Setting up a new AWS account
If you don't have an AWS account, sign up for an AWS account and create an IAM admin user.
If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.
To sign up for an AWS account
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.
To create an administrator user, choose one of the following options.
| Choose one way to manage your administrator | To | By | You can also |
|---|---|---|---|
| In IAM Identity Center (Recommended) |
Use short-term credentials to access AWS. This aligns with the security best practices. For information about best practices, see Security best practices in IAM in the IAM User Guide. |
Following the instructions in Getting started in the AWS IAM Identity Center User Guide. | Configure programmatic access by Configuring the AWS CLI to use AWS IAM Identity Center in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide. |
| In IAM (Not recommended) |
Use long-term credentials to access AWS. | Following the instructions in Create an IAM user for emergency access in the IAM User Guide. | Configure programmatic access by Manage access keys for IAM users in the IAM User Guide. |
For more information, see the following topics in the IAM User Guide:
