Question: How do I resolve "The IAM role must delegate access to an Amazon Redshift account" error in Amazon Redshift when using AWS CloudFormation?

I'm trying to create an Amazon Redshift cluster or scheduled action using AWS CloudFormation. However, I receive an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role error. How do I resolve this error?Short descriptionWith AWS CloudFormation, you can create a template in JSON or YAML that describes all the AWS resources that you need. AWS CloudFormation then provisions and configures the AWS resources for you. You can even use the AWS CloudFormation template to create an Amazon Redshift cluster or a scheduled action.However, you must correctly reference the IAM role that authorizes the Amazon Redshift cluster to access the other AWS services. Otherwise, you receive the following error:"The IAM role <role> is not valid. The IAM role must delegate access to an Amazon Redshift account."To resolve this issue, make sure to properly create and attach the AWS IAM role using CloudFormation. After your CloudFormation template file is created, your Amazon Redshift cluster and any specified AWS resources (such as a stack) are then also automatically created. No additional (manual) updates to your stacks are required.

ResolutionUpdate your AWS CloudFormation template parameters (in YAML)To update the AWS CloudFormation template parameters in YAML, perform the following steps:1.    Define your parameters:AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09Description: Create Redshift Stack. Parameters:  Environment:    Description: Environment of the resources.    Type: String    Default: staging    AllowedValues:      - production      - staging      - testing  Name:    Description: Cluster name.    Type: String    Default: 'mycluster'  Service:    Description: Service name.    Type: String    Default: redshift    AllowedValues:      - redshift   DatabaseName:    Description:  Database name.    Type: String    Default: dev    AllowedPattern: "([a-z]|[0-9])+"  ClusterType:    Description: The type of cluster    Type: String    Default: multi-node    AllowedValues:    - single-node    - multi-node  NumberOfNodes:    Description: Compute nodes count. For multi-node clusters,      the NumberOfNodes parameter must be greater than 1    Type: Number    Default: '2'  NodeType:    Description: The type of node to be provisioned    Type: String    Default: dc2.large    AllowedValues:     - dc2.large    - dc2.8xlarge    - ra3.4xlarge    - ra3.16xlarge  MasterUsername:    Description: Master user name.    Type: String    Default: awsuser    AllowedPattern: "([a-z])([a-z]|[0-9])*"  MasterUserPassword:    Description: Master user password. Must have a length of 8-64 characters, contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number. Also only contain printable ASCII characters except for '/', '@', '"', ' ', '\' and '\'.    Type: String    NoEcho: 'true'  PortNumber:    Description: The port number on which the cluster accepts incoming connections.    Type: Number    Default: '5439'Conditions:  IsMultiNodeCluster:    Fn::Equals:    - Ref: ClusterType    - multi-nodeNote: Rather than embedding sensitive information in your AWS CloudFormation templates, it is best practice to use dynamic references in your stack template. For more information on best practices, see Security best practices for AWS CloudFormation.2.    Under Resources, create the IAM role that will be assumed by the RedShift service to access other AWS services: Resources: RedshiftRole: Type: AWS::IAM::Role Properties:Resources:  RedshiftRole:    Type: AWS::IAM::Role    Properties:      RoleName: !Sub ${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:        Version: '2012-10-17'        Statement:        - Effect: Allow          Principal:            Service:              - redshift.amazonaws.com          Action:            - sts:AssumeRole          Condition:            StringEquals:              sts:ExternalId: !Sub 'arn:aws:redshift:${AWS::Region}:${AWS::AccountId}:dbuser:${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}/awsuser'      Path: "/"3.    Under Policies, specify the IAM policies to be attached to the IAM role:Policies:    - PolicyName: policy-s3    PolicyDocument:    Version: 2012-10-17    Statement:    - Effect: Allow    Action:      - 's3:AbortMultipartUpload'      - 's3:GetBucketLocation'      - 's3:ListBucket'      - 's3:ListBucketMultipartUploads'      - 's3:GetObject'      - 's3:PutObject'    Resource:      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1"      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1/log-internal-${Service}/*"      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2"      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2/*"    - Effect: Allow     Action:      - 's3:DeleteObject'    Resource:      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1/log-internal-${Service}/*"      - !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2/*"  - PolicyName: policy-cloudwatch    PolicyDocument:    Version: 2012-10-17    Statement:    - Effect: Allow    Action:      - 'logs:CreateLogGroup'      - 'logs:CreateLogStream'      - 'logs:PutLogEvents'    Resource: "*"4.    Use the Function Fn::GetAtt function to create the Amazon Redshift cluster, and then attach the IAM role (RedshiftRole):RedshiftCluster:  Type: AWS::Redshift::Cluster  Properties:     IamRoles:    - Fn::GetAtt: [ RedshiftRole, Arn ]    AllowVersionUpgrade: true    AutomatedSnapshotRetentionPeriod: 7     ClusterIdentifier: !Sub ${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}     ClusterVersion: 1.0    ClusterType:    Ref: ClusterType    NumberOfNodes:    Fn::If:    - IsMultiNodeCluster    - Ref: NumberOfNodes    - Ref: AWS::NoValue    NodeType:    Ref: NodeType    DBName:    Ref: DatabaseName    MasterUsername:    Ref: MasterUsername    MasterUserPassword:    Ref: MasterUserPassword    Port:    Ref: PortNumber    PreferredMaintenanceWindow: Sun:18:30-Sun:19:30    PubliclyAccessible: yes     AvailabilityZone: !Select [0, !GetAZs ""]The Fn::GetAtt function returns the value for a specified attribute.Note: If you use an incorrect form of reference to attach to your IAM role (such as the Ref function), you receive an IAM role error.Update your AWS CloudFormation template parameters (in JSON)To update the AWS CloudFormation template parameters in JSON, perform the following steps:1.    Define your parameters:{  "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",  "Description": "Create Redshift Stack.",  "Parameters": {    "Environment": {      "Description": "Environment of the resources.",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "staging",      "AllowedValues": [        "production",        "staging",        "testing"      ]    },    "Name": {      "Description": "Cluster name.",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "mycluster"    },    "Service": {      "Description": "Service name.",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "redshift",      "AllowedValues": [        "redshift"      ]    },    "DatabaseName": {      "Description": "Database name.",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "dev",      "AllowedPattern": "([a-z]|[0-9])+"    },    "ClusterType": {      "Description": "The type of cluster",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "multi-node",      "AllowedValues": [        "single-node",        "multi-node"      ]    },    "NumberOfNodes": {      "Description": "Compute nodes count. For multi-node clusters, the NumberOfNodes parameter must be greater than 1",      "Type": "Number",      "Default": "2"    },    "NodeType": {      "Description": "The type of node to be provisioned",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "dc2.large",      "AllowedValues": [         "dc2.large",        "dc2.8xlarge",        "ra3.4xlarge",        "ra3.16xlarge"      ]    },    "MasterUsername": {      "Description": "Master user name.",      "Type": "String",      "Default": "awsuser",      "AllowedPattern": "([a-z])([a-z]|[0-9])*"    },    "MasterUserPassword": {      "Description": "Master user password. Must have a length of 8-64 characters, contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one number. Also only contain printable ASCII characters except for '/', '@', '\"', ' ', '\\' and '\\'.",      "Type": "String",      "NoEcho": "true"    },    "PortNumber": {      "Description": "The port number on which the cluster accepts incoming connections.",      "Type": "Number",      "Default": "5439"    }  },  "Conditions": {    "IsMultiNodeCluster": {      "Fn::Equals": [        {          "Ref": "ClusterType"        },        "multi-node"      ]    }  },Note: Rather than embedding sensitive information in your AWS CloudFormation templates, it is best practice to use dynamic references in your stack template. For more information on best practices, see Security best practices for AWS CloudFormation.2.    Under Resources, create the IAM role to be used to access your Amazon Redshift cluster:"Resources": {    "RedshiftRole": {      "Type": "AWS::IAM::Role",      "Properties": {        "RoleName": {          "Fn::Sub": "${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}"        },        "AssumeRolePolicyDocument": {          "Version": "2012-10-17",          "Statement": [            {              "Effect": "Allow",              "Principal": {                "Service": [                  "redshift.amazonaws.com"                ]              },              "Action": [                "sts:AssumeRole"              ],              "Condition": {                "StringEquals": {                  "sts:ExternalId": {                    "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:redshift:${AWS::Region}:${AWS::AccountId}:dbuser:${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}/awsuser"                  }                }              }            }          ]        },        "Path": "/",3.    Under Policies, specify the IAM policies to be attached to the IAM role:"Policies": [      {      "PolicyName": "policy-s3",      "PolicyDocument": {        "Version": "2012-10-17",        "Statement": [        {          "Effect": "Allow",          "Action": [          "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",          "s3:GetBucketLocation",          "s3:ListBucket",          "s3:ListBucketMultipartUploads",          "s3:GetObject",          "s3:PutObject"          ],          "Resource": [          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1"          },          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1/log-internal-${Service}/*"          },          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2"          },          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2/*"          }          ]        },        {          "Effect": "Allow",          "Action": [          "s3:DeleteObject"          ],          "Resource": [          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier1/log-internal-${Service}/*"          },          {            "Fn::Sub": "arn:aws:s3:::${Environment}-${Name}-tier2/*"          }          ]        }        ]      }      },      {      "PolicyName": "policy-cloudwatch",      "PolicyDocument": {        "Version": "2012-10-17",        "Statement": [        {          "Effect": "Allow",          "Action": [          "logs:CreateLogGroup",          "logs:CreateLogStream",          "logs:PutLogEvents"          ],          "Resource": "*"        }        ]      }      }    ]    }  },4.    Use the Function Fn::GetAtt function to create the Amazon Redshift cluster, and then attach the IAM role (RedshiftRole):"RedshiftCluster": {      "Type": "AWS::Redshift::Cluster",      "Properties": {        "IamRoles": [          {            "Fn::GetAtt": [              "RedshiftRole",              "Arn"            ]          }        ],        "AllowVersionUpgrade": true,        "AutomatedSnapshotRetentionPeriod": 7,        "ClusterIdentifier": {          "Fn::Sub": "${Environment}-${Name}-${Service}"        },        "ClusterVersion": 1,        "ClusterType": {          "Ref": "ClusterType"        },        "NumberOfNodes": {          "Fn::If": [            "IsMultiNodeCluster",            {              "Ref": "NumberOfNodes"            },            {              "Ref": "AWS::NoValue"            }          ]        },        "NodeType": {          "Ref": "NodeType"        },        "DBName": {          "Ref": "DatabaseName"        },        "MasterUsername": {          "Ref": "MasterUsername"        },        "MasterUserPassword": {          "Ref": "MasterUserPassword"        },        "Port": {          "Ref": "PortNumber"        },        "PreferredMaintenanceWindow": "Sun:18:30-Sun:19:30",        "PubliclyAccessible": "true",        "AvailabilityZone": {          "Fn::Select": [            0,            {              "Fn::GetAZs": ""            }          ]        }      }    }  }}The Fn::GetAtt function returns the value for a specified attribute.Note: If you use an incorrect form of reference to attach to your IAM role (such as the Ref function), you receive an IAM role error.Create a new stack in AWS CloudFormationTo create a stack, using your JSON or YAML template, perform the following steps:1.    Open the AWS CloudFormation console.2.    Choose Create stack to create a new stack.3.    Under Prerequisite - Prepare template in Step 1, choose Template is ready.4.    Under Specify template in Step 1, select your template source.5.    (Optional) If your template file must be uploaded, upload your template file.6.    Choose Next.7.    Under Specify stack details in Step 2, specify your Stack name and Parameters.8.    Choose Next.9.    Review all the stack details under Configure stack options in Step 3.10.    (Optional) To modify your stack options, choose Previous until you reach the page you want update. Update the stack options as needed, and then choose Next until you return to the Configure stack options page.11.    Choose Create stack.

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