Creating a Service Connection on Azure DevOps to Authenticate AWS

Introduction

Integrating AWS with Azure DevOps allows you to leverage the powerful CI/CD capabilities of Azure DevOps while managing your infrastructure and applications on Amazon Web Services (AWS). To enable this integration, you need to create a service connection in Azure DevOps that authenticates with AWS. This blog post will guide you through the steps to set up this service connection.

Prerequisites

• AWS Account: Ensure you have an active AWS account.
• Azure DevOps Account: Ensure you have an active Azure DevOps organization and project.
• IAM User in AWS: Create an IAM user in AWS with the necessary permissions.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Create an IAM User in AWS

• Open the AWS Management Console.
• Navigate to IAM (Identity and Access Management).
• Click Users in the left-hand menu, then click Add user.
• Provide a username (e.g., “AzureDevOpsUser”).
• Select Programmatic access for the access type.
• Click Next: Permissions.

2. Attach Policies to the IAM User

• On the Permissions page, click Attach existing policies directly.
• Select the necessary policies (e.g., AdministratorAccess or specific policies like AmazonEC2FullAccess, AmazonS3FullAccess).
• Click Next: Tags, then Next: Review.
• Click Create user.

3. Save the Access Key and Secret Key

• After creating the user, you will see the Access key ID and Secret access key. Save these credentials securely as you will need them to configure the service connection in Azure DevOps.

4. Create a Service Connection in Azure DevOps

• Go to your Azure DevOps project.
• Navigate to Project Settings > Service connections.
• Click New service connection.
• Select AWS from the list of service connection types.
• Click Next.

5. Configure the Service Connection

• In the New AWS service connection window, provide the following details:

• Connection name: A name for your service connection.
• Access Key ID: Enter the access key ID from the IAM user.
• Secret Access Key: Enter the secret access key from the IAM user.
• Region: Specify the AWS region you want to use (e.g., us-east-1).

• Click Verify and save to test the connection and save it.

6. Use the Service Connection in Pipelines

• In your Azure DevOps pipeline YAML file, reference the service connection to authenticate with AWS.
• Example:

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- task: AWSCLI@1
  inputs:
    awsCredentials: '<Your Service Connection>'
    regionName: 'us-east-1'
    command: 's3'
    arguments: 'ls'

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can create a service connection in Azure DevOps to authenticate with AWS. This setup allows you to seamlessly integrate AWS with your Azure DevOps pipelines, enabling efficient CI/CD processes for your applications and infrastructure.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance! Happy deploying! 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you need any more details or have other questions.