Action": "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/rds.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForRDS", "Condition": { "StringLike": { "iam:AWSServiceName":"rds.amazonaws.com" } } }
For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.
Creating a service-linked role for Amazon RDS
You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you create a DB instance, Amazon RDS creates the service-linked role for you.
Important
If you were using the Amazon RDS service before December 1, 2017, when it began supporting service-linked roles, then Amazon RDS created the AWSServiceRoleForRDS role in your account. To learn more, see A new role appeared in my AWS account.
If you delete this service-linked role, and then need to create it again, you can use the same process to recreate the role in your account. When you create a DB instance, Amazon RDS creates the service-linked role for you again.
Editing a service-linked role for Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForRDS service-linked role. After you create a service-linked role, you cannot change the name of the role because various entities might reference the role. However, you can edit the description of the role using IAM. For more information, see Editing a service-linked role in the IAM User Guide.
Deleting a service-linked role for Amazon RDS
If you no longer need to use a feature or service that requires a service-linked role, we recommend that you delete that role. That way you don't have an unused entity that is not actively monitored or maintained. However, you must delete all of your DB instances before you can delete the service-linked role.
Cleaning up a service-linked role
Before you can use IAM to delete a service-linked role, you must first confirm that the role has no active sessions and remove any resources used by the role.
To check whether the service-linked role has an active session in the IAM console
Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the IAM console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/
. -
In the navigation pane of the IAM console, choose Roles. Then choose the name (not the check box) of the AWSServiceRoleForRDS role.
-
On the Summary page for the chosen role, choose the Access Advisor tab.
-
On the Access Advisor tab, review recent activity for the service-linked role.
Note
If you are unsure whether Amazon RDS is using the AWSServiceRoleForRDS role, you can try to delete the role. If the service is using the role, then the deletion fails and you can view the AWS Regions where the role is being used. If the role is being used, then you must wait for the session to end before you can delete the role. You cannot revoke the session for a service-linked role.
If you want to remove the AWSServiceRoleForRDS role, you must first delete all of your DB instances .
Deleting all of your instances
Use one of these procedures to delete each of your instances.
To delete an instance (console)
Open the Amazon RDS console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/
. -
In the navigation pane, choose Databases.
-
Choose the instance that you want to delete.
-
For Actions, choose Delete.
-
If you are prompted for Create final Snapshot?, choose Yes or No.
-
If you chose Yes in the previous step, for Final snapshot name enter the name of your final snapshot.
-
Choose Delete.
To delete an instance (CLI)
See delete-db-instance
in the
AWS CLI Command Reference.
To delete an instance (API)
See DeleteDBInstance
in the
Amazon RDS API Reference.
You can use the IAM console, the IAM CLI, or the IAM API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForRDS service-linked role. For more information, see Deleting a service-linked role in the IAM User Guide.
Service-linked role permissions for Amazon RDS Custom
Amazon RDS Custom uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForRDSCustom
to
allow RDS Custom to call AWS services on behalf of your RDS DB resources.
The AWSServiceRoleForRDSCustom service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
-
custom.rds.amazonaws.com
This service-linked role has a permissions policy attached to it called
AmazonRDSCustomServiceRolePolicy
that grants it permissions to operate in
your account.
Creating, editing, or deleting the service-linked role for RDS Custom works the same as for Amazon RDS. For more information, see AWS managed policy: AmazonRDSCustomServiceRolePolicy.
Note
You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. If you encounter the following error message:
Unable to create the resource. Verify that you have permission to create service linked role. Otherwise wait and try again later.
Make sure you have the following permissions enabled:
{ "Action": "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/custom.rds.amazonaws.com/AmazonRDSCustomServiceRolePolicy", "Condition": { "StringLike": { "iam:AWSServiceName":"custom.rds.amazonaws.com" } } }
For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.
Service-linked role permissions for Amazon RDS Beta
Amazon RDS
uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForRDSBeta
to
allow Amazon RDS
to call AWS services on behalf of your RDS DB resources.
The AWSServiceRoleForRDSBeta service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
-
rds.amazonaws.com
This service-linked role has a permissions policy attached to it called
AmazonRDSBetaServiceRolePolicy
that grants it permissions to operate in
your account. For more information, see AWS managed policy: AmazonRDSBetaServiceRolePolicy.
Note
You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. If you encounter the following error message:
Unable to create the resource. Verify that you have permission to create service linked role. Otherwise wait and try again later.
Make sure you have the following permissions enabled:
{ "Action": "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/custom.rds.amazonaws.com/AmazonRDSBetaServiceRolePolicy", "Condition": { "StringLike": { "iam:AWSServiceName":"custom.rds.amazonaws.com" } } }
For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.
Service-linked role for Amazon RDS Preview
Amazon RDS
uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForRDSPreview
to
allow Amazon RDS
to call AWS services on behalf of your RDS DB resources.
The AWSServiceRoleForRDSPreview service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:
-
rds.amazonaws.com
This service-linked role has a permissions policy attached to it called
AmazonRDSPreviewServiceRolePolicy
that grants it permissions to operate in
your account. For more information, see AWS managed policy: AmazonRDSPreviewServiceRolePolicy.
Note
You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. If you encounter the following error message:
Unable to create the resource. Verify that you have permission to create service linked role. Otherwise wait and try again later.
Make sure you have the following permissions enabled:
{ "Action": "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole", "Effect": "Allow", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/custom.rds.amazonaws.com/AmazonRDSPreviewServiceRolePolicy", "Condition": { "StringLike": { "iam:AWSServiceName":"custom.rds.amazonaws.com" } } }
For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.