Best Practices for Integrating IAM Roles Anywhere with PKI

IAM Roles Anywhere and PKI Integration

AWS IAM Roles Anywhere allows workloads outside of AWS to obtain temporary security credentials for accessing AWS resources. This system relies on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to establish trust between an AWS account and the certificate authorities that issue certificates to these external workloads. PKI manages the generation, distribution, and verification of digital certificates using public key encryption.

Temporary Credentials for Security

Using temporary credentials is a security best practice that reduces the risk associated with compromised credentials. IAM Roles Anywhere facilitates this by enabling external workloads to acquire temporary credentials, enhancing the security posture for hybrid environments.

X.509 Certificates for Workload Identity

For environments with multiple workloads, assigning unique identities and specific user permissions is crucial. X.509 certificates provide a mechanism for establishing unique machine identities for each workload. These certificates, signed by a certificate authority (CA), can be used with IAM Roles Anywhere without modifications if already in use for workload identity.

Establishing a unique machine identity for each workload, possibly through separate X.509 certificates with distinct attributes, is recommended when workloads have different access boundaries and permissions for AWS resources.

AWS Certificate Manager Support

As of July 2026, AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) supports exportable public certificates for use on workloads outside AWS, including containers and on-premises systems. ACM also supports the ACME protocol for automated certificate issuance and renewal for external workloads. These ACM capabilities complement IAM Roles Anywhere by providing both identity (via X.509 certificates) and encryption (via ACM public/private certificates) for hybrid cloud setups.