Inspect one IAM user

Part 83 of AWS from Zero. This lesson changes or inspects one IAM concept so the permission model stays understandable.

What we are learning

get-user returns the identity record, not its complete permissions or credentials.

Before you run it

aws sts get-caller-identity
ACCOUNT_ID=$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)
USER_NAME="aws-zero-learner"
GROUP_NAME="aws-zero-readers"
ROLE_NAME="aws-zero-demo-role"

IAM is global rather than regional. Use a sandbox account and a delegated administrator identity, never root access keys.

The command

aws iam get-user --user-name "$USER_NAME"

IAM writes can take a short time to propagate. Inspect the resource after every change.

Inspect the result

aws iam get-user \
  --user-name "$USER_NAME" \
  --query "User.{Name:UserName,UserId:UserId,Arn:Arn,Path:Path,Created:CreateDate,PasswordLastUsed:PasswordLastUsed}" \
  --output table

Read the returned ARN, path, IDs, and attachment state instead of checking only the command exit code.

One tiny variation

aws iam list-user-tags \
  --user-name "$USER_NAME" \
  --output table

Tags provide ownership and lifecycle context that the base user record does not.

Common mistake

PasswordLastUsed concerns console password use and can be absent. It says nothing about access-key activity.

Cleanup

# This lesson is read-only or reuses a named demo identity.
aws sts get-caller-identity

Keep shared demo identities only while following the IAM sequence. Part 125 removes them in dependency order.

Next, we will learn Create an IAM user without credentials.

Official AWS CLI reference