Set up permissions

Roles required for Add-on and its dependencies

IAM Roles Required for SageMaker Spaces on SageMaker HyperPod

When enabling SageMaker Spaces (a.k.aSageMaker IDE / Notebooks) features on a SageMaker HyperPod (EKS) cluster, several IAM roles must be created and assigned. These roles support secure access, routing, remote IDE sessions, and EBS storage provisioning. The following table summarizes the four roles and when they are required.

Role Summary Table

1. Spaces Add-on Execution Role (Required)

The Spaces Add-on Execution Role is always required because it is used by the SageMaker Spaces addon-on controller pod, an administrative component installed through the EKS add-on. This role allows the controller to manage Spaces, provision resources, interact with SSM, and generate presigned URLs for both Remote IDE and WebUI access. It also supports KMS access used for request signing for authenticating the WebUI https requests. This role can be automatically created when SageMaker Spaces add-on is installed through the SageMaker Console. For manual creation, AWS provides the AmazonSageMakerSpacesControllerPolicy managed policy.

Reference Trust Policy

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Service": "pods.eks.amazonaws.com"
      },
      "Action": [
          "sts:AssumeRole",
          "sts:TagSession"
      ],
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "aws:SourceAccount": "{{accountId}}",
          "aws:SourceArn": "arn:aws:eks:{{region}}:{{accountId}}:cluster/{{eksClusterName}}"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

2. In-Cluster Router Role (Required for WebUI Authentication)

The In-Cluster Router Role is used by the router pod, a privileged component that authenticates Spaces WebUI sessions. The router uses a KMS key to create and sign JWT tokens that authorize user access to specific Spaces. This role allows the router pod to generate data keys, and decrypt them. Similar to the controller role, it enforces security using tag- and cluster-based scope restrictions. This role can be automatically generated when Spaces add-on is installed via the AWS SageMaker Console, but customers may manually create it.

Reference Trust Policy

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Service": "pods.eks.amazonaws.com"
      },
      "Action": [
          "sts:AssumeRole",
          "sts:TagSession"
      ],
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "aws:SourceAccount": "{{accountId}}",
          "aws:SourceArn": "arn:aws:eks:{{region}}:{{accountId}}:cluster/{{eksClusterName}}"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Reference Permission Policy

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "KMSDescribeKey",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "kms:DescribeKey"
            ],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:kms:{{region}}:{{accountId}}:key/{{kmsKeyId}}"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "KMSKeyOperations",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "kms:GenerateDataKey",
                "kms:Decrypt"
            ],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:kms:{{region}}:{{accountId}}:key/{{kmsKeyId}}",
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {
                    "kms:EncryptionContext:sagemaker:component": "amazon-sagemaker-spaces",
                    "kms:EncryptionContext:sagemaker:eks-cluster-arn": "${aws:PrincipalTag/eks-cluster-arn}"
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

3. SSM Managed Instance Role (Required for Remote IDE Access)

The SSM Managed Instance Role is passed when registering the SSM managed instance for enabling the remote IDE access. This role allows the SSM agent to register the pod as an SSM Managed Instance and use the SSM Session Manager channels for Remote IDE (SSH-over-SSM) connectivity. It can be created automatically when using the AWS SageMaker Console. For manual deployments, customers must create this role and provide it to the Spaces add-on. The controller pod itself does not assume this role; it only provides it when calling ssm:CreateActivation.

Reference Trust Policy

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {
                "Service": "ssm.amazonaws.com"
            },
            "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {
                    "aws:SourceAccount": "{{account}}"
                },
                "ArnEquals": {
                    "aws:SourceArn": "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:*"
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

Reference Permissions Policy

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:DescribeAssociation"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:association/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:document/*",
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:GetDocument",
        "ssm:DescribeDocument"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:document/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:GetParameter",
        "ssm:GetParameters"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:parameter/*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:ListInstanceAssociations"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:PutComplianceItems"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:UpdateAssociationStatus"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:document/*",
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:UpdateInstanceAssociationStatus"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:association/*",
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:UpdateInstanceInformation"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ec2:{{region}}:{{account}}:instance/*",
        "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssm:GetDeployablePatchSnapshotForInstance",
        "ssm:GetManifest",
        "ssm:ListAssociations",
        "ssm:PutInventory",
        "ssm:PutConfigurePackageResult"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ssmmessages:CreateControlChannel",
        "ssmmessages:CreateDataChannel",
        "ssmmessages:OpenControlChannel",
        "ssmmessages:OpenDataChannel"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ec2messages:AcknowledgeMessage",
        "ec2messages:DeleteMessage",
        "ec2messages:FailMessage",
        "ec2messages:GetEndpoint"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ec2messages:GetMessages",
        "ec2messages:SendReply"
      ],
      "Resource": "*",
      "Condition": {
        "ArnLike": {
          "ssm:SourceInstanceARN": "arn:aws:ssm:{{region}}:{{account}}:managed-instance/*"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

4. IAM Role for EBS CSI Driver Add-on

The IAM role for the EBS CSI Driver is required because the EBS CSI Driver provisions persistent volumes for Spaces workloads. While the AWS-managed AmazonEBSCSIDriverPolicy provides baseline permissions, SageMaker HyperPod clusters require additional capabilities such as creating fast snapshot restores, tagging cluster-owned volumes, and attaching/detaching volumes for HyperPod-managed nodes. These permissions also include SageMaker-specific APIs such as sagemaker:AttachClusterNodeVolume. If EBS CSI Driver is not installed, this role will now be automatically created by the SageMaker Console during Spaces add-on installation, requiring no customer action.

5. IAM Role for External DNS Add-on

The External DNS add-on manages DNS records for Services and Ingress resources on the HyperPod cluster. It ensures that Space endpoints and in-cluster components can be automatically assigned DNS names in the customer’s Route 53 hosted zones. Today, customers often install External DNS manually via a 1-click option in the EKS console. As part of improving the SageMaker Spaces experience, this role will now be automatically created by the SageMaker Console during Spaces add-on installation, requiring no customer action.

Permission setup for AWS Toolkit to Access SageMaker Spaces

To allow the AWS VS Code Toolkit resource explorer side panel to discover and connect to SageMaker Spaces, the following IAM permissions are required. These permissions allow the Toolkit to list available SageMaker HyperPod clusters, retrieve cluster details, and obtain a connection token for the associated Amazon EKS cluster.

Required IAM Policy

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "SageMakerListClusters",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "sagemaker:ListClusters",
            "Resource": "*"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "SageMakerDescribeCluster",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "sagemaker:DescribeCluster",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:sagemaker:{{region}}:{{account}}:cluster/cluster-name"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "EksDescribeCluster",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "eks:DescribeCluster",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:eks:{{region}}:{{account}}:cluster/cluster-name"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "EksGetToken",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "eks:GetToken",
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

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