# Viewing details of the root with AWS Organizations
<a name="orgs_view_root"></a>

When you sign in to the organization's management account in the [AWS Organizations console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/organizations/v2), you can view details of the administrative root.

**Minimum permissions**  
To view the details of root, you must have the following permissions:  
`organizations:DescribeOrganization` (console only)
`organizations:ListRoots` 

The root is the topmost container in the hierarchy of organizational units (OUs) and generally behaves as an OU. However, as the container at the very top of the hierarchy, changes to the root affect every other OU and every AWS account in the organization.

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#### [ AWS Management Console ]<a name="view_details_root_v2"></a>

**To view the details of the root**

1. Sign in to the [AWS Organizations console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/organizations/v2). You must sign in as an IAM user, assume an IAM role, or sign in as the root user ([not recommended](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html#lock-away-credentials)) in the organization’s management account.

1. Navigate to the **[AWS accounts](https://console.aws.amazon.com/organizations/v2/home/accounts)** page, and choose the **Root** OU (its name, not the radio button). 

1. The **Root** details page appears and displays the details of the root.

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#### [ AWS CLI & AWS SDKs ]

**To view the details of the root**  
You can use one of the following commands to view details of a root: 
+ AWS CLI: [list-roots](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/organizations/list-roots.html) 

  The following example shows how to retrieve the details of the root, including which policy types are currently enabled in the organization:

  ```
  $ aws organizations list-roots
  {
      "Roots": [
          {
              "Id": "r-a1b2",
              "Arn": "arn:aws:organizations::123456789012:root/o-aa111bb222/r-a1b2",
              "Name": "Root",
              "PolicyTypes": [
                  {
                      "Type": "BACKUP_POLICY",
                      "Status": "ENABLED"
                  }
              ]
          }
      ]
  }
  ```
+ AWS SDKs: [ListRoots](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/APIReference/API_ListRoots.html)

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