# Setting up Amazon AppConfig
If you haven't already done so, sign up for an Amazon Web Services account and create an administrative user.
## Sign up for an Amazon Web Services account
If you do not have an Amazon Web Services account, use the following procedure to create one.
**To sign up for Amazon Web Services**
1. Open [http://www.amazonaws.cn/](http://www.amazonaws.cn/) and choose **Sign Up**.
1. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Amazon sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to [http://www.amazonaws.cn/](http://www.amazonaws.cn/) and choosing **My Account**.
## Secure IAM users
After you sign up for an Amazon Web Services account, safeguard your administrative user by turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA). For instructions, see [Enable a virtual MFA device for an IAM user (console)](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_mfa_enable_virtual.html#enable-virt-mfa-for-iam-user) in the *IAM User Guide*.
To give other users access to your Amazon Web Services account resources, create IAM users. To secure your IAM users, turn on MFA and only give the IAM users the permissions needed to perform their tasks.
For more information about creating and securing IAM users, see the following topics in the *IAM User Guide*:
+ [Creating an IAM user in your Amazon Web Services account](https://docs.amazonaws.cn//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_users_create.html)
+ [Access management for Amazon resources](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access.html)
+ [Example IAM identity-based policies](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_examples.html)
## Grant programmatic access
Users need programmatic access if they want to interact with Amazon outside of the Amazon Web Services Management Console. The Amazon APIs and the Amazon Command Line Interface require access keys. Whenever possible, create temporary credentials that consist of an access key ID, a secret access key, and a security token that indicates when the credentials expire.
To grant users programmatic access, choose one of the following options.
****
| Which user needs programmatic access? | To | By |
| --- | --- | --- |
| IAM | Use short-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs). | Following the instructions in [Using temporary credentials with Amazon resources](https://docs.amazonaws.cn//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_temp_use-resources.html) in the IAM User Guide. |
| IAM | (Not recommended)Use long-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs). | Following the instructions in [Managing access keys for IAM users](https://docs.amazonaws.cn//IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_access-keys.html) in the IAM User Guide. |
## Configure permissions for automatic rollback
You can configure Amazon AppConfig to roll back to a previous version of a configuration in response to one or more Amazon CloudWatch alarms. When you configure a deployment to respond to CloudWatch alarms, you specify an Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) role. Amazon AppConfig requires this role so that it can monitor CloudWatch alarms. This procedure is optional, but highly recommended.
**Note**
Note the following information.
The IAM role must belong to the current account. By default, Amazon AppConfig can only monitor alarms owned by the current account.
For information about metrics to monitor and how to configure Amazon AppConfig for automatic rollback, see [Monitoring deployments for automatic rollback](monitoring-deployments.md).
Use the following procedures to create an IAM role that enables Amazon AppConfig to rollback based on CloudWatch alarms. This section includes the following procedures.
1. [Step 1: Create the permission policy for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms](#getting-started-with-appconfig-cloudwatch-alarms-permissions-policy)
1. [Step 2: Create the IAM role for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms](#getting-started-with-appconfig-cloudwatch-alarms-permissions-role)
1. [Step 3: Add a trust relationship](#getting-started-with-appconfig-cloudwatch-alarms-permissions-trust)
### Step 1: Create the permission policy for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms
Use the following procedure to create an IAM policy that gives Amazon AppConfig permission to call the `DescribeAlarms` API action.
**To create an IAM permission policy for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms**
1. Open the IAM console at [https://console.amazonaws.cn/iam/](https://console.amazonaws.cn/iam/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Policies**, and then choose **Create policy**.
1. On the **Create policy** page, choose the **JSON** tab.
1. Replace the default content on the JSON tab with the following permission policy, and then choose **Next: Tags**.
**Note**
To return information about CloudWatch composite alarms, the [DescribeAlarms](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeAlarms.html) API operation must be assigned `*` permissions, as shown here. You can't return information about composite alarms if `DescribeAlarms` has a narrower scope.
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"cloudwatch:DescribeAlarms"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
------
1. Enter tags for this role, and then choose **Next: Review**.
1. On the **Review** page, enter **SSMCloudWatchAlarmDiscoveryPolicy** in the **Name** field.
1. Choose **Create policy**. The system returns you to the **Policies** page.
### Step 2: Create the IAM role for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms
Use the following procedure to create an IAM role and assign the policy you created in the previous procedure to it.
**To create an IAM role for rollback based on CloudWatch alarms**
1. Open the IAM console at [https://console.amazonaws.cn/iam/](https://console.amazonaws.cn/iam/).
1. In the navigation pane, choose **Roles**, and then choose **Create role**.
1. Under **Select type of trusted entity**, choose **Amazon service**.
1. Immediately under **Choose the service that will use this role**, choose **EC2: Allows EC2 instances to call Amazon services on your behalf**, and then choose **Next: Permissions**.
1. On the **Attached permissions policy** page, search for **SSMCloudWatchAlarmDiscoveryPolicy**.
1. Choose this policy and then choose **Next: Tags**.
1. Enter tags for this role, and then choose **Next: Review**.
1. On the **Create role** page, enter **SSMCloudWatchAlarmDiscoveryRole** in the **Role name** field, and then choose **Create role**.
1. On the **Roles** page, choose the role you just created. The **Summary** page opens.
### Step 3: Add a trust relationship
Use the following procedure to configure the role you just created to trust Amazon AppConfig.
**To add a trust relationship for Amazon AppConfig**
1. In the **Summary** page for the role you just created, choose the **Trust Relationships** tab, and then choose **Edit Trust Relationship**.
1. Edit the policy to include only "`appconfig.amazonaws.com`", as shown in the following example:
------
#### [ JSON ]
****
```
{
"Version":"2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": {
"Service": "appconfig.amazonaws.com"
},
"Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
}
]
}
```
------
1. Choose **Update Trust Policy**.