AWS IAM Policy pattern-based discovery

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated May 13, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of AWS IAM Policy pattern-based discovery

    The AWS IAM Policy pattern-based discovery, part of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application, enables ServiceNow customers to automatically find and map AWS IAM Policies within their cloud environments. This discovery populates relevant configuration data into both CMDB and non-CMDB tables, supporting comprehensive visibility and management of IAM policies.

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    Key Features

    • Pattern Activation: The AWS IAM Policy discovery pattern is disabled by default and requires activation. From Visibility Content version 6.28.0 onward, enabling or disabling patterns is no longer treated as a customization, ensuring continued updates and reset to the latest versions after upgrades while retaining activation status.
    • Prerequisites: Customers must verify AWS discovery prerequisites and ensure relevant IAM policy resources are not listed in the Resource Inclusion List table to prevent duplicate discoveries.
    • Data Population:
      • Non-CMDB Tables: The Amazon AWS - IAM Policy - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern populates AWS-specific data, such as policy names, ARNs, and management status, into non-CMDB tables accessible via the AWS configuration section.
      • CMDB Tables: Key IAM policy details, including resource type, install status, and operational status, are stored in the CMDB’s Cloud Resource table for configuration management.
      • Tag Discovery: IAM policy tags are collected and stored as key-value pairs in the CMDB Key Value table, linked to the corresponding cloud resource.
    • CI Relationships and References: The pattern establishes specific relationships between IAM policies and cloud resources or service accounts, facilitating accurate mapping and linkage within the CMDB.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables automated and accurate discovery of AWS IAM policies to enhance cloud security and governance.
    • Supports comprehensive configuration management by integrating IAM policy data into the CMDB and associated tables.
    • Facilitates management of customer-managed versus AWS-managed policies through clear attribute definitions.
    • Provides detailed tagging information to support operational and compliance reporting needs.
    • Improves visibility into IAM policy relationships and dependencies within AWS environments.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns finds AWS IAM Policies on your cloud environment. Discovering some of these resources may require updating to the latest version of the Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application from the ServiceNow Store.

    Pattern-based discovery and mapping requirements

    Verify the AWS discovery prerequisites
    For more information, see the prerequisites section in Amazon AWS Cloud components discovery using patterns.
    Remove resources from the Resource Inclusion List table
    Verify that the relevant resource isn't listed in the Resource Inclusion List [sa_cloud_inventory_resource_whitelist] table to avoid duplicate discovery. For more information on removing resources from the Resource Inclusion List, see Amazon Web Services (AWS) Resource Inventory.
    Enable the relevant pattern
    The pattern for this service is disabled by default. Starting with Visibility Content version 6.28.0, activating or deactivating a pattern won't be considered a customization, and it will continue to receive updates. Patterns that were previously activated or deactivated will reset to the latest predefined version after upgrading while retaining the last active field value. For more information on enabling patterns, see Activate a disabled pattern.

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in both CMDB and non-CMDB tables.

    Data stored in non-CMDB tables

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in the non-CMDB table when running the Amazon AWS - IAM Policy - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern.

    You can review the non-CMDB AWS tables by navigating to All > Configuration > AWS. You can also search the navigation filter for the specific pattern name.

    Table 1. AWS IAM Policy [cmdb_aws_iam_policy]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name of the IAM policy.
    Object ID [object_id] The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the IAM policy.
    Policy ID [policy_id] The stable and unique string identifying the policy.
    Is Customer Managed [is_customer_managed] Indicates whether the policy is customer-managed.
    • Policies managed by customers: the value is true
    • Policies managed by AWS: the value is false
    Configuration Item [configuration_item] References the Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource] table.

    Data stored in CMDB tables

    Discovery and Service Mapping Patterns application populates data in the CMDB when running the Amazon AWS - IAM Policy - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern.

    Table 2. Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource]
    Field Description
    Name [name] Name of the IAM policy.
    Object ID [object_id] The ARN of the IAM policy.
    Resource type [resource_type] Type of resource. The value is set to AWS::IAM::Policy.
    Install Status [install_status] Install status of the resource. Default value is Installed.
    Operational status [operational_status] Operational status of the resource. Default value is Operational.

    CI relationships

    The Amazon AWS - IAM Policy - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern creates the following relationships and references to support AWS IAM Policy discovery. References link to records in other tables and don't appear in the CI Relationship [cmdb_rel_ci] table.

    Table 3. CI relationships
    CI Relationship CI
    Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource] Hosted on::Hosts Cloud Service Account [cmdb_ci_cloud_service_account]
    Table 4. CI references
    CI Field Referenced CI
    AWS IAM Policy [cmdb_aws_iam_policy] Configuration Item [configuration_item] Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource]
    Key Value [cmdb_key_value] Configuration item [configuration_item] Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource]

    AWS Tag discovery

    The Amazon AWS - IAM Policy - Extended Inventory (LP) pattern collects tags and populates them in the Key Value [cmdb_key_value] table.

    Table 5. Key Value [cmdb_key_value]
    Field Description
    Key [key] Tag name.
    Value [value] Tag value.
    Configuration item [configuration_item] References the Cloud Resource [cmdb_ci_cmp_resource] table.