AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) is a service that lets you easily provision, manage, and deploy Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) certificates for use with AWS services and your internal connected resources. With ACM, you can quickly request a certificate, deploy it on AWS resources, and let ACM handle the renewal process.
Key Features
- SSL/TLS Certificates: ACM allows you to create, deploy, and manage SSL/TLS certificates for securing your websites and applications.
- Automated Renewal: ACM automatically renews your SSL/TLS certificates, reducing the risk of outages due to expired certificates.
- Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly integrates with services such as Amazon CloudFront, Elastic Load Balancing, and API Gateway to deploy certificates.
- Private Certificate Authority: ACM provides a managed private CA service for issuing certificates for internal applications without needing to manage the CA infrastructure.
- Free Public Certificates: ACM provides free SSL/TLS certificates for use with supported AWS services.
- Wildcard Certificates: Issue a single certificate that can be used for multiple subdomains, simplifying certificate management.
Common Use Cases
- Securing Web Applications: Use ACM to secure your websites and applications hosted on AWS with SSL/TLS certificates.
- Securing API Endpoints: Protect your API endpoints on Amazon API Gateway with SSL/TLS certificates provided by ACM.
- Private Certificates: Issue and manage private certificates for internal services without needing to manage your own certificate authority.
- Domain Validation: Use ACM to perform domain validation for SSL/TLS certificates, ensuring the ownership of the domain.
- Certificate Lifecycle Management: Automate the issuance, renewal, and deployment of certificates, reducing manual management efforts.
Architecture Overview
The following diagram illustrates how AWS Certificate Manager integrates with other AWS services to manage SSL/TLS certificates:
- Request Certificate: ACM allows you to request a certificate for your domain or subdomains.
- Validation: ACM performs domain validation through DNS or email to verify domain ownership.
- Deployment: Certificates can be deployed on services like Elastic Load Balancing, CloudFront, and API Gateway.
- Automatic Renewal: ACM handles the automatic renewal of your SSL/TLS certificates before they expire.
Integration with Other AWS Services
AWS Certificate Manager integrates with several AWS services, providing a seamless experience for deploying SSL/TLS certificates:
- Amazon CloudFront: Deploy SSL/TLS certificates on CloudFront distributions to secure your content delivery network.
- Elastic Load Balancing: Use ACM certificates to secure your load balancers, ensuring end-to-end encryption for your applications.
- Amazon API Gateway: Protect your API endpoints with SSL/TLS certificates provided by ACM.
- AWS Elastic Beanstalk: Automatically deploy certificates on Elastic Beanstalk environments for secure web applications.
- AWS Private CA: Issue private certificates for internal services using ACM Private Certificate Authority.
Things to Remember for the Exam
- Public vs. Private Certificates: Understand the difference between public and private certificates and when to use each.
- Automatic Renewal: Remember that ACM automatically renews public SSL/TLS certificates, but private certificates may require manual renewal.
- Integration: Know how ACM integrates with services like CloudFront, Elastic Load Balancing, and API Gateway to provide SSL/TLS certificates.
- Domain Validation: Be familiar with how domain validation works in ACM, particularly using DNS or email methods.
- Pricing: Understand that ACM provides free public SSL/TLS certificates for use with supported AWS services, but private CA and private certificates incur costs.
- Use Cases: Review the common use cases for ACM, including securing web applications and API endpoints.