Analyze and Troubleshoot Governance Issues Explained

Key Concepts

• Governance Policies: Rules and guidelines that ensure compliance with organizational standards and regulatory requirements.
• AWS Organizations: A service that enables you to manage multiple AWS accounts centrally.
• Service Control Policies (SCPs): Policies that centrally control the maximum available permissions for member accounts in an AWS Organization.
• AWS Config: A service that provides a detailed view of the configuration of AWS resources in your account.
• AWS CloudTrail: A service that logs AWS API calls for your account and delivers log files to you.
• Compliance Audits: Regular reviews to ensure that systems and processes comply with established policies and standards.

Detailed Explanation

Governance Policies

Governance policies are rules and guidelines that ensure compliance with organizational standards and regulatory requirements. These policies help in maintaining consistency, security, and reliability across all AWS resources.

AWS Organizations

AWS Organizations is a service that enables you to manage multiple AWS accounts centrally. It allows you to create groups of accounts and apply policies across them. This helps in enforcing governance policies and ensuring compliance across all accounts.

Service Control Policies (SCPs)

Service Control Policies (SCPs) are a type of policy that centrally control the maximum available permissions for member accounts in an AWS Organization. SCPs help in enforcing governance by restricting the actions that can be performed by IAM users and roles in member accounts.

AWS Config

AWS Config provides a detailed view of the configuration of AWS resources in your account. It continuously monitors and records configuration changes and can evaluate these configurations against desired states. AWS Config helps in ensuring that resources comply with established governance policies.

AWS CloudTrail

AWS CloudTrail logs AWS API calls for your account and delivers log files to you. This helps in auditing and monitoring the actions performed on your AWS resources. CloudTrail provides a history of AWS API calls, including who made the call, the source IP address, and when it was made.

Compliance Audits

Compliance audits are regular reviews to ensure that systems and processes comply with established policies and standards. These audits help in identifying and addressing governance issues, ensuring that your AWS environment remains compliant with internal and external requirements.

Examples and Analogies

Example: AWS Organizations and SCPs

Here is an example of creating an AWS Organization and applying an SCP:

aws organizations create-organization --feature-set ALL
aws organizations create-policy --content file://scp.json --description "Restrict EC2 Instance Types" --name "EC2InstanceTypeRestriction" --type SERVICE_CONTROL_POLICY
aws organizations attach-policy --policy-id p-12345678 --target-id r-1234
    

Where scp.json contains:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Deny",
            "Action": [
                "ec2:RunInstances"
            ],
            "Resource": "*",
            "Condition": {
                "StringNotEquals": {
                    "ec2:InstanceType": [
                        "t2.micro",
                        "t3.micro"
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}
    

Example: AWS Config Rule

Here is an example of creating an AWS Config rule to ensure that S3 buckets are encrypted:

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule file://config-rule.json
    

Where config-rule.json contains:

{
    "ConfigRuleName": "s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled",
    "Description": "Checks whether S3 buckets have default server-side encryption enabled.",
    "Scope": {
        "ComplianceResourceTypes": [
            "AWS::S3::Bucket"
        ]
    },
    "Source": {
        "Owner": "AWS",
        "SourceIdentifier": "S3_BUCKET_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED"
    }
}
    

Example: AWS CloudTrail

Here is an example of creating a CloudTrail trail:

aws cloudtrail create-trail --name my-trail --s3-bucket-name my-bucket
aws cloudtrail start-logging --name my-trail
    

Analogy: Governance as Building Codes

Think of governance as building codes that ensure safety and structural integrity in construction. Just as building codes define rules for constructing safe and compliant buildings, governance policies define rules for maintaining secure and compliant systems. AWS Organizations is like a management company that oversees multiple buildings, ensuring they all follow the same codes. Service Control Policies (SCPs) are like zoning laws that restrict what types of activities can be performed in certain areas of the buildings. AWS Config is like an inspector who checks if the building (AWS resources) meets the codes. AWS CloudTrail is like a security camera that records all activities in the building. Compliance audits are like regular inspections to ensure everything is functioning as expected.