This page is only for existing customers of the Amazon Glacier service using Vaults and the original REST API from 2012.
If you're looking for archival storage solutions, we recommend using the Amazon Glacier storage classes in Amazon S3, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive. To learn more about these storage options, see Amazon Glacier storage classes
Amazon Glacier (original standalone vault-based service) will no longer accept new customers starting December 15, 2025, with no impact to existing customers. Amazon Glacier is a standalone service with its own APIs that stores data in vaults and is distinct from Amazon S3 and the Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes. Your existing data will remain secure and accessible in Amazon Glacier indefinitely. No migration is required. For low-cost, long-term archival storage, AWS recommends the Amazon S3 Glacier storage classes
Troubleshooting Amazon Glacier identity and access
Use the following information to help you diagnose and fix common issues that you might encounter when working with Amazon Glacier and IAM.
Topics
I am not authorized to perform an action in Amazon Glacier
If you receive an error that you're not authorized to perform an action, your policies must be updated to allow you to perform the action.
The following example error occurs when the mateojackson IAM user
tries to use the console to view details about a fictional
my-example-widgetglacier: permissions.GetWidget
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/mateojackson is not authorized to perform: glacier:GetWidgeton resource:my-example-widget
In this case, the policy for the mateojackson user must be updated to allow access to the
my-example-widgetglacier: action.GetWidget
If you need help, contact your AWS administrator. Your administrator is the person who provided you with your sign-in credentials.
I am not authorized to perform iam:PassRole
If you receive an error that you're not authorized to perform the iam:PassRole action, your policies must be updated to allow you to pass a role to Amazon Glacier.
Some AWS services allow you to pass an existing role to that service instead of creating a new service role or service-linked role. To do this, you must have permissions to pass the role to the service.
The following example error occurs when an IAM user named marymajor tries to use the console to perform an action in
Amazon Glacier. However, the action requires the service to have permissions that are granted by a service role. Mary does not have permissions to pass the
role to the service.
User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/marymajoris not authorized to perform: iam:PassRole
In this case, Mary's policies must be updated to allow her to perform the iam:PassRole action.
If you need help, contact your AWS administrator. Your administrator is the person who provided you with your sign-in credentials.
I want to allow people outside of my AWS account to access my Amazon Glacier resources
You can create a role that users in other accounts or people outside of your organization can use to access your resources. You can specify who is trusted to assume the role. For services that support resource-based policies or access control lists (ACLs), you can use those policies to grant people access to your resources.
To learn more, consult the following:
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To learn whether Amazon Glacier supports these features, see How Amazon Glacier works with IAM.
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To learn how to provide access to your resources across AWS accounts that you own, see Providing access to an IAM user in another AWS account that you own in the IAM User Guide.
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To learn how to provide access to your resources to third-party AWS accounts, see Providing access to AWS accounts owned by third parties in the IAM User Guide.
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To learn how to provide access through identity federation, see Providing access to externally authenticated users (identity federation) in the IAM User Guide.
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To learn the difference between using roles and resource-based policies for cross-account access, see Cross account resource access in IAM in the IAM User Guide.
