AWS IAM groups and policies – Terraform

Let’s create a module to create and manage AWS IAM groups and policies with Terraform! In summary a Terraform module is one or more Terraform resources bundled together to be used a single Terraform resource. You can learn more about Terraform module’s here. If you have no idea what Terraform or Terragrunt then start here. Let’s code!

The Terraform module structure

aws-iam-group/
main.tf
vars.tf
README.md

The main file

The main.tf contains all the resources required to create AWS IAM groups and their policies. Notice this one uses three resources!

resource "aws_iam_group" "this" {
name = var.iam_group_name
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "this" {
name = var.policy_name
description = var.policy_description
policy = var.policy
}

resource "aws_iam_group_policy_attachment" "this" {
group = aws_iam_group.this.name
policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.this.arn
}

The vars file

variable iam_group_name {}

variable policy_name {}

variable policy_description {}

variable policy {}

Here’s the AWS IAM groups and policies Terraform module on GitHub: https://github.com/masterwali/tf-module-aws-iam-group

Create AWS IAM groups and policies with Terraform

Let’s use the Terraform module to create one or many IAM groups and their policies! You can deploy with Terraform but I like to use Terragrunt.

The Terragrunt/Terraform structure

This is one way to create your deployment structure. You can name this directory anything you like.

aws-iam
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── cloud-engineers-policy.tf
├── database-admins-policy.tf
├── developers-policy.tf
├── network-admins-policies.tf
├── groups.tf
├── main.tf
├── dev
│   ├── inputs.yml
│   ├── terragrunt.hcl
│   └── vars.tf
├── prod
│   └── terragrunt.hcl
│   ├── inputs.yml
│   └── vars.tf
├── qa
│   └── terragrunt.hcl
│   ├── inputs.yml
│   └── vars.tf
├── sec
│   └── terragrunt.hcl
│   ├── inputs.yml
│   └── vars.tf
└── terragrunt.hcl

In this example we will be creating groups and policies for developers, cloud engineers, database admins, and network admins all with one and same Terraform module! Using a module will ensure consistency and governance for our AWS resources.

The Terraform files

I like to keep the main file clean. I mainly use it for data calls and local variables.

main.tf

locals {
  account_id = data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id
}

provider "aws" {
  region  = var.aws_region
  profile = var.aws_cli_profile
}

terraform {
  backend "s3" {}
}

data "aws_caller_identity" "current" {}

groups.tf

# CLOUD ENGINEERS
module "cloud_engineers" {
  source = "git@github.com:masterwali/tf-module-aws-iam-group.git"

  iam_group_name     = "cloud-engineers"
  policy_name        = "cloud-engineers"
  policy_description = "Cloud Engineers policy"
  policy             = data.aws_iam_policy_document.cloud_engineers.json
}
# ......... etc. 

# NETWORK ADMINS
# Modules creates group and policy and attaches policy to group. 
module "network_admins" {
  source = "git@github.com:masterwali/tf-module-aws-iam-group.git"

  iam_group_name     = "network-admins"
  policy_name        = "network-admins"
  policy_description = "Network Admins policy"
  policy             = data.aws_iam_policy_document.network_admins_main.json
}
# Create the network admins misc policy 
resource "aws_iam_policy" "network_admins_misc" {
  name        = "network-admins-misc"
  description = "Network Admins"
  policy      = data.aws_iam_policy_document.network_admins_misc.json
}
# Attach the above policy to the network admins group. 
resource "aws_iam_group_policy_attachment" "network_admins_misc" {
  group      = "network-admins"
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.network_admins_misc.arn

  depends_on = [aws_iam_policy.network_admins_misc]
}

The “cloud engineers” IAM policy file

data "aws_iam_policy_document" "cloud_engineers" {
  statement {
    sid    = "FullAccess"
    effect = "Allow"
    actions = [
      "iam:*",
      "kms:*",
      "s3:*"
    ]
    resources = ["*"]
  }
}

To see the developers policy and more take a look at the complete code at https://github.com/masterwali/aws-iam

Now let’s apply the code by navigating to the desired environment directory. Then initiate with ‘terragrunt init’ and apply with ‘terragrunt apply’. More on Terragrunt initiation, plans and apply.

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