Other Access Management-Related AWS Services
At this point in this text, I am sure you are not surprised to learn that there are plenty of services available in AWS to assist with identity and access management. Let’s look at just some of them here:
AWS IAM Identity Center: This service was previously named AWS Single Sign-On, and so it isn’t surprising that one of the main purposes of IAM Identity Center is single sign-on: You can use the service to connect your on-premises directory service to AWS so that your users can use a single set of sign-on credentials to operate within AWS. As you might guess, the IAM Identity Center offers its own directory service in case you want to transition to a fully cloud-based directory service.
AWS Secrets Manager: This service does just what is sounds like it might do: It manages your secrets (passwords). Secrets Manager securely stores and manages sensitive information such as API keys, database passwords, and other credentials used by applications. With Secrets Manager, you can centralize and rotate these secrets automatically. This can help to enhance security by reducing the risk associated with long-lived credentials. Figure 9-5 shows the AWS Secrets Manager.
Figure 9-5 AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Systems Manager: This is a comprehensive management service that facilitates the automation and control of operational tasks across an AWS environment. This service provides a unified user interface that allows you to view and manage operational data from multiple AWS services. With AWS Systems Manager, you can automate common and repetitive tasks, such as software patching, configuration management, and instance inventory tracking. It also offers features like Run Command, which allows users to execute commands on instances remotely, and State Manager, which makes it possible to define and enforce desired system configurations.
You are probably seeing another theme regarding AWS at this point: If there is a need for a feature in your on-premises environment, AWS most likely offers it in the cloud, pulling more and more customers into the cloud giant’s offerings.
Exam Preparation Tasks
As mentioned in the section “How to Use This Book” in the Introduction, you have a few choices for exam preparation: the exercises here, Chapter 22, “Final Preparation,” and the exam simulation questions in the Pearson Test Prep Software Online.
Review All Key Topics
Review the most important topics in this chapter, noted with the Key Topics icon in the outer margin of the page. Table 9-2 lists these key topics and the page number on which each is found.