Skip to main content

Managing AWS Connections

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a leading cloud platform that provides a wide range of infrastructure and application services to organizations of all sizes. The AWS Connector in Flexera One enables you to securely collect and import inventory data from your AWS accounts into IT Visibility on a scheduled basis. This integration gives you comprehensive visibility into your AWS environment, including compute, storage, and database resources. By leveraging the AWS Connector, you can streamline cloud management, optimize resource utilization, and ensure consistent governance across your AWS estate.

Prerequisites​

To view and manage AWS connectors, you must have one of the following permissions in Flexera One:

  • Manage data inventory

  • Manage organization

Creating an AWS Connection​

You can create one or more AWS connections.

  1. On the Data Collection menu, under Common Inventory Tasks, select External Inventory Connections.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • On the Cloud Connections tab, select Create Connection.

    • On the Explore Connectors tab and in the AWS tile, select Create Connection.

  3. In Create Connection, do the following:

    1. From Connection Type, select AWS.

    2. From Onboarding Type, select one of the following:

      • To onboard a master or billing AWS account that automatically discovers and connects linked AWS accounts, select Auto Discovery.

      • To onboard a single AWS account individually, select Individual.

    3. Select Login to your AWS account and sign in to AWS in a new web browser tab.

    4. In Display Name, enter a name for this connection.

    5. If you are onboarding an individual AWS account, enter the AWS billing Account ID for the account you are onboarding in Billing Account ID.

    6. Select the features you are onboarding for:

      • To enable inventory collection and reporting from AWS, for example, in Power BI or via GraphQL, select Inventory. For more information, see Cloud Inventory Overview

    7. Select Run a CloudFormation.

  4. On the Quick create stack page in the AWS CloudFormation console, do the following:

    1. On the Quick create stack page, confirm that Stack name is automatically populated with the same name as the Display Name you created in Flexera One.

    2. In the Parameters section, enter your root OU ID in Organization Root ID. You can find this root ID by selecting your profile in the top-right corner and selecting Organization.

    3. In the Capabilities section, select both checkboxes.

    4. Select Create stack and wait for the new stack to be successfully deployed.

      It will take some time for the new stack to be deployed. For more information about how to create a stack, see Create a stack from the CloudFormation console in the AWS documentation.

  5. In Create connection in Flexera One, do the following:

    1. Select I have run the CloudFormation on AWS Website.

    2. Select Complete.

  6. On the External Inventory Connections page, select the Cloud Connections tab and verify that the new AWS connection appears in the list.

note

To review the CloudFormation stack, see Auto Discovery for an onboarded master or billing AWS account or Individual for an individually onboarded AWS account.

Editing an AWS Connection​

You can change the Name and the Product of an existing connection.

note

If you onboarded using the API, you can edit the Name and Product of an existing connection directly in the Flexera One user interface, but you cannot change the permissions defined in your role in the user interface.

  1. On the Data Collection menu, under Common Inventory Tasks, select External Inventory Connections.

  2. On the Cloud Connections tab, find the connection that you want to edit.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Select the three-dot menu in the connection row and select Edit.

    • Select the connection name to open the Details view of that connection, and select Edit in the upper-right corner of the page.

  4. In Edit Connection, do the following:

    1. Select Login to your AWS account and sign in to AWS in a new web browser tab.

    2. Select Open AWS Cloud Formation.

  5. In the AWS CloudFormation console, do the following:

    1. On the Update stack page, click Next.

    2. In Specify stack details, edit User-friendly Connector Name and Enable/Disable Cloud Inventory Service.

    3. Select Next and wait for the edited stack to be successfully deployed.

  6. In Edit connection in Flexera One, do the following:

    1. Select I have run the CloudFormation on AWS Website.

    2. Select Save.

Deleting an AWS Connection​

You can delete an existing AWS Connection. The deletion action cannot be undone.

note

If you onboarded using the API, deleting the connection will only remove your credentials and schedule from Flexera One; the role itself will remain in your AWS account.

  1. On the Data Collection menu, under Common Inventory Tasks, select External Inventory Connections.

  2. On the Cloud Connections tab, find the connection that you want to delete.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Select the three-dot menu in the connection row and select Delete.

    • Select the connection name to open the Details view of that connection, and select Delete in the upper-right corner of the page.

  4. In Delete Connection, do the following:

    1. Select Login to your AWS account to sign in to your AWS account.

    2. Select Remove the stack to be redirected to the stack list in the AWS CloudFormation console.

  5. From the stack list in the AWS CloudFormation console, select the stack with the same name as the AWS connection that you want to delete, select Delete stack, confirm the deletion, and wait for the stack to be deleted.

    It will take some time for the stack to be deleted.

  6. In Delete Connection in Flexera One, select I Have Deleted The Stack.