Use AssumeRole with an Amazon SDK or CLI - Amazon Identity and Access Management
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Use AssumeRole with an Amazon SDK or CLI

The following code examples show how to use AssumeRole.

Action examples are code excerpts from larger programs and must be run in context. You can see this action in context in the following code examples:

.NET
Amazon SDK for .NET
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; using Amazon; using Amazon.SecurityToken; using Amazon.SecurityToken.Model; namespace AssumeRoleExample { class AssumeRole { /// <summary> /// This example shows how to use the AWS Security Token /// Service (AWS STS) to assume an IAM role. /// /// NOTE: It is important that the role that will be assumed has a /// trust relationship with the account that will assume the role. /// /// Before you run the example, you need to create the role you want to /// assume and have it trust the IAM account that will assume that role. /// /// See https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_roles_create.html /// for help in working with roles. /// </summary> private static readonly RegionEndpoint REGION = RegionEndpoint.USWest2; static async Task Main() { // Create the SecurityToken client and then display the identity of the // default user. var roleArnToAssume = "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/testAssumeRole"; var client = new Amazon.SecurityToken.AmazonSecurityTokenServiceClient(REGION); // Get and display the information about the identity of the default user. var callerIdRequest = new GetCallerIdentityRequest(); var caller = await client.GetCallerIdentityAsync(callerIdRequest); Console.WriteLine($"Original Caller: {caller.Arn}"); // Create the request to use with the AssumeRoleAsync call. var assumeRoleReq = new AssumeRoleRequest() { DurationSeconds = 1600, RoleSessionName = "Session1", RoleArn = roleArnToAssume }; var assumeRoleRes = await client.AssumeRoleAsync(assumeRoleReq); // Now create a new client based on the credentials of the caller assuming the role. var client2 = new AmazonSecurityTokenServiceClient(credentials: assumeRoleRes.Credentials); // Get and display information about the caller that has assumed the defined role. var caller2 = await client2.GetCallerIdentityAsync(callerIdRequest); Console.WriteLine($"AssumedRole Caller: {caller2.Arn}"); } } }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for .NET API Reference.

Bash
Amazon CLI with Bash script
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

############################################################################### # function iecho # # This function enables the script to display the specified text only if # the global variable $VERBOSE is set to true. ############################################################################### function iecho() { if [[ $VERBOSE == true ]]; then echo "$@" fi } ############################################################################### # function errecho # # This function outputs everything sent to it to STDERR (standard error output). ############################################################################### function errecho() { printf "%s\n" "$*" 1>&2 } ############################################################################### # function sts_assume_role # # This function assumes a role in the AWS account and returns the temporary # credentials. # # Parameters: # -n role_session_name -- The name of the session. # -r role_arn -- The ARN of the role to assume. # # Returns: # [access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token] # And: # 0 - If successful. # 1 - If an error occurred. ############################################################################### function sts_assume_role() { local role_session_name role_arn response local option OPTARG # Required to use getopts command in a function. # bashsupport disable=BP5008 function usage() { echo "function sts_assume_role" echo "Assumes a role in the AWS account and returns the temporary credentials:" echo " -n role_session_name -- The name of the session." echo " -r role_arn -- The ARN of the role to assume." echo "" } while getopts n:r:h option; do case "${option}" in n) role_session_name=${OPTARG} ;; r) role_arn=${OPTARG} ;; h) usage return 0 ;; \?) ech o"Invalid parameter" usage return 1 ;; esac done response=$(aws sts assume-role \ --role-session-name "$role_session_name" \ --role-arn "$role_arn" \ --output text \ --query "Credentials.[AccessKeyId, SecretAccessKey, SessionToken]") local error_code=${?} if [[ $error_code -ne 0 ]]; then aws_cli_error_log $error_code errecho "ERROR: AWS reports create-role operation failed.\n$response" return 1 fi echo "$response" return 0 }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon CLI Command Reference.

C++
SDK for C++
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

bool AwsDoc::STS::assumeRole(const Aws::String &roleArn, const Aws::String &roleSessionName, const Aws::String &externalId, Aws::Auth::AWSCredentials &credentials, const Aws::Client::ClientConfiguration &clientConfig) { Aws::STS::STSClient sts(clientConfig); Aws::STS::Model::AssumeRoleRequest sts_req; sts_req.SetRoleArn(roleArn); sts_req.SetRoleSessionName(roleSessionName); sts_req.SetExternalId(externalId); const Aws::STS::Model::AssumeRoleOutcome outcome = sts.AssumeRole(sts_req); if (!outcome.IsSuccess()) { std::cerr << "Error assuming IAM role. " << outcome.GetError().GetMessage() << std::endl; } else { std::cout << "Credentials successfully retrieved." << std::endl; const Aws::STS::Model::AssumeRoleResult result = outcome.GetResult(); const Aws::STS::Model::Credentials &temp_credentials = result.GetCredentials(); // Store temporary credentials in return argument. // Note: The credentials object returned by assumeRole differs // from the AWSCredentials object used in most situations. credentials.SetAWSAccessKeyId(temp_credentials.GetAccessKeyId()); credentials.SetAWSSecretKey(temp_credentials.GetSecretAccessKey()); credentials.SetSessionToken(temp_credentials.GetSessionToken()); } return outcome.IsSuccess(); }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for C++ API Reference.

CLI
Amazon CLI

To assume a role

The following assume-role command retrieves a set of short-term credentials for the IAM role s3-access-example.

aws sts assume-role \ --role-arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/xaccounts3access \ --role-session-name s3-access-example

Output:

{ "AssumedRoleUser": { "AssumedRoleId": "AROA3XFRBF535PLBIFPI4:s3-access-example", "Arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/xaccounts3access/s3-access-example" }, "Credentials": { "SecretAccessKey": "9drTJvcXLB89EXAMPLELB8923FB892xMFI", "SessionToken": "AQoXdzELDDY//////////wEaoAK1wvxJY12r2IrDFT2IvAzTCn3zHoZ7YNtpiQLF0MqZye/qwjzP2iEXAMPLEbw/m3hsj8VBTkPORGvr9jM5sgP+w9IZWZnU+LWhmg+a5fDi2oTGUYcdg9uexQ4mtCHIHfi4citgqZTgco40Yqr4lIlo4V2b2Dyauk0eYFNebHtYlFVgAUj+7Indz3LU0aTWk1WKIjHmmMCIoTkyYp/k7kUG7moeEYKSitwQIi6Gjn+nyzM+PtoA3685ixzv0R7i5rjQi0YE0lf1oeie3bDiNHncmzosRM6SFiPzSvp6h/32xQuZsjcypmwsPSDtTPYcs0+YN/8BRi2/IcrxSpnWEXAMPLEXSDFTAQAM6Dl9zR0tXoybnlrZIwMLlMi1Kcgo5OytwU=", "Expiration": "2016-03-15T00:05:07Z", "AccessKeyId": "ASIAJEXAMPLEXEG2JICEA" } }

The output of the command contains an access key, secret key, and session token that you can use to authenticate to Amazon.

For Amazon CLI use, you can set up a named profile associated with a role. When you use the profile, the Amazon CLI will call assume-role and manage credentials for you. For more information, see Use an IAM role in the Amazon CLI in the Amazon CLI User Guide.

  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon CLI Command Reference.

Java
SDK for Java 2.x
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region; import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sts.StsClient; import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sts.model.AssumeRoleRequest; import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sts.model.StsException; import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sts.model.AssumeRoleResponse; import software.amazon.awssdk.services.sts.model.Credentials; import java.time.Instant; import java.time.ZoneId; import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter; import java.time.format.FormatStyle; import java.util.Locale; /** * To make this code example work, create a Role that you want to assume. * Then define a Trust Relationship in the AWS Console. You can use this as an * example: * * { * "Version": "2012-10-17", * "Statement": [ * { * "Effect": "Allow", * "Principal": { * "AWS": "<Specify the ARN of your IAM user you are using in this code * example>" * }, * "Action": "sts:AssumeRole" * } * ] * } * * For more information, see "Editing the Trust Relationship for an Existing * Role" in the AWS Directory Service guide. * * Also, set up your development environment, including your credentials. * * For information, see this documentation topic: * * https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-java/latest/developer-guide/get-started.html */ public class AssumeRole { public static void main(String[] args) { final String usage = """ Usage: <roleArn> <roleSessionName>\s Where: roleArn - The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the role to assume (for example, rn:aws:iam::000008047983:role/s3role).\s roleSessionName - An identifier for the assumed role session (for example, mysession).\s """; if (args.length != 2) { System.out.println(usage); System.exit(1); } String roleArn = args[0]; String roleSessionName = args[1]; Region region = Region.US_EAST_1; StsClient stsClient = StsClient.builder() .region(region) .build(); assumeGivenRole(stsClient, roleArn, roleSessionName); stsClient.close(); } public static void assumeGivenRole(StsClient stsClient, String roleArn, String roleSessionName) { try { AssumeRoleRequest roleRequest = AssumeRoleRequest.builder() .roleArn(roleArn) .roleSessionName(roleSessionName) .build(); AssumeRoleResponse roleResponse = stsClient.assumeRole(roleRequest); Credentials myCreds = roleResponse.credentials(); // Display the time when the temp creds expire. Instant exTime = myCreds.expiration(); String tokenInfo = myCreds.sessionToken(); // Convert the Instant to readable date. DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofLocalizedDateTime(FormatStyle.SHORT) .withLocale(Locale.US) .withZone(ZoneId.systemDefault()); formatter.format(exTime); System.out.println("The token " + tokenInfo + " expires on " + exTime); } catch (StsException e) { System.err.println(e.getMessage()); System.exit(1); } } }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for Java 2.x API Reference.

JavaScript
SDK for JavaScript (v3)
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

Create the client.

import { STSClient } from "@aws-sdk/client-sts"; // Set the AWS Region. const REGION = "us-east-1"; // Create an AWS STS service client object. export const client = new STSClient({ region: REGION });

Assume the IAM role.

import { AssumeRoleCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-sts"; import { client } from "../libs/client.js"; export const main = async () => { try { // Returns a set of temporary security credentials that you can use to // access Amazon Web Services resources that you might not normally // have access to. const command = new AssumeRoleCommand({ // The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the role to assume. RoleArn: "ROLE_ARN", // An identifier for the assumed role session. RoleSessionName: "session1", // The duration, in seconds, of the role session. The value specified // can range from 900 seconds (15 minutes) up to the maximum session // duration set for the role. DurationSeconds: 900, }); const response = await client.send(command); console.log(response); } catch (err) { console.error(err); } };
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

SDK for JavaScript (v2)
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

// Load the AWS SDK for Node.js const AWS = require("aws-sdk"); // Set the region AWS.config.update({ region: "REGION" }); var roleToAssume = { RoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RoleName", RoleSessionName: "session1", DurationSeconds: 900, }; var roleCreds; // Create the STS service object var sts = new AWS.STS({ apiVersion: "2011-06-15" }); //Assume Role sts.assumeRole(roleToAssume, function (err, data) { if (err) console.log(err, err.stack); else { roleCreds = { accessKeyId: data.Credentials.AccessKeyId, secretAccessKey: data.Credentials.SecretAccessKey, sessionToken: data.Credentials.SessionToken, }; stsGetCallerIdentity(roleCreds); } }); //Get Arn of current identity function stsGetCallerIdentity(creds) { var stsParams = { credentials: creds }; // Create STS service object var sts = new AWS.STS(stsParams); sts.getCallerIdentity({}, function (err, data) { if (err) { console.log(err, err.stack); } else { console.log(data.Arn); } }); }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell

Example 1: Returns a set of temporary credentials (access key, secret key and session token) that can be used for one hour to access Amazon resources that the requesting user might not normally have access to. The returned credentials have the permissions that are allowed by the access policy of the role being assumed and the policy that was supplied (you cannot use the supplied policy to grant permissions in excess of those defined by the access policy of the role being assumed).

Use-STSRole -RoleSessionName "Bob" -RoleArn "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/demo" -Policy "...JSON policy..." -DurationInSeconds 3600

Example 2: Returns a set of temporary credentials, valid for one hour, that have the same permissions that are defined in the access policy of the role being assumed.

Use-STSRole -RoleSessionName "Bob" -RoleArn "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/demo" -DurationInSeconds 3600

Example 3: Returns a set of temporary credentials supplying the serial number and generated token from an MFA associated with the user credentials used to execute the cmdlet.

Use-STSRole -RoleSessionName "Bob" -RoleArn "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/demo" -DurationInSeconds 3600 -SerialNumber "GAHT12345678" -TokenCode "123456"

Example 4: Returns a set of temporary credentials that have assumed a role defined in a customer account. For each role that the third party can assume, the customer account must create a role using an identifier that must be passed in the -ExternalId parameter each time the role is assumed.

Use-STSRole -RoleSessionName "Bob" -RoleArn "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/demo" -DurationInSeconds 3600 -ExternalId "ABC123"
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference.

Python
SDK for Python (Boto3)
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

Assume an IAM role that requires an MFA token and use temporary credentials to list Amazon S3 buckets for the account.

def list_buckets_from_assumed_role_with_mfa( assume_role_arn, session_name, mfa_serial_number, mfa_totp, sts_client ): """ Assumes a role from another account and uses the temporary credentials from that role to list the Amazon S3 buckets that are owned by the other account. Requires an MFA device serial number and token. The assumed role must grant permission to list the buckets in the other account. :param assume_role_arn: The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the role that grants access to list the other account's buckets. :param session_name: The name of the STS session. :param mfa_serial_number: The serial number of the MFA device. For a virtual MFA device, this is an ARN. :param mfa_totp: A time-based, one-time password issued by the MFA device. :param sts_client: A Boto3 STS instance that has permission to assume the role. """ response = sts_client.assume_role( RoleArn=assume_role_arn, RoleSessionName=session_name, SerialNumber=mfa_serial_number, TokenCode=mfa_totp, ) temp_credentials = response["Credentials"] print(f"Assumed role {assume_role_arn} and got temporary credentials.") s3_resource = boto3.resource( "s3", aws_access_key_id=temp_credentials["AccessKeyId"], aws_secret_access_key=temp_credentials["SecretAccessKey"], aws_session_token=temp_credentials["SessionToken"], ) print(f"Listing buckets for the assumed role's account:") for bucket in s3_resource.buckets.all(): print(bucket.name)
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for Python (Boto3) API Reference.

Ruby
SDK for Ruby
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

# Creates an AWS Security Token Service (AWS STS) client with specified credentials. # This is separated into a factory function so that it can be mocked for unit testing. # # @param key_id [String] The ID of the access key used by the STS client. # @param key_secret [String] The secret part of the access key used by the STS client. def create_sts_client(key_id, key_secret) Aws::STS::Client.new(access_key_id: key_id, secret_access_key: key_secret) end # Gets temporary credentials that can be used to assume a role. # # @param role_arn [String] The ARN of the role that is assumed when these credentials # are used. # @param sts_client [AWS::STS::Client] An AWS STS client. # @return [Aws::AssumeRoleCredentials] The credentials that can be used to assume the role. def assume_role(role_arn, sts_client) credentials = Aws::AssumeRoleCredentials.new( client: sts_client, role_arn: role_arn, role_session_name: 'create-use-assume-role-scenario' ) @logger.info("Assumed role '#{role_arn}', got temporary credentials.") credentials end
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for Ruby API Reference.

Rust
SDK for Rust
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

async fn assume_role(config: &SdkConfig, role_name: String, session_name: Option<String>) { let provider = aws_config::sts::AssumeRoleProvider::builder(role_name) .session_name(session_name.unwrap_or("rust_sdk_example_session".into())) .configure(config) .build() .await; let local_config = aws_config::from_env() .credentials_provider(provider) .load() .await; let client = Client::new(&local_config); let req = client.get_caller_identity(); let resp = req.send().await; match resp { Ok(e) => { println!("UserID : {}", e.user_id().unwrap_or_default()); println!("Account: {}", e.account().unwrap_or_default()); println!("Arn : {}", e.arn().unwrap_or_default()); } Err(e) => println!("{:?}", e), } }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for Rust API reference.

Swift
SDK for Swift
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the Amazon Code Examples Repository.

import AWSSTS public func assumeRole(role: IAMClientTypes.Role, sessionName: String) async throws -> STSClientTypes.Credentials { let input = AssumeRoleInput( roleArn: role.arn, roleSessionName: sessionName ) do { let output = try await stsClient.assumeRole(input: input) guard let credentials = output.credentials else { throw ServiceHandlerError.authError } return credentials } catch { print("Error assuming role: ", dump(error)) throw error } }
  • For API details, see AssumeRole in Amazon SDK for Swift API reference.

For a complete list of Amazon SDK developer guides and code examples, see Using this service with an Amazon SDK. This topic also includes information about getting started and details about previous SDK versions.