Connect a self-managed directory in Active Directory to IAM Identity Center - AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS Single Sign-On)

Connect a self-managed directory in Active Directory to IAM Identity Center

Users in your self-managed directory in Active Directory (AD) can also have single sign-on access to AWS accounts and cloud applications in the AWS access portal. To configure single sign-on access for these users, you can do either of the following:

  • Create a two-way trust relationship – When two-way trust relationships are created between AWS Managed Microsoft AD and a self-managed directory in AD, users in your self-managed directory in AD can sign in with their corporate credentials to various AWS services and business applications. One-way trusts do not work with IAM Identity Center.

    AWS IAM Identity Center (successor to AWS Single Sign-On) requires a two-way trust so that it has permissions to read user and group information from your domain to synchronize user and group metadata. IAM Identity Center uses this metadata when assigning access to permission sets or applications. User and group metadata is also used by applications for collaboration, like when you share a dashboard with another user or group. The trust from AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory to your domain permits IAM Identity Center to trust your domain for authentication. The trust in the opposite direction grants AWS permissions to read user and group metadata.

    For more information about setting up a two-way trust, see When to Create a Trust Relationship in the AWS Directory Service Administration Guide.

  • Create an AD Connector – AD Connector is a directory gateway that can redirect directory requests to your self-managed AD without caching any information in the cloud. For more information, see Connect to a Directory in the AWS Directory Service Administration Guide.

    Note

    If you are connecting IAM Identity Center to an AD Connector directory, any future user password resets must be done from within AD. This means that users will not be able to reset their passwords from the AWS access portal.

    If you use AD Connector to connect your Active Directory Domain Service to IAM Identity Center, IAM Identity Center only has access to the users and groups of the single domain to which AD Connector attaches. If you need to support multiple domains or forests, use AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory.

    Note

    IAM Identity Center does not work with SAMBA4-based Simple AD directories.