Setting up AWS WAF Classic - AWS WAF, AWS Firewall Manager, and AWS Shield Advanced
Sign up for an AWS accountCreate a user with administrative accessDownload tools

Setting up AWS WAF Classic

Warning

AWS WAF Classic support will end on September 30, 2025.

Note

This is AWS WAF Classic documentation. You should only use this version if you created AWS WAF resources, like rules and web ACLs, in AWS WAF prior to November 2019, and you have not migrated them over to the latest version yet. To migrate your web ACLs, see Migrating your AWS WAF Classic resources to AWS WAF.

For the latest version of AWS WAF, see AWS WAF.

This topic describes preliminary steps, such as creating a user account, to prepare you to use AWS WAF Classic. You aren't charged for these. You are charged only for AWS services that you use.

Note

If you're a new user to AWS WAF, don't follow these setup steps for AWS WAF Classic. Instead, follow the steps for the latest version of AWS WAF, at Setting up your account to use the services.

After you complete these steps, see Getting started with AWS WAF Classic to continue getting started with AWS WAF Classic.

Note

AWS Shield Standard is included with AWS WAF Classic and does not require additional setup. For more information, see How AWS Shield and Shield Advanced work.

Before you use AWS WAF Classic or AWS Shield Advanced for the first time, complete the steps in this section.

Sign up for an AWS account

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

To sign up for an AWS account

  1. Open https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup.

  2. Follow the online instructions.

    Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

    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 a user, and use only the root user to perform tasks that require root user access.

AWS sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to https://aws.amazon.com/ and choosing My Account.

Create a user with administrative access

After you sign up for an AWS account, secure your AWS account root user, enable AWS IAM Identity Center, and create an administrative user so that you don't use the root user for everyday tasks.

Secure your AWS account root user

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

    For help signing in by 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 a user with administrative access

  1. Enable IAM Identity Center.

    For instructions, see Enabling AWS IAM Identity Center in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

  2. In IAM Identity Center, grant administrative access to a user.

    For a tutorial about using the IAM Identity Center directory as your identity source, see Configure user access with the default IAM Identity Center directory in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Sign in as the user with administrative access

  • To sign in with your IAM Identity Center user, 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.

Assign access to additional users

  1. In IAM Identity Center, create a permission set that follows the best practice of applying least-privilege permissions.

    For instructions, see Create a permission set in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

  2. Assign users to a group, and then assign single sign-on access to the group.

    For instructions, see Add groups in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide.

Download tools

The AWS Management Console includes a console for AWS WAF Classic, but if you want to access AWS WAF Classic programmatically, see the following:

  • If you want to call the AWS WAF Classic API without having to handle low-level details like assembling raw HTTP requests, you can use an AWS SDK. The AWS SDKs provide functions and data types that encapsulate the functionality of AWS WAF Classic and other AWS services. To download an AWS SDK, see the applicable page, which also includes prerequisites and installation instructions:

    For a complete list of AWS SDKs, see Tools for Amazon Web Services.

  • If you're using a programming language for which AWS doesn't provide an SDK, the AWS WAF API Reference documents the operations that AWS WAF Classic supports.

  • The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) supports AWS WAF Classic. The AWS CLI lets you control multiple AWS services from the command line and automate them through scripts. For more information, see AWS Command Line Interface.

  • AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell supports AWS WAF Classic. For more information, see AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference.