AWS SSO Azure AD Integration for Seamless Identity Management

AWS SSO Azure AD integration allows you to manage access to AWS accounts using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) identities.

This integration enables single sign-on (SSO) for users, eliminating the need for separate usernames and passwords for AWS services.

By using Azure AD, you can manage your AWS account access from a single place, streamlining identity management and reducing administrative burdens.

With AWS SSO and Azure AD integration, you can also leverage Azure AD's advanced security features, such as multi-factor authentication and conditional access, to enhance the security of your AWS account access.

To set up AWS SSO with Azure AD, start by creating an Enterprise Application in Azure AD's application gallery. This will provide a template for connecting Azure AD with AWS, making it easier to configure single sign-on (SSO) and automated user provisioning.

You'll need to customize the User Portal URL in the AWS SSO Console and modify the Sign on URL in your Custom Enterprise Application in Azure AD. Make sure to save the changes and close the window.

Next, enable automatic provisioning for your External Identity Provider (IdP) using the Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) v2.0 protocol in the AWS SSO Console. Be sure to limit phone numbers to a single value attribute, as AWS SSO currently does not support multiple values.

To verify the automatic provisioning of Groups and Users from Azure AD to AWS SSO, check the AWS SSO Console for Azure AD (IdP) Groups and Users. If everything is set up correctly, you should see the Groups and Users listed.

To assign Permission Sets to users, follow the same process for the 'ViewOnlyAccess' Permission Set. Once the Permission Sets have been assigned, you can log in to AWS using your Azure AD credentials and the previously set up AWS SSO Portal URL.

Here's a list of the steps to follow:

Note that you'll need to repeat these steps for each Permission Set you want to assign.

To configure Single Sign-On (SSO) between AWS and Azure AD, you'll need to activate AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) in the AWS Management Console. This involves visiting https://console.aws.amazon.com/singlesignon, choosing your AWS Region, and clicking the 'Enable AWS SSO' button.

You'll then need to download the 'AWS Federation Metadata XML File' from the AWS SSO Management Console. This file will be used to set up Single Sign-On for your new application.

To set up Single Sign-On, you'll need to select your 'AWS Federation Metadata XML File' and click the 'Add' Button. If you get an error, simply download the file again and try again.

The 'Entity ID' and 'ACS URL' for IdP-Initiated SSO will be confirmed by clicking the 'Save' Button and closing the window. You'll also need to configure the 'Role', 'RoleSessionName', and 'SessionDuration' attributes.

Here are the attributes you'll need to configure:

Once you've configured these attributes, you can click the 'Federation Metadata XML – Download' Link to download your 'AzureAD Federation Metadata XML File'. This file will be used to set up Single Sign-On on the AWS side.

Customizing SSO is a crucial step in setting up AWS SSO with Azure AD. To customize the SSO experience, you'll need to create a custom 'User Portal' URL in the AWS SSO Console.

You can do this by clicking the 'Customize' button next to the User Portal, which will allow you to modify the URL to meet your organization's needs. From the Azure AD Portal, you can also customize the 'Sign on URL' for your custom Enterprise Application.

Here's a step-by-step guide to customizing the SSO experience:

By following these steps, you can ensure a seamless SSO experience for your users.

You can organize your AWS accounts into an organizational structure using Azure AD, allowing for easier management of user access and permissions.

To assign roles to groups, you'll need to follow a series of steps in Azure AD, including selecting the group and assigning the role.

Here are the roles that can be assigned to groups in Azure AD:

You can also create multiple permission sets in AWS to assign to provisioned Azure AD groups and/or users, such as 'Administrators' and 'Viewers', which correspond to 'AdministratorAccess' and 'ReadOnlyAccess' rights.

Organizational Structure is the backbone of any successful company. It's the way you set up your teams, roles, and responsibilities to achieve your goals.

A well-structured organization makes it easier to manage and scale your business. For example, in the AWS Organizational Structure, we see a clear hierarchy with a Root account and multiple child accounts, such as Development and Production accounts.

Here's a breakdown of the AWS Organizational Structure:

To manage access and permissions across these accounts, you need to create permission sets. In our example, we create two permission sets: 'Administrators' and 'Viewers', which correspond to the 'AdministratorAccess' and 'ReadOnlyAccess' rights.

These permission sets can be assigned to provisioned Azure AD groups and/or users on AWS account levels. To do this, you need to select both E2E accounts and click the 'Assign users' button.

Having a clear organizational structure and roles in place helps you streamline your workflow and reduce errors. It's essential to define roles and responsibilities for each team member, just like we do with the 'Administrators' and 'Viewers' roles in the AWS Organizational Structure.

By following a structured approach, you can ensure that each team member knows their responsibilities and can work efficiently towards common goals.

You can create new Permission Sets based on AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) managed policies or create your own custom policies. To create a new Permission Set, go to the AWS SSO management portal and choose the AWS account you want to create a permission set for.

There are two ways to create a Permission Set: using an existing job function policy or creating a custom permission set. You can choose to use an existing job function policy, such as AdministratorAccess, or create a custom policy or managed policy.

To create a custom permission set, choose Create a custom permission set and select a job function or create a custom policy or managed policy. You can then complete the guide and click Create.

Here are the steps to create a new Permission Set using the AWS CLI:

You can also use CloudFormation to create Permission Sets and assignments. The most preferred way is to use Infrastructure as Code and keep this in version control to manage and deploy this.

Here are the steps to create a new Permission Set using CloudFormation:

You can use the following CloudFormation template as a base to get started: https://github.com/pozeus/aws-sso-management/blob/main/template.yml. But be careful on how you deploy these AWS SSO Permission Sets and assignments since it needs to be executed in the Master account.