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AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform

AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform (AFT) follows a GitOps model to automate the processes of account provisioning and account updating in AWS Control Tower. You'll create an account request Terraform file, which provides the necessary input that triggers the AFT workflow for account provisioning.

For more information on AFT, see Overview of AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform

Getting started

This guide is intended for administrators of AWS Control Tower environments who wish to set up Account Factory for Terraform (AFT) in their environment. It describes how to set up an Account Factory for Terraform (AFT) environment with a new, dedicated AFT management account. This guide follows the deployment steps outlined in Deploy AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform (AFT)

Configure and launch your AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform

Five steps are required to configure and launch your AFT environment.

Step 1: Launch your AWS Control Tower landing zone

Before launching AFT, you must have a working AWS Control Tower landing zone in your AWS account. You will configure and launch AFT from the AWS Control Tower management account.

Step 2: Create a new organizational unit for AFT (recommended)

We recommend that you create a separate OU in your AWS Organization, where you will deploy the AFT management account. Create an OU through your AWS Control Tower management account. For instructions on how to create an OU, refer to Create an organization in the AWS Organizations User Guide.

Step 3: Provision the AFT management account

AFT requires a separate AWS account to manage and orchestrate its own requests. From the AWS Control Tower management account that's associated with your AWS Control Tower landing zone, you'll provision this account for AFT.

To provision the AFT management account, see Provisioning Account Factory Accounts With AWS Service Catalog. When specifying an OU, be sure to select the OU you created in Step 2. When specifying a name, use "AFT-Management".

Note: It can take up to 30 minutes for the account to be fully provisioned. Validate that you have access to the AFT management account.

Step 4: Ensure that the Terraform environment is available for deployment

This step assumes that you are experienced with Terraform, and that you have procedures in place for executing Terraform. AFT supports Terraform Version 0.15.x or later.

Step 5: Call the Account Factory for Terraform module to deploy AFT

The Account Factory for Terraform module must be called while you are authenticated with AdministratorAccess credentials in your AWS Control Tower management account.

AWS Control Tower, through the AWS Control Tower management account, vends a Terraform module that establishes all infrastructure necessary to orchestrate your AWS Control Tower account factory requests. You can view that module in the AFT repository.

Refer to the module’s README file for information about the input required to run the module and deploy AFT.

If you have established pipelines for managing Terraform in your environment, you can integrate this module into your existing workflow. Otherwise, run the module from any environment that is authenticated with the required credentials.

Note: The AFT Terraform module does not manage a backend Terraform state. Be sure to preserve the Terraform state file that’s generated, after applying the module, or set up a Terraform backend using Amazon S3 and DynamoDB.

Certain input variables may contain sensitive values, such as a private ssh key or Terraform token. These values may be viewable as plain text in Terraform state file, depending on your deployment method. It is your responsibility to protect the Terraform state file, which may contain sensitive data. See the Terraform documentation

for more information.

Note: Deploying AFT through the Terraform module requires several minutes. Initial deployment may require up to 30 minutes. As a best practice, use AWS Security Token Service (STS) credentials and ensure that the credentials have a timeout sufficient for a full deployment, because a timeout causes the deployment to fail. The minimum timeout for AWS STS credentials is 60 minutes or more. Alternatively, you can leverage any IAM user that has AdministratorAccess permissions in the AWS Control Tower management account.

Next Steps:

Now that you have configured and deployed AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform, follow the steps outlined in Post-deployment steps and Provision accounts with AWS Control Tower Account Factory for Terraform to begin using your environment.

Collection of Operational Metrics

As of version 1.6.0, AFT collects anonymous operational metrics to help AWS improve the quality and features of the solution. For more information, including how to disable this capability, please see the documentation here.

Requirements

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