Using roles for Amazon Backup Audit Manager - Amazon Backup
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Using roles for Amazon Backup Audit Manager

Amazon Backup uses Amazon Identity and Access Management (IAM) service-linked roles. A service-linked role is a unique type of IAM role that is linked directly to Amazon Backup. Service-linked roles are predefined by Amazon Backup and include all the permissions that the service requires to call other Amazon services on your behalf.

A service-linked role makes setting up Amazon Backup easier because you don’t have to manually add the necessary permissions. Amazon Backup defines the permissions of its service-linked roles, and unless defined otherwise, only Amazon Backup can assume its roles. The defined permissions include the trust policy and the permissions policy, and that permissions policy cannot be attached to any other IAM entity.

You can delete a service-linked role only after first deleting its related resources. This protects your Amazon Backup resources because you can't inadvertently remove permission to access the resources.

For information about other services that support service-linked roles, see Amazon Services That Work with IAM and look for the services that have Yes in the Service-Linked Role column. Choose a Yes with a link to view the service-linked role documentation for that service.

Service-linked role permissions for Amazon Backup

Amazon Backup uses the service-linked role named AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports – Provides Amazon Backup with permission to create controls, frameworks, and reports.

The AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports service-linked role trusts the following services to assume the role:

  • backup.amazonaws.com

To view the permissions for this policy, see AWSServiceRolePolicyForBackupReports in the Amazon Managed Policy Reference.

You must configure permissions to allow an IAM entity (such as a user, group, or role) to create, edit, or delete a service-linked role. For more information, see Service-linked role permissions in the IAM User Guide.

Creating a service-linked role for Amazon Backup

You don't need to manually create a service-linked role. When you create a framework or a report plan in the Amazon Web Services Management Console, the Amazon CLI, or the Amazon API, Amazon Backup creates the service-linked role for you.

Important

This service-linked role can appear in your account if you completed an action in another service that uses the features supported by this role. To learn more, see A New Role Appeared in My IAM Account.

If you delete this service-linked role, and then need to create it again, you can use the same process to recreate the role in your account. When you create a framework or a report plan, Amazon Backup creates the service-linked role for you again.

Editing a service-linked role for Amazon Backup

Amazon Backup does not allow you to edit the AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports service-linked role. After you create a service-linked role, you cannot change the name of the role because various entities might reference the role. However, you can edit the description of the role using IAM. For more information, see Editing a Service-Linked Role in the IAM User Guide.

Deleting a service-linked role for Amazon Backup

If you no longer need to use a feature or service that requires a service-linked role, we recommend that you delete that role. That way you don’t have an unused entity that is not actively monitored or maintained. However, you must clean up your service-linked role before you can manually delete it.

Cleaning up a service-linked role

Before you can use IAM to delete a service-linked role, you must first delete any resources used by the role. You must delete all frameworks and report plans.

Note

If the Amazon Backup service is using the role when you try to delete the resources, then the deletion might fail. If that happens, wait for a few minutes, then try the operation again.

To delete Amazon Backup resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports (console)
  1. To delete all frameworks, see Deleting frameworks.

  2. To delete all report plans, see Deleting report plans.

To delete Amazon Backup resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports (Amazon CLI)
  1. To delete all frameworks, use delete-framework.

  2. To delete all report plans, use delete-report-plan.

To delete Amazon Backup resources used by the AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports (API)
  1. To delete all frameworks, use DeleteFramework.

  2. To delete all report plans, use DeleteReportPlan.

Manually delete the service-linked role

Use the IAM console, the Amazon CLI, or the Amazon API to delete the AWSServiceRoleForBackupReports service-linked role. For more information, see Deleting a Service-Linked Role in the IAM User Guide.

Supported Regions for Amazon Backup service-linked roles

Amazon Backup supports using service-linked roles in all of the Regions where the service is available. For more information, see Amazon Backup supported features and Regions.