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Configuring OpenID Connect for AWS

    This document outlines the steps required to configure Pulumi to use OpenID Connect to authenticate with AWS. OIDC in AWS uses a web identity provider to assume an IAM role. Access to the IAM role is authorized using a trust policy that validates the contents of the OIDC token issued by the Pulumi Cloud.

    Prerequisites

    • You must have sufficient AWS IAM privileges to create identity providers and IAM roles.
    Please note that this guide provides step-by-step instructions based on the official provider documentation which is subject to change. For the most current and precise information, always refer to the official AWS documentation.

    Create the identity provider

    1. In the navigation pane of the IAM console, choose Identity providers, and then choose Add provider.
    2. In the Provider type section, click the radio button next to OpenID Connect.
    3. For the Provider URL, provide the following URL: https://api.pulumi.com/oidc
    4. For the Audience field, the value is the name of your Pulumi organization prefixed with aws: (e.g. aws:{org}). Then click Add provider.
      For the default project, the audience will use just the Pulumi organization name. This is to prevent regressions for legacy environments.

    Configure the IAM role

    Once you have created the identity provider, you will see a notification at the top of your screen prompting you to assign an IAM role.

    1. Click the Assign role button.
    2. Select the Create a new role option, then click Next.
    3. On the IAM Create role page, ensure the Web identity radio button is selected.
    4. In the Web identity section:
      • Select api.pulumi.com/oidc under Identity provider.
      • Select the name of your Pulumi organization under Audience. Then click Next.
    5. On the Add permissions page, select the permissions that you want to grant to your Pulumi service. Then click Next.
    6. Provide a name and optional description for the IAM role. Then click Create role.

    Review trust policy

    Next, select the trust relationships tab, which is where the trust policy of the role is defined.

    {
        "Version": "2012-10-17",
        "Statement": [
            {
                "Effect": "Allow",
                "Principal": {
                    "Federated": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:oidc-provider/api.pulumi.com/oidc"
                },
                "Action": "sts:AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity",
                "Condition": {
                    "StringEquals": {
                        "api.pulumi.com/oidc:aud": "aws:<pulumi-org-name>"
                    },
                    "StringLike": {
                        "api.pulumi.com/oidc:sub": "pulumi:environments:org:<pulumi-org-name>:env:*"
                    }
                }
            }
        ]
    }
    

    This definition allows any Pulumi ESC environment in your organization to assume this role. The sub condition uses a wildcard to permit any environment within your org. You can make the policy more granular by restricting access to a specific environment. For more detailed configuration, see Custom token claim.

    Before you log out of the AWS console, make sure to make a note of your role’s ARN value as you will need it in the next step.

    Configure ESC for OIDC

    To configure OIDC for Pulumi ESC, create a new environment in the Pulumi Console. Make sure that you have the correct organization selected in the left-hand navigation menu. Then:

    1. Click the Environments link.

    2. Click the Create environment button.

    3. Provide a project to create your new environment in and a name for your environment.

    4. Click the Create environment button.

    5. You will be presented with a split-pane editor. Delete the default placeholder content in the editor and replace it with the following code:

      values:
        aws:
          login:
            fn::open::aws-login:
              oidc:
                duration: 1h
                roleArn: <your-oidc-iam-role-arn>
                sessionName: pulumi-environments-session
        environmentVariables:
          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${aws.login.accessKeyId}
          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${aws.login.secretAccessKey}
          AWS_SESSION_TOKEN: ${aws.login.sessionToken}
      
    6. Replace <your-oidc-iam-role-arn> with the value from the previous steps.

    7. Click Save.

    You can validate that your configuration is working by running either of the following:

    • pulumi env open <your-org>/<your-project>/<your-environment> command of the Pulumi CLI
    • pulumi env open <your-org>/<your-project>/<your-environment> command of the Pulumi CLI

    Make sure to replace <your-org>, <your-project>, and <your-environment> with the values of your Pulumi organization, project, and environment file respectively. You should see output similar to the following:

    {
      "aws": {
        "login": {
          "accessKeyId": "ASIA....",
          "secretAccessKey": "rtBS....",
          "sessionToken": "Fwo...."
        }
      },
      "environmentVariables": {
        "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "ASIA....",
        "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "rtBS....",
        "AWS_SESSION_TOKEN": "Fwo...."
      }
    }
    

    Subject claim customization

    You can customize the subject claim in the OIDC token to control which Pulumi environments or users are allowed to assume a given IAM role. This allows for more granular access control than the default organization-level permissions. Use the subjectAttributes property in your login configuration; see Custom token claim for the full list of available attributes and how the subject is composed.

    Subject claim example

    Consider the following ESC definition for project/development environment opened by user personA:

    values:
      aws:
        login:
          fn::open::aws-login:
            oidc:
              ...
              subjectAttributes:
                - currentEnvironment.name
                - pulumi.user.login
    

    The OIDC subject claim for this environment would be pulumi:environments:pulumi.organization.login:contoso:currentEnvironment.name:project/development:pulumi.user.login:personA. The role may only be assumed by project/development environment and user personA within the contoso organization:

    "Condition": {
      "StringEquals": {
        "api.pulumi.com/oidc:aud": "aws:contoso",
        "api.pulumi.com/oidc:sub": "pulumi:environments:pulumi.organization.login:contoso:currentEnvironment.name:project/development:pulumi.user.login:personA"
      }
    }
    
    If you are integrating Pulumi ESC with Pulumi IaC, the default subject identifier of the environment will be pulumi:environments:org:contoso:env:<yaml>. The literal value of <yaml> need to be used and will be the same for all environments. Hence, for best security practices we recommend using subjectAttributes. If you want to set environment level or even granular permissions in your trust policy, then we recommend using subjectAttributes property.

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