Step 2: Set Up Root and Administrative Users

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 an administrative user and use the root user only to perform tasks that require root user access.

Secure Your AWS Account Root User

1. To sign in as the administrative user in the IAM Identity Center, 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.

   For help signing in 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 an Administrative User

You should create an administrative user so that you do not use the root user for everyday tasks.

• For your daily administrative tasks, assign administrative access to an administrative user in AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS Single Sign-On). For instructions, see Getting started in the AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS Single Sign-On) User Guide.

• To sign in as the administrative user in the IAM Identity Center, 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.