(Optional) Manually set up OpsCenter to centrally manage OpsItems across accounts

This section describes how to manually configure OpsCenter for cross-account OpsItem management. While this process is still supported, it has been replaced by a newer process that uses Systems Manager Quick Setup. For more information, see (Optional) Configure OpsCenter to manage OpsItems across accounts by using Quick Setup.

You can set up a central account to create manual OpsItems for member accounts, and manage and remediate those OpsItems. The central account can be the AWS Organizations management account, or both the AWS Organizations management account and Systems Manager delegated administrator account. We recommend that you use the Systems Manager delegated administrator account as a central account. You can only use this feature after you configure AWS Organizations.

With AWS Organizations, you can consolidate multiple AWS accounts into an organization that you create and manage centrally. The central account user can create OpsItems for all selected member accounts simultaneously, and manage those OpsItems.

Use the process in this section to enable the Systems Manager service principal in Organizations and configure AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions for working with OpsItems across accounts.

Note

Only OpsItems of type /aws/issue are supported when working in OpsCenter across accounts.

Before you begin

Before you set up OpsCenter to work with OpsItems across accounts, ensure that you have set up the following:

• A Systems Manager delegated administrator account. For more information, see Configuring a delegated administrator for Explorer.

• One organization set up and configured in Organizations. For more information, see Creating and managing an organization in the AWS Organizations User Guide.

• You configured Systems Manager Automation to run automation runbooks across multiple AWS Regions and AWS accounts. For more information, see Running automations in multiple AWS Regions and accounts.

Step 1: Creating a resource data sync

After you set up and configure AWS Organizations, you can aggregate OpsItems in OpsCenter for an entire organization by creating a resource data sync. For more information, see Creating a resource data sync. When you create the sync, in the Add accounts section, be sure to choose the Include all accounts from my AWS Organizations configuration option.

Step 2: Enabling the Systems Manager service principal in AWS Organizations

To enable a user to work with OpsItems across accounts, the Systems Manager service principal must be enabled in AWS Organizations. If you previously configured Systems Manager for multi-account scenarios using other capabilities, the Systems Manager service principal might already be configured in Organizations. Run the following commands from the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) to verify. If you haven't configured Systems Manager for other multi-account scenarios, skip to the next procedure, To enable the Systems Manager service principal in AWS Organizations.

To verify the Systems Manager service principal is enabled in AWS Organizations

1. Download the latest version of the AWS CLI to your local machine.

2. Open the AWS CLI, and run the following command to specify your credentials and an AWS Region.

   aws configure

   The system prompts you to specify the following. In the following example, replace each user input placeholder with your own information.

   AWS Access Key ID [None]: key_name
   AWS Secret Access Key [None]: key_name
   Default region name [None]: region
   Default output format [None]: ENTER

3. Run the following command to verify that the Systems Manager service principal is enabled for AWS Organizations.

   aws organizations list-aws-service-access-for-organization

   The command returns information similar to that shown in the following example.

   {
       "EnabledServicePrincipals": [
           {
               "ServicePrincipal": "member.org.stacksets.cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
               "DateEnabled": "2020-12-11T16:32:27.732000-08:00"
           },
           {
               "ServicePrincipal": "opsdatasync.ssm.amazonaws.com",
               "DateEnabled": "2022-01-19T12:30:48.352000-08:00"
           },
           {
               "ServicePrincipal": "ssm.amazonaws.com",
               "DateEnabled": "2020-12-11T16:32:26.599000-08:00"
           }
       ]
   }

To enable the Systems Manager service principal in AWS Organizations

If you haven't previously configured the Systems Manager service principal for Organizations, use the following procedure to do so. For more information about this command, see enable-aws-service-access in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

1. Install and configure the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), if you haven't already. For information, see Installing CLI and Configuring CLI.

2. Download the latest version of the AWS CLI to your local machine.

3. Open the AWS CLI, and run the following command to specify your credentials and an AWS Region.

   aws configure

   The system prompts you to specify the following. In the following example, replace each user input placeholder with your own information.

   AWS Access Key ID [None]: key_name
   AWS Secret Access Key [None]: key_name
   Default region name [None]: region
   Default output format [None]: ENTER

4. Run the following command to enable the Systems Manager service principal for AWS Organizations.

   aws organizations enable-aws-service-access --service-principal "ssm.amazonaws.com"

Step 3: Creating the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

A service-linked role such as the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to an AWS service, such as Systems Manager. Service-linked roles are predefined by the service and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other AWS services on your behalf. For more information about the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role, see Service-linked role permissions for Systems Manager account discovery.

Use the following procedure to create the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role by using the AWS CLI. For more information about the command used in this procedure, see create-service-linked-role in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

To create the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

1. Sign in to the AWS Organizations management account.

2. While signed in to the Organizations management account, run the following command.

   aws iam create-service-linked-role \
       --aws-service-name accountdiscovery.ssm.amazonaws.com \
       --description "Systems Manager account discovery for AWS Organizations service-linked role"

Step 4: Configuring permissions to work with OpsItems across accounts

Use AWS CloudFormation stacksets to create an OpsItemGroup resource policy and an IAM execution role that give users permission to work with OpsItems across accounts. To get started, download and unzip the OpsCenterCrossAccountMembers.zip file. This file contains the OpsCenterCrossAccountMembers.yaml AWS CloudFormation template file. When you create a stack set by using this template, CloudFormation automatically creates the OpsItemCrossAccountResourcePolicy resource policy and the OpsItemCrossAccountExecutionRole execution role in the account. For more information about creating a stack set, see Create a stack set in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide.

Important

Note the following important information about this task:

• You must deploy the stackset while signed in to the AWS Organizations management account.

• You must repeat this procedure while signed in to every account that you want to target for working with OpsItems across accounts, including the delegated administrator account.

• If you want to enable cross-account OpsItems administration in different AWS Regions, choose Add all regions in the Specify regions section of the template. Cross-account OpsItem administration isn't supported for opt-in Regions.

Step 5: Configuring permissions to work with related resources across accounts

An OpsItem can include detailed information about impacted resources such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances or Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets. The OpsItemCrossAccountExecutionRole execution role, which you created in the previous Step 4, provides OpsCenter with read-only permissions for member accounts to view related resources. You must also create an IAM role to provide management accounts with permission to view and interact with related resources, which you will complete in this task.

To get started, download and unzip the OpsCenterCrossAccountManagementRole.zip file. This file contains the OpsCenterCrossAccountManagementRole.yaml AWS CloudFormation template file. When you create a stack by using this template, CloudFormation automatically creates the OpsCenterCrossAccountManagementRole IAM role in the account. For more information about creating a stack, see Creating a stack on the AWS CloudFormation console in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide.

Important

Note the following important information about this task:

• If you plan to specify an account as a delegated administrator for OpsCenter, be sure to specify that AWS account when you create the stack.

• You must perform this procedure while signed in to the AWS Organizations management account and again while signed in to the delegated administrator account.