Enabling single sign-on access to Amazon EC2 instances using Okta and AWS IAM Identity Center

Introduction:

As a Dev/DevOps persona, you often need to access Amazon Cloud Compute (Amazon EC2) instances. To log in to Amazon EC2 instances from your machines, you need to manage multiple items: PEM and PPK files to enable SSH access. If keys get lost and get in a non-intended user's hands, PEM and PPK files could result in a security incident.

One piece of feedback we’ve heard from our Dev/DevOps customers is:

“As a Dev/DevOps user interacting with AWS compute instances (Amazon EC2), I do not want to maintain several PEM/PPK files to access Amazon EC2 instances. I would like to leverage my Okta identities provisioned into AWS IAM Identity Center and create a seamless experience for secure access.”

At Okta and AWS, we're all about creating best-in-class customer experiences to help users create a seamless experience. AWS recently launched a feature to enable SSO access to your Amazon EC2 Windows instances using the AWS Systems Manager Fleet Manager console. 

The Okta and AWS IAM Identity Center integration enable you to leverage the AWS Fleet manager console to access Amazon EC2 instances without maintaining any PPK/PEM/Credentials. This Solution will help your Dev/DevOps personas create a seamless sign-in experience.