Service-linked roles for AWS Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect 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 AWS Direct Connect. Service-linked roles are predefined by AWS Direct Connect and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other AWS services on your behalf.

A service-linked role makes setting up AWS Direct Connect easier because you don’t have to manually add the necessary permissions. AWS Direct Connect defines the permissions of its service-linked roles, and unless defined otherwise, only AWS Direct Connect 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 a service-linked role only after first deleting their related resources. This protects your AWS Direct Connect 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 AWS Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect uses a service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect. This allows AWS Direct Connect to retrieve the MACSec secretes stored in AWS Secrets Manager on your behalf.

The AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:

• directconnect.amazonaws.com

The AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect service-linked role uses the managed policy AWSDirectConnectServiceRolePolicy.

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. For the AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect service-linked role to be created successfully, the IAM identity that you use AWS Direct Connect with must have the required permissions. To grant the required permissions, attach the following policy to the IAM identity.

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole",
            "Condition": {
                "StringLike": {
                    "iam:AWSServiceName": "directconnect.amazonaws.com"
                }
            },
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Resource": "*"
        },
        {
            "Action": "iam:GetRole",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Resource": "*"
       }
    ]
}

For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.

Creating a service-linked role for AWS Direct Connect

You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. AWS Direct Connect creates the service-linked role for you. When you run the associate-mac-sec-key command, AWS creates a service-linked role that allows AWS Direct Connect to retrieve the MACsec secrets that are stored in AWS Secrets Manager on your behalf in the AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API.

Important

This service-linked role can appear in your account if you completed an action in another service that uses the features supported by this role. To learn more, see A New Role Appeared in My IAM 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. AWS Direct Connect creates the service-linked role for you again.

You can also use the IAM console to create a service-linked role with the AWS Direct Connect use case. In the AWS CLI or the AWS API, create a service-linked role with the directconnect.amazonaws.com service name. For more information, see Creating a service-linked role in the IAM User Guide. If you delete this service-linked role, you can use this same process to create the role again.

Editing a service-linked role for AWS Direct Connect

AWS Direct Connect does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect service-linked role. After you create a service-linked role, you can't 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 AWS Direct Connect

You don't need to manually delete the AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect role. When you delete your service linked role, you must delete all the associated resources that are stored in AWS Secrets Manager web service. The AWS Management Console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API, AWS Direct Connect cleans up the resources and deletes the service-linked role for you.

You can also use the IAM console to delete the service-linked role. To do this, you must first manually clean up the resources for your service-linked role and then you can delete it.

Note

If the AWS Direct Connect service is using the role when you try to delete the resources, then deletion might fail. If this happens, wait a few minutes, and then try the operation again.

To delete AWS Direct Connect resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect

1. Remove the association between all MACsec keys and connections. For more information, see Remove the association between a MACsec secret key and a connection

2. Remove the association between all MACsec keys and LAGs. For more information, see Remove the association between a MACsec secret key and a LAG

To manually delete the service-linked role using IAM

Use the IAM console, the AWS CLI, or the AWS API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForDirectConnect service-linked role. For more information, see Deleting a service-linked role in the IAM User Guide.

Supported regions for AWS Direct Connect service-linked roles

AWS Direct Connect supports using service-linked roles in all AWS Regions where the MAC Security feature is available. For more information, see AWS Direct Connect Locations.