AWS managed policies for AWS Directory Service

An AWS managed policy is a standalone policy that is created and administered by AWS. AWS managed policies are designed to provide permissions for many common use cases so that you can start assigning permissions to users, groups, and roles.

Keep in mind that AWS managed policies might not grant least-privilege permissions for your specific use cases because they're available for all AWS customers to use. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining customer managed policies that are specific to your use cases.

You cannot change the permissions defined in AWS managed policies. If AWS updates the permissions defined in an AWS managed policy, the update affects all principal identities (users, groups, and roles) that the policy is attached to. AWS is most likely to update an AWS managed policy when a new AWS service is launched or new API operations become available for existing services.

For more information, see AWS managed policies in the IAM User Guide.

The following sections describe the AWS managed policies that are specific to AWS Directory Service. You can attach these policies to users in your account.

For more information, see AWS managed policies in the IAM User Guide.

AWS managed policy: AWSDirectoryServiceFullAccess

You can attach the AWSDirectoryServiceFullAccess policy to your IAM identities. To view the full permissions for this policy, see AWSDirectoryServiceFullAccess in the AWS Managed Policy Reference.

This policy grants administrative permissions that allow a principal full access to all AWS Directory Service actions. Principals with these permissions can create, configure, and manage directories, including Simple AD, AD Connector, and Managed Microsoft AD. They can also manage directory sharing, trust relationships, and monitoring configurations. This policy includes permissions to manage the underlying network infrastructure required for directory services.

Permissions details

This policy includes the following permissions:

AWS managed policy: AWSDirectoryServiceReadOnlyAccess

You can attach the AWSDirectoryServiceReadOnlyAccess policy to your IAM identities. To view the full permissions for this policy, see AWSDirectoryServiceReadOnlyAccess in the AWS Managed Policy Reference.

This policy grants read-only permissions that allow users to view information in AWS Directory Service. Principals with this policy attached cannot make any updates to directories or their configurations. For example, principals with these permissions can view directory details, trust relationships, and monitoring configurations, but cannot create new directories or modify existing ones. They can also view related EC2 network resources and SNS topics associated with directories.

Permissions details

This policy includes the following permissions:

AWS managed policy: AWSDirectoryServiceDataFullAccess

You can attach the AWSDirectoryServiceDataFullAccess policy to your IAM identities. To view the full permissions for this policy, see AWSDirectoryServiceDataFullAccess in the AWS Managed Policy Reference.

This policy grants administrative permissions that allow a principal full access to Directory Service Data operations. Principals with these permissions can create, update, and delete Active Directory users and groups within managed directories. They can manage group memberships, enable or disable users, and perform comprehensive user and group management operations. This policy is designed for administrators who need to manage Active Directory objects programmatically.

Permissions details

This policy includes the following permissions:

AWS managed policy: AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess

You can attach the AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess policy to your IAM identities. To view the full permissions for this policy, see AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess in the AWS Managed Policy Reference.

This policy grants read-only permissions that allow users to view and search Active Directory objects within managed directories. Principals with this policy attached cannot make any updates to users, groups, or group memberships. For example, principals with these permissions can search for users and groups, view user and group details, and list group memberships, but cannot create, modify, or delete any directory objects.

Permissions details

This policy includes the following permissions:

AWSDirectoryServiceServiceRolePolicy

You cannot attach the AWSDirectoryServiceServiceRolePolicy policy to your IAM identities. This policy is attached to a service-linked role that allows AWS Directory Service to perform actions on your behalf. To view the permissions for this policy, see AWSDirectoryServiceServiceRolePolicy in the AWS Managed Policy Reference.

This policy grants permissions that allow AWS Directory Service to monitor and assess self-managed domain controllers in hybrid Active Directory environments. The service uses these permissions to run automated health assessments, execute PowerShell scripts for compatibility testing, and gather network configuration information to ensure proper hybrid connectivity and automated recovery capabilities.

Permissions details

This policy includes the following permissions:

IAM and AWS Directory Service updates to AWS managed policies

View details about updates to IAM and AWS managed policies since the service began tracking these changes. For automatic alerts about changes to this page, subscribe to the RSS feed on the IAM and AWS Directory Service Document history pages.