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Aws / List Iam Groups

List Iam Groups

Lists all IAM groups present in the account.

$
Terminal
aws iam list-groups

When To Use

During an assessment of group-based permissions and access management.

Pro Tip

Combine with `--filter` to narrow down results based on specific attributes.

Terminal Output

Expected runtime feedback

Simulated preview
>
Output
| Group Name             | Group ID                           |
|-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Developers            | AIDP1234567890EXAMPLE             |
| Admins                | AIDP0987654321EXAMPLE             |
| QA                   | AIDP4567890123EXAMPLE             |

Anatomy of Output

Understanding the result

GroupId: group-EXAMPLEID Group Identifier

Unique identifier for the IAM group.

GroupName: Admins Group Name

The name of the IAM group.

CreateDate: 2023-03-01T09:00:00Z Creation Date

Indicates when the group was established.

Power User Variants

Optimized versions

aws iam list-groups --max-items 5

Limits results to the first 5 groups for efficiency.

aws iam list-groups --query 'Groups[?ends_with(GroupName, `s`)]'

Filters to show groups whose names end with an 's'.

aws iam list-groups --profile specific-profile

Uses a specified profile for the AWS CLI call.

Troubleshooting

Common pitfalls

An error occurred (NoSuchEntity) when calling the ListGroups operation: Group does not exist.

Solution: Ensure the group exists by using `aws iam get-group`.

An error occurred (AccessDenied) when calling the ListGroups operation: User lacks permissions to perform this action.

Solution: Review IAM permissions to ensure sufficient access rights.

An error occurred (ServiceFailure) when calling the ListGroups operation: Internal service error occurred.

Solution: Retry the command; it may indicate temporary service issues.

Command Breakdown

What each part is doing

aws
Base Command
The executable that performs this operation. Here it runs Aws before the shell applies any redirect operators.

How To Run

Execution path

  1. Step 1

    Run the command: `aws iam list-groups`

  2. Step 2

    Review the output for existing IAM groups and their IDs.

Alternative Approaches

Comparable commands in other tools

Alternative security tools for the same job.