Step 2: Generate the URL with the authentication code attached

In the following section, you can find out how to authenticate your user and get the embeddable console session URL on your application server.

When a user accesses your app, the app assumes the IAM role on the user's behalf. Then it adds the user to QuickSight, if that user doesn't already exist. Next, it passes an identifier as the unique role session ID.

Performing the described steps ensures that each viewer of the console session is uniquely provisioned in QuickSight. It also enforces per-user settings, such as the row-level security and dynamic defaults for parameters.

The following examples perform the IAM authentication on the user's behalf. This code runs on your app server.

Java

import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentials;
import com.amazonaws.auth.BasicAWSCredentials;
import com.amazonaws.auth.AWSCredentialsProvider;
import com.amazonaws.regions.Regions;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.AmazonQuickSight;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.AmazonQuickSightClientBuilder;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.model.GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.model.GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserResult;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.model.RegisteredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration;
import com.amazonaws.services.quicksight.model.RegisteredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration;

/**
 * Class to call QuickSight AWS SDK to get url for QuickSight console embedding.
 */
public class GetQuicksightEmbedUrlRegisteredUserQSConsoleEmbedding {

    private final AmazonQuickSight quickSightClient;

    public GetQuicksightEmbedUrlRegisteredUserQSConsoleEmbedding() {
        this.quickSightClient = AmazonQuickSightClientBuilder
                .standard()
                .withRegion(Regions.US_EAST_1.getName())
                .withCredentials(new AWSCredentialsProvider() {
                        @Override
                        public AWSCredentials getCredentials() {
                            // provide actual IAM access key and secret key here
                            return new BasicAWSCredentials("access-key", "secret-key");
                        }

                         @Override
                        public void refresh() {                           
                        }
                    }
                )
                .build();
    }

    public String getQuicksightEmbedUrl(
            final String accountId,
            final String userArn, // Registered user arn to use for embedding. Refer to Get Embed Url section in developer portal to find out how to get user arn for a QuickSight user.
            final List<String> allowedDomains, // Runtime allowed domain for embedding
            final String initialPath
    ) throws Exception {
        final RegisteredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration experienceConfiguration = new RegisteredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration()
                .withQuickSightConsole(new RegisteredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration().withInitialPath(initialPath));
        final GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest = new GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest();
        generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest.setAwsAccountId(accountId);
        generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest.setUserArn(userArn);
        generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest.setAllowedDomains(allowedDomains);
        generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest.setExperienceConfiguration(experienceConfiguration);

        final GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserResult generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserResult = quickSightClient.generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser(generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest);

        return generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserResult.getEmbedUrl();
    }
}

JavaScript

global.fetch = require('node-fetch');
const AWS = require('aws-sdk');

function generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser(
    accountId,
    dashboardId,
    openIdToken, // Cognito-based token
    userArn, // registered user arn
    roleArn, // IAM user role to use for embedding
    sessionName, // Session name for the roleArn assume role
    allowedDomains, // Runtime allowed domain for embedding
    getEmbedUrlCallback, // GetEmbedUrl success callback method
    errorCallback // GetEmbedUrl error callback method
    ) {
    const stsClient = new AWS.STS();
    let stsParams = {
        RoleSessionName: sessionName,
        WebIdentityToken: openIdToken,
        RoleArn: roleArn
    }

    stsClient.assumeRoleWithWebIdentity(stsParams, function(err, data) {
        if (err) {
            console.log('Error assuming role');
            console.log(err, err.stack);
            errorCallback(err);
        } else {
            const getDashboardParams = {
                "AwsAccountId": accountId,
                "ExperienceConfiguration": {
                    "QuickSightConsole": {
                        "InitialPath": '/start'
                    }
                },
                "UserArn": userArn,
                "AllowedDomains": allowedDomains,
                "SessionLifetimeInMinutes": 600
            };

            const quicksightGetDashboard = new AWS.QuickSight({
                region: process.env.AWS_REGION,
                credentials: {
                    accessKeyId: data.Credentials.AccessKeyId,
                    secretAccessKey: data.Credentials.SecretAccessKey,
                    sessionToken: data.Credentials.SessionToken,
                    expiration: data.Credentials.Expiration
                }
            });

            quicksightGetDashboard.generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser(getDashboardParams, function(err, data) {
                if (err) {
                    console.log(err, err.stack);
                    errorCallback(err);
                } else {
                    const result = {
                        "statusCode": 200,
                        "headers": {
                            "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*", // Use your website domain to secure access to GetEmbedUrl API
                            "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": "Content-Type"
                        },
                        "body": JSON.stringify(data),
                        "isBase64Encoded": false
                    }
                    getEmbedUrlCallback(result);
                }
            });
        }
    });
}

Python3

import json
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError

# Create QuickSight and STS clients
qs = boto3.client('quicksight', region_name='us-east-1')
sts = boto3.client('sts')

# Function to generate embedded URL  
# accountId: AWS account ID
# userArn: arn of registered user
# allowedDomains: Runtime allowed domain for embedding
# roleArn: IAM user role to use for embedding
# sessionName: session name for the roleArn assume role
def generateEmbeddingURL(accountId, userArn, allowedDomains, roleArn, sessionName):
    try:
        assumedRole = sts.assume_role(
            RoleArn = roleArn,
            RoleSessionName = sessionName,
        )
    except ClientError as e:
        return "Error assuming role: " + str(e)
    else: 
        assumedRoleSession = boto3.Session(
            aws_access_key_id = assumedRole['Credentials']['AccessKeyId'],
            aws_secret_access_key = assumedRole['Credentials']['SecretAccessKey'],
            aws_session_token = assumedRole['Credentials']['SessionToken'],
        )
        try:
            quickSightClient = assumedRoleSession.client('quicksight', region_name='us-east-1')
            
            experienceConfiguration = {
                "QuickSightConsole": {
                    "InitialPath": "/start"
                }
            }
            response = quickSightClient.generate_embed_url_for_registered_user(
                 AwsAccountId = accountId,
                 ExperienceConfiguration = experienceConfiguration,
                 UserArn = userArn,
                 AllowedDomains = allowedDomains,
                 SessionLifetimeInMinutes = 600
            )
            
            return {
                'statusCode': 200,
                'headers': {"Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*", "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": "Content-Type"},
                'body': json.dumps(response),
                'isBase64Encoded':  bool('false')
            }
        except ClientError as e:
            return "Error generating embedding url: " + str(e)

Node.js

The following example shows the JavaScript (Node.js) that you can use on the app server to generate the URL for the embedded console session. You can use this URL in your website or app to display the console session.

const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const https = require('https');

var quicksightClient = new AWS.Service({
    apiConfig: require('./quicksight-2018-04-01.min.json'),
    region: 'us-east-1',
});

quicksightClient.generateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser({
    'AwsAccountId': '111122223333',
    'ExperienceConfiguration': {
        'QuickSightConsole': {
            'InitialPath': '/start'
        }
    },
    'UserArn': 'REGISTERED_USER_ARN',
    'AllowedDomains': allowedDomains,
    'SessionLifetimeInMinutes': 100
}, function(err, data) {
    console.log('Errors: ');
    console.log(err);
    console.log('Response: ');
    console.log(data);
});

// The URL returned is over 900 characters. For this example, we've shortened the string for
// readability and added ellipsis to indicate that it's incomplete.
    {
        Status: 200,
        EmbedUrl: 'https://quicksightdomain/embed/12345/dashboards/67890..,
        RequestId: '7bee030e-f191-45c4-97fe-d9faf0e03713'
    }

.NET/C#

The following example shows the .NET/C# code that you can use on the app server to generate the URL for the embedded console session. You can use this URL in your website or app to display the console.

using System;
using Amazon.QuickSight;
using Amazon.QuickSight.Model;

namespace GenerateDashboardEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var quicksightClient = new AmazonQuickSightClient(
                AccessKey,
                SecretAccessKey,
                SessionToken,
                Amazon.RegionEndpoint.USEast1);
            try
            {
                RegisteredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration registeredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration
                    = new RegisteredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration
                    {
                        InitialPath = "/start"
                    };
                RegisteredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration registeredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration
                    = new RegisteredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration
                    {
                        QuickSightConsole = registeredUserQuickSightConsoleEmbeddingConfiguration
                    };
                
                Console.WriteLine(
                    quicksightClient.GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserAsync(new GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUserRequest
                    {
                        AwsAccountId = "111122223333",
                        ExperienceConfiguration = registeredUserEmbeddingExperienceConfiguration,
                        UserArn = "REGISTERED_USER_ARN",
                        AllowedDomains = allowedDomains,
                        SessionLifetimeInMinutes = 100
                    }).Result.EmbedUrl
                );
            } catch (Exception ex) {
                Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

AWS CLI

To assume the role, choose one of the following AWS Security Token Service (AWS STS) API operations:

• AssumeRole – Use this operation when you're using an IAM identity to assume the role.

• AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity – Use this operation when you're using a web identity provider to authenticate your user.

• AssumeRoleWithSaml – Use this operation when you're using SAML to authenticate your users.

The following example shows the CLI command to set the IAM role. The role needs to have permissions enabled for quicksight:GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser. If you are taking a just-in-time approach to add users when they first open QuickSight, the role also needs permissions enabled for quicksight:RegisterUser.

aws sts assume-role \
     --role-arn "arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/embedding_quicksight_dashboard_role" \
     --role-session-name [e-mail]

The assume-role operation returns three output parameters: the access key, the secret key, and the session token.

Note

If you get an ExpiredToken error when calling the AssumeRole operation, this is probably because the previous SESSION TOKEN is still in the environment variables. Clear this by setting the following variables:

• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

• AWS_SESSION_TOKEN

The following example shows how to set these three parameters in the CLI. If you're using a Microsoft Windows machine, use set instead of export.

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID     = "access_key_from_assume_role"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = "secret_key_from_assume_role"
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN     = "session_token_from_assume_role"

Running these commands sets the role session ID of the user visiting your website to embedding_quicksight_console_session_role/[e-mail]. The role session ID is made up of the role name from role-arn and the role-session-name value. Using the unique role session ID for each user ensures that appropriate permissions are set for each user. It also prevents any throttling of user access. Throttling is a security feature that prevents the same user from accessing QuickSight from multiple locations.

The role session ID also becomes the user name in QuickSight. You can use this pattern to provision your users in QuickSight ahead of time, or to provision them the first time they access a console session.

The following example shows the CLI command that you can use to provision a user. For more information about RegisterUser, DescribeUser, and other QuickSight API operations, see the QuickSight API Reference.

aws quicksight register-user \
     --aws-account-id 111122223333 \
     --namespace default \
     --identity-type IAM \
     --iam-arn "arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/embedding_quicksight_dashboard_role" \
     --user-role READER \
     --user-name jhnd \
     --session-name "[e-mail]" \
     --email [e-mail] \
     --region us-east-1 \
     --custom-permissions-name TeamA1

If the user is authenticated through Microsoft AD, you don't need to use RegisterUser to set them up. Instead, they should be automatically subscribed the first time they access QuickSight. For Microsoft AD users, you can use DescribeUser to get the user ARN.

The first time a user accesses QuickSight, you can also add this user to the appropriate group. The following example shows the CLI command to add a user to a group.

aws quicksight create-group-membership \
     --aws-account-id=111122223333 \
     --namespace=default \
     --group-name=financeusers \
     --member-name="embedding_quicksight_dashboard_role/[e-mail]"

You now have a user of your app who is also a user of QuickSight, and who has access to the QuickSight console session.

Finally, to get a signed URL for the console session, call generate-embed-url-for-registered-user from the app server. This returns the embeddable console session URL. The following example shows how to generate the URL for an embedded console session using a server-side call for users authenticated through AWS Managed Microsoft AD or single sign-on (IAM Identity Center).

aws quicksight generate-embed-url-for-registered-user \
    --aws-account-id 111122223333 \
    --entry-point the-url-for--the-console-session \
    --session-lifetime-in-minutes 600 \
    --user-arn arn:aws:quicksight:us-east-1:111122223333:user/default/embedding_quicksight_dashboard_role/embeddingsession
	--allowed-domains '["domain1","domain2"]' \
    --experience-configuration QuickSightConsole={InitialPath="/start"}

For more information about using this operation, see GenerateEmbedUrlForRegisteredUser. You can use this and other API operations in your own code.