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Atlas · Foundations iam-role

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  • aws
  • security

IAM Role

An AWS identity that authorized people or services can assume to use a temporary session with specified permissions.

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    • An IAM role is an AWS identity with permissions. It is distinct from the person, service or program that assumes it.
    • Assuming a role provides temporary credentials for a role session. The role itself has no standard long-term password or access keys.
    • A role’s permission policies describe actions on resources. Assuming it does not grant unrestricted access to the AWS account.
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    Trace a role session through two requests

    One reviewed sample, shared across levels. Nothing here runs on your computer.

    Example review recorded 2026-10-20 · version 1.

    Example input · do not paste
    Illustrative permission table; not AWS policy syntax.
Workload: report-job, already authorized to assume ReportReader.
Role allows: read daily.csv.
No other applicable allow, deny, boundary or condition changes this model.
Request A: read daily.csv.
Request B: delete daily.csv.
    Example output · do not paste
    A: allowed by the stated read permission.
B: denied because the model has no allow for deletion.
The workload uses temporary role-session credentials, not a permanent user password.

    Separate permission to assume a role from permission to act after assuming it. This case starts after authorized role assumption. Reading matches the one allowed action; deleting does not. The role session supplies temporary credentials. In real AWS, all applicable policies and request conditions affect the decision, and an explicit deny can override an allow. The fictional table is a bounded reasoning exercise, not a tested IAM policy or observed AWS response.

    Sources for this sample

    Visual

    An authorized caller requests a role session from AWS, receives temporary credentials, and makes a request that remains subject to applicable permissions. The role itself is not depicted as a credential-issuing service.

    The reviewed description and complete diagram source are available here.

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    sequenceDiagram
  participant C as Authorized person or service
  participant A as AWS
  C->>A: Request a role session
  Note over A: Check role trust and authorization
  A-->>C: Temporary session credentials
  C->>A: Request an AWS action
  Note over A: Evaluate applicable permissions
    Primary sources

    Source collection

    Notes AI source review · 2026-10-17

    The summary, key points and diagram were independently compared with primary documentation using AI on 2026-10-07. The approval is bound to this written content. It does not approve a video or timestamp window. Human learner validation is pending.

    Quick quiz · one question

    Choose temporary role access and its limits

    Sample scenario. Paper AWS example. The effective role-assumption decision for archive-worker and ArchiveReader is supplied as allowed; no trust policy is evaluated here. Only the listed exact-match permission rules apply to the supplied requests. No credentials are created or shown.

    Supplied session decision
    archive-worker may assume ArchiveReader in this paper case. No trust policy or credential API is evaluated.
    Allow
    s3:GetObject on reports/summary.csv, reports/payroll.csv
    Deny
    s3:GetObject on reports/payroll.csv
    Read summary.csv
    s3:GetObject on reports/summary.csv
    Read payroll.csv
    s3:GetObject on reports/payroll.csv
    Delete summary.csv
    s3:DeleteObject on reports/summary.csv

    How can this authorized worker obtain access without a permanent user password, and which requests are allowed?

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    Sources and exercise scope

    Original synthetic exercise. AI comparison against the reviewed lesson recorded on 2026-10-20; the references above state their scope. Human learner validation has not been run. A result here records this attempt; it does not establish mastery.

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