Using roles to collect AWS account information for OpsCenter and Explorer - AWS Systems Manager

Using roles to collect AWS account information for OpsCenter and Explorer

Systems Manager uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery. AWS Systems Manager uses this IAM service role to call other AWS services to discover AWS account information.

Service-linked role permissions for Systems Manager account discovery

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

  • accountdiscovery.ssm.amazonaws.com

The role permissions policy allows Systems Manager to complete the following actions on the specified resources:

  • organizations:DescribeAccount

  • organizations:DescribeOrganizationalUnit

  • organizations:DescribeOrganization

  • organizations:ListAccounts

  • organizations:ListAWSServiceAccessForOrganization

  • organizations:ListChildren

  • organizations:ListParents

  • organizations:ListDelegatedServicesForAccount

  • organizations:ListDelegatedAdministrators

  • organizations:ListRoots

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

Creating the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role for Systems Manager

You must create a service-linked role if you want to use Explorer and OpsCenter, capabilities of Systems Manager, across multiple AWS accounts. For OpsCenter, you must manually create the service-linked role. For more information, see (Optional) Setting up OpsCenter to centrally manage OpsItems across accounts.

For Explorer, if you create a resource data sync by using Systems Manager in the AWS Management Console, you can create the service-linked role by choosing the Create role button. If you want to create a resource data sync programmatically, then you must create the role before you create the resource data sync. You can create the role by using the CreateServiceLinkedRole API operation.

Editing the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role for Systems Manager

Systems Manager doesn't allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery 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 the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role for Systems Manager

If you no longer need to use a feature or service that requires a service-linked role, we recommend that you delete that role. That way you don’t have an unused entity that isn't actively monitored or maintained. However, you must clean up your service-linked role before you can manually delete it.

Cleaning up the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

Before you can use IAM to delete the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role, you must first delete all Explorer resource data syncs. For more information, see Deleting a Systems Manager Explorer resource data sync.

Note

If the Systems Manager service is using the role when you try to delete the resources, then the deletion might fail. If that happens, wait for a few minutes and try the operation again.

Manually delete the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

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

Supported Regions for the Systems Manager  AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

Systems Manager supports using service-linked roles in all of the regions where the service is available. For more information, see AWS Systems Manager endpoints and quotas.

Updates to the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role

View details about updates to the AWSServiceRoleForAmazonSSM_AccountDiscovery service-linked role since this service began tracking these changes. For automatic alerts about changes to this page, subscribe to the RSS feed on the Systems Manager Document history page.

Change Description Date

New permissions added

This service-linked role now includes organizations:DescribeOrganizationalUnit and organizations:ListRoots permissions. These permissions enable an AWS Organizations management account or a Systems Manager delegated administrator account to work with OpsItems across accounts. For more information, see (Optional) Setting up OpsCenter to centrally manage OpsItems across accounts.

October 17, 2022