Construct a URL with AWS STS for federated users using an AWS SDK

The following code example shows how to:

• Create an IAM role that grants read-only access to the current account's Amazon S3 resources.

• Get a security token from the AWS federation endpoint.

• Construct a URL that can be used to access the console with federated credentials.

Python

SDK for Python (Boto3)

Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the AWS Code Examples Repository.

Create a role that grants read-only access to the current account's S3 resources.

def setup(iam_resource):
    """
    Creates a role that can be assumed by the current user.
    Attaches a policy that allows only Amazon S3 read-only access.

    :param iam_resource: A Boto3 AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) instance
                         that has the permission to create a role.
    :return: The newly created role.
    """
    role = iam_resource.create_role(
        RoleName=unique_name("role"),
        AssumeRolePolicyDocument=json.dumps(
            {
                "Version": "2012-10-17",
                "Statement": [
                    {
                        "Effect": "Allow",
                        "Principal": {"AWS": iam_resource.CurrentUser().arn},
                        "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
                    }
                ],
            }
        ),
    )
    role.attach_policy(PolicyArn="arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonS3ReadOnlyAccess")
    print(f"Created role {role.name}.")

    print("Give AWS time to propagate these new resources and connections.", end="")
    progress_bar(10)

    return role

Get a security token from the AWS federation endpoint and construct a URL that can be used to access the console with federated credentials.

def construct_federated_url(assume_role_arn, session_name, issuer, sts_client):
    """
    Constructs a URL that gives federated users direct access to the AWS Management
    Console.

    1. Acquires temporary credentials from AWS Security Token Service (AWS STS) that
       can be used to assume a role with limited permissions.
    2. Uses the temporary credentials to request a sign-in token from the
       AWS federation endpoint.
    3. Builds a URL that can be used in a browser to navigate to the AWS federation
       endpoint, includes the sign-in token for authentication, and redirects to
       the AWS Management Console with permissions defined by the role that was
       specified in step 1.

    :param assume_role_arn: The role that specifies the permissions that are granted.
                            The current user must have permission to assume the role.
    :param session_name: The name for the STS session.
    :param issuer: The organization that issues the URL.
    :param sts_client: A Boto3 STS instance that can assume the role.
    :return: The federated URL.
    """
    response = sts_client.assume_role(
        RoleArn=assume_role_arn, RoleSessionName=session_name
    )
    temp_credentials = response["Credentials"]
    print(f"Assumed role {assume_role_arn} and got temporary credentials.")

    session_data = {
        "sessionId": temp_credentials["AccessKeyId"],
        "sessionKey": temp_credentials["SecretAccessKey"],
        "sessionToken": temp_credentials["SessionToken"],
    }
    aws_federated_signin_endpoint = "https://signin.aws.amazon.com/federation"

    # Make a request to the AWS federation endpoint to get a sign-in token.
    # The requests.get function URL-encodes the parameters and builds the query string
    # before making the request.
    response = requests.get(
        aws_federated_signin_endpoint,
        params={
            "Action": "getSigninToken",
            "SessionDuration": str(datetime.timedelta(hours=12).seconds),
            "Session": json.dumps(session_data),
        },
    )
    signin_token = json.loads(response.text)
    print(f"Got a sign-in token from the AWS sign-in federation endpoint.")

    # Make a federated URL that can be used to sign into the AWS Management Console.
    query_string = urllib.parse.urlencode(
        {
            "Action": "login",
            "Issuer": issuer,
            "Destination": "https://console.aws.amazon.com/",
            "SigninToken": signin_token["SigninToken"],
        }
    )
    federated_url = f"{aws_federated_signin_endpoint}?{query_string}"
    return federated_url

Destroy the resources created for the demo.

def teardown(role):
    """
    Removes all resources created during setup.

    :param role: The demo role.
    """
    for attached in role.attached_policies.all():
        role.detach_policy(PolicyArn=attached.arn)
        print(f"Detached {attached.policy_name}.")
    role.delete()
    print(f"Deleted {role.name}.")

Run this scenario by using the previously defined functions.

def usage_demo():
    """Drives the demonstration."""
    print("-" * 88)
    print(f"Welcome to the AWS Security Token Service federated URL demo.")
    print("-" * 88)
    iam_resource = boto3.resource("iam")
    role = setup(iam_resource)
    sts_client = boto3.client("sts")
    try:
        federated_url = construct_federated_url(
            role.arn, "AssumeRoleDemoSession", "example.org", sts_client
        )
        print(
            "Constructed a federated URL that can be used to connect to the "
            "AWS Management Console with role-defined permissions:"
        )
        print("-" * 88)
        print(federated_url)
        print("-" * 88)
        _ = input(
            "Copy and paste the above URL into a browser to open the AWS "
            "Management Console with limited permissions. When done, press "
            "Enter to clean up and complete this demo."
        )
    finally:
        teardown(role)
        print("Thanks for watching!")

• For API details, see AssumeRole in AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) API Reference.