Connection Wizard

Jul 26, 2024

Introduction

In this article, we will use the Connection Setup Wizard to quickly deploy the cross-account IAM role and IAM permission policies used to connect the CloudSaver Platform to your AWS environment.

Before we get started, there are a few things you will need to complete the Connection Setup.
You will need:

  1. Your AWS Management Account ID. If you have only one AWS account, that is your management account.
  2. Credentials for your AWS account to log in through CLI or the management console of your choice.
  3. Permission to create AWS IAM roles and policies.
  4. If you choose CLI, you will need to have AWS CLI downloaded and installed on your computer. For more information, please refer to the AWS documentation HERE .

For more information on using your AWS Management Account, CLI or IAM Permissions, see the links below:

  • AWS Management Account
  • CLI
  • IAM Permissions

Get Started

After you have logged in to the CloudSaver Platform for the first time you will follow the following steps to get connected.

  1. Log in to the app.
  2. In the bottom left of the screen, click Settings.
  3. You will see Connect to CloudSaver at the top of the window.
  4. Click Get Started.

This is the Let’s Get Connected window. If you do not have any of the listed information, you can invite a team member who has the necessary permissions to complete the setup.

  1. Once you have all the information required, click Next.

You will have three options: CLI, CloudFormation, and Terraform. We will walk through the CLI process first as it is different than the other two. CloudFormation and Terraform use the same process at the beginning.

CLI

  1. Click Select CLI.
  2. Select the CLI script based on your operating system.
  3. This will include a token to authorize access, and in the upper right corner of the script window there is a “Copy” icon. Click Copy.
  4. Paste the script on your terminal.
  5. Press Enter.
  6. The script will run and after the accounts are connected, you will see a green checkmark next to Connect Successful.
  7. At the bottom, click on View Connection and on the very next page you will see all added connections.

CloudFormation / Terraform

For both CloudFormation and Terraform, the CloudSaver connection templates are downloaded in nearly the same way.

To follow the more detailed process for Terraform, click HERE .

With regards to AWS CloudFormation deployments, CloudFormation StackSets offers a quick way to provision the connection IAM cross-account role & permission policies; you can read more about deploying StackSet for CloudSaver connection at Connecting Accounts with AWS CloudFormation .

  1. Click Select CloudFormation or Select Terraform.
  2. Enter your 12-digit Management Account ID. This will be used to find and connect to your AWS Management Account.
  3. Once the accounts are connected, you will see a green checkmark and ‘Valid Account ID‘ next to the ID field.
  4. The CloudSaver app will prepare a YAML file if you use CloudFormation or a .tf file for Terraform.
  5. For CloudFormation, click the CloudFormation button to download the YAML file.
  6. For Terraform, click the Terraform button to download the .tf file.
  7. Upload the file to your AWS Management Account.
  8. CloudSaver will check for connectivity to the Management Account. You will be able to click View Connections at the bottom to view what has been successfully connected.