AWS Onboarding

Learn how to integrate your AWS account with North.cloud

Connect Your AWS Account

Prerequisites:

If you don't have an account, we recommend you create a free account first at app.north.cloud
You need to have the appropriate permissions to create IAM permissions into the payer account
Enable cloudformation stackset. Guide from the official AWS documentation.

Get your account information ready

AWS Account ID

If your AWS account is part of an AWS organization, please sign up using the billing account only (also called payer account). This will allow North to analyze usage throughout all your accounts and centralize savings opportunities into one view.

AWS Organizational Unit ID

You can find your Organizational Unit ID here.

Select your integration method

We recommend using the CloudFormation stack which deploys all the required permissions. We also offer Terraform, CLI, or console commands. Learn more about the permissions.

If you are running the setup manually, make sure to replace the placeholder ADD_ORG_ID_HERE with your Organizational Unit ID as shown here.

Click here to open a pre-configured CloudFormation stack in a new tab. This link has a placeholder for your Organizaitonal Unit ID, please add your own.
Once in the page, scroll to the bottom and click "I acknowledge".
Finally, click "Create stack" to create the stack.

Create .tf file


provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

variable "org_id" {
  type        = string
  description = "The OrgId you want to deploy this stack in"
}

locals {
  is_us_east_1 = data.aws_region.current.name == "us-east-1"
}

data "aws_region" "current" {}
data "aws_caller_identity" "current" {}

# IAM Role for Cost and Usage Access
resource "aws_iam_role" "north_cost_usage_role" {
  name = "NorthCostAndUsageRole"
  
  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          AWS = "arn:aws:iam::480850768557:root"
        }
        Action = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "north_cost_usage_policy" {
  name = "NorthCostAndUsageReadOnlyPolicy"
  
  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Sid    = "NorthCostAndUsageReadOnlyPolicyID"
        Effect = "Allow"
        Action = [
          "ce:Get*",
          "ce:Describe*",
          "ce:List*",
          "ce:Start*",
          "account:GetAccountInformation",
          "billing:Get*",
          "payments:List*",
          "payments:Get*",
          "tax:List*",
          "tax:Get*",
          "consolidatedbilling:Get*",
          "consolidatedbilling:List*",
          "invoicing:List*",
          "invoicing:Get*",
          "cur:Get*",
          "cur:Validate*",
          "freetier:Get*",
          "ec2:DescribeCapacity*",
          "ec2:DescribeReservedInstances*",
          "ec2:DescribeSpot*",
          "rds:DescribeReserved*",
          "rds:DescribeDBRecommendations",
          "rds:DescribeAccountAttributes",
          "ecs:DescribeCapacityProviders",
          "es:DescribeReserved*"
        ]
        Resource = "*"
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "north_cost_usage_policy_attachment" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.north_cost_usage_role.name
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.north_cost_usage_policy.arn
}

# CloudWatch Cross-Account Access Role
resource "aws_iam_role" "cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role" {
  name = "NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountAccessRole"
  
  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Action = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
        Principal = {
          Service = "cloudwatch-crossaccount.amazonaws.com"
        }
      },
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Action = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
        Principal = {
          AWS = "arn:aws:iam::480850768557:role/NorthCURReadOnly"
        }
      }
    ]
  })
  
  path = "/"
  
  tags = {
    Purpose = "CrossAccountMonitoring"
  }
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "cloudwatch_cross_account_access_policy" {
  name = "NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountAccessPolicy"
  
  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect   = "Allow"
        Action   = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
        Resource = "arn:aws:iam::*:role/NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingRole"
      },
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Action = [
          "s3:GetObject",
          "s3:ListBucket",
          "s3:GetBucketLocation"
        ]
        Resource = [
          "arn:aws:s3:::north-cur-bucket-${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}",
          "arn:aws:s3:::north-cur-bucket-${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}/*"
        ]
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "cloudwatch_cross_account_access_policy_attachment" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role.name
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_policy.arn
}

# CloudWatch Cross-Account Sharing Role
resource "aws_iam_role" "cloudwatch_cross_account_sharing_role" {
  name = "NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingRole"
  
  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          AWS = [
            "arn:aws:iam::${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}:root",
            aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role.arn
          ]
        }
        Action = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
      }
    ]
  })
  
  path = "/"
  
  depends_on = [aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role]
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "cloudwatch_cross_account_sharing_policy" {
  name = "NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingPolicy"
  
  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect   = "Allow"
        Action   = ["cloudwatch:GetMetricData"]
        Resource = "*"
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "cloudwatch_cross_account_sharing_policy_attachment" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_sharing_role.name
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.cloudwatch_cross_account_sharing_policy.arn
}

# North Premium IAM Role
resource "aws_iam_role" "north_premium_role" {
  name = "NorthCostAndUsageRolePremium"
  
  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          AWS = "arn:aws:iam::480850768557:root"
        }
        Action = ["sts:AssumeRole"]
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "north_premium_policy" {
  name = "NorthCostAndUsageReadOnlyPolicy"
  
  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect   = "Allow"
        Sid      = "NorthPremiumPolicy1"
        Action   = "iam:CreateServiceLinkedRole"
        Resource = "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/compute-optimizer.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForComputeOptimizer*"
        Condition = {
          StringLike = {
            "iam:AWSServiceName" = "compute-optimizer.amazonaws.com"
          }
        }
      },
      {
        Effect   = "Allow"
        Sid      = "NorthPremiumPolicy2"
        Action   = "iam:PutRolePolicy"
        Resource = "arn:aws:iam::*:role/aws-service-role/compute-optimizer.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForComputeOptimizer"
      },
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Sid    = "NorthPremiumPolicy3"
        Action = [
          "compute-optimizer:*",
          "ec2:DescribeInstances",
          "ec2:DescribeVolumes",
          "ecs:List*",
          "autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups",
          "lambda:ListFunctions",
          "lambda:ListProvisionedConcurrencyConfigs",
          "organizations:ListAccounts",
          "cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
          "rds:DescribeDBRecommendations",
          "rds:DescribeReservedDBInstances*"
        ]
        Resource = "*"
      },
      {
        Effect   = "Allow"
        Sid      = "NorthPremiumPolicy4"
        Action   = "organizations:EnableAWSServiceAccess"
        Resource = "*"
        Condition = {
          StringEquals = {
            "organizations:ServicePrincipal" = "compute-optimizer.amazonaws.com"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "north_premium_policy_attachment" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.north_premium_role.name
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.north_premium_policy.arn
}

# CUR S3 Bucket
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "cur_bucket" {
  bucket = "north-cur-bucket-${data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id}"
  
  tags = {
    Purpose = "CostAndUsageReports"
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_ownership_controls" "cur_bucket_ownership" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  rule {
    object_ownership = "BucketOwnerEnforced"
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_public_access_block" "cur_bucket_public_access" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  block_public_acls       = true
  block_public_policy     = true
  ignore_public_acls      = true
  restrict_public_buckets = true
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "cur_bucket_versioning" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  versioning_configuration {
    status = "Enabled"
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_server_side_encryption_configuration" "cur_bucket_encryption" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  rule {
    apply_server_side_encryption_by_default {
      sse_algorithm = "AES256"
    }
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "cur_bucket_lifecycle" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  rule {
    id     = "expire365days"
    status = "Enabled"
    
    expiration {
      days = 365
    }
  }
}

resource "aws_s3_bucket_policy" "cur_bucket_policy" {
  bucket = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  
  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Sid    = "AWSBillingDeliveryPermissions"
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          Service = "billingreports.amazonaws.com"
        }
        Action = [
          "s3:PutObject",
          "s3:GetBucketAcl",
          "s3:GetBucketLocation"
        ]
        Resource = [
          "arn:aws:s3:::${aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id}/*",
          "arn:aws:s3:::${aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id}"
        ]
      },
      {
        Sid    = "AllowCrossAccountAccess"
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          AWS = aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role.arn
        }
        Action = [
          "s3:GetObject",
          "s3:ListBucket",
          "s3:GetBucketLocation"
        ]
        Resource = [
          "arn:aws:s3:::${aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id}/*",
          "arn:aws:s3:::${aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id}"
        ]
      }
    ]
  })
  
  depends_on = [
    aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket,
    aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role
  ]
}

# CUR Report (conditionally created in us-east-1)
resource "aws_cur_report_definition" "cur_report" {
  count = local.is_us_east_1 ? 1 : 0
  
  report_name                = "aws-cost-report"
  time_unit                  = "HOURLY"
  format                     = "Parquet"
  compression                = "Parquet"
  additional_schema_elements = ["RESOURCES", "SPLIT_COST_ALLOCATION_DATA"]
  s3_bucket                  = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
  s3_prefix                  = "cur-reports"
  s3_region                  = "us-east-1"
  report_versioning          = "CREATE_NEW_REPORT"
  refresh_closed_reports     = false
  
  depends_on = [aws_s3_bucket_policy.cur_bucket_policy]
}

# CloudWatch StackSet
resource "aws_cloudformation_stack_set" "north_cloudwatch_stackset" {
  name             = "NorthCloudWatchStackSet"
  permission_model = "SERVICE_MANAGED"
  
  auto_deployment {
    enabled                          = true
    retain_stacks_on_account_removal = false
  }
  
  capabilities = ["CAPABILITY_IAM", "CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM"]
  
  parameters = {
    ParentAccountId = data.aws_caller_identity.current.account_id
  }
  
  operation_preferences {
    failure_tolerance_percentage = 100
    max_concurrent_percentage    = 100
  }
  
  template_body = <<TEMPLATE
AWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'
Description: Propagates Stack to 'Enable CloudWatch in central monitoring account to assume permissions to view CloudWatch data in the downstream accounts'
Parameters:
  ParentAccountId:
    Type: String
Resources:
  NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      RoleName: NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingRole
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: '2012-10-17'
        Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Principal:
              AWS:
                - !Sub arn:aws:iam::${ParentAccountId}:root
                - !Sub arn:aws:iam::${ParentAccountId}:role/NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountAccessRole
            Action:
              - sts:AssumeRole
      Path: "/"
      Policies:
        - PolicyName: NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingPolicy
          PolicyDocument:
            Version: '2012-10-17'
            Statement:
              - Effect: Allow
                Action:
                  - cloudwatch:GetMetricData
                Resource: "*"
TEMPLATE
  
  depends_on = [aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role]
}

resource "aws_cloudformation_stack_set_instance" "north_cloudwatch_stackset_instance" {
  stack_set_name       = aws_cloudformation_stack_set.north_cloudwatch_stackset.name
  deployment_targets {
    organizational_unit_ids = [var.org_id]
  }
  region = "us-east-1"
}

# Outputs
output "cur_bucket_name" {
  description = "Name of the CUR S3 bucket"
  value       = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.id
}

output "cur_bucket_arn" {
  description = "ARN of the CUR S3 bucket"
  value       = aws_s3_bucket.cur_bucket.arn
}

output "cross_account_role_arn" {
  description = "ARN of the CloudWatch cross-account access role"
  value       = aws_iam_role.cloudwatch_cross_account_access_role.arn
}

output "premium_role_arn" {
  description = "ARN of the North Premium IAM role"
  value       = aws_iam_role.north_premium_role.arn
}

output "cur_report_status" {
  description = "Status of CUR Report creation"
  value       = local.is_us_east_1 ? "Created in us-east-1" : "Not created - deploy in us-east-1"
}

Run the following command on the AWS CLI. The code below has a placeholder for your Organizaitonal Unit ID, please add your own.

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name NorthCloudformationAllFeatures --template-url https://north-cloudformation-template-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/billing-and-usage-read-only-cf-stack/north-all-features.yaml --region us-east-1 --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM --parameters ParameterKey=OrgId,ParameterValue=ADD_ORG_ID_HERE

Deploy a CloudFormation stack in the AWS console that will create a read-only cross-account role. This will enable North to recommend the best savings posture based on your usage.
In the AWS Management Console, select CloudFormation and “Create Stack”.
Select the "Specify an Amazon S3 template URL" and enter the URL below:

https://north-cloudformation-template-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/billing-and-usage-read-only-cf-stack/north-all-features.yaml

On the "Specify stack details" page, enter the following information:
- Stack name: Enter "NorthCloudformationAllFeatures" (or your desired stack name)
- Click "Next"
- Click “Create stack”

Verify your access

North.cloud will automatically verify your access after your deployment and confirm if your onboarding has been completed successfully. You can also verify manually if any failures happen or need to run the processes asynchronously.

Start saving

Once North.cloud completes your savings and data analysis, we'll send you a confirmation email. You'll then have access to all our AI-powered optimization features, the same tools that help leading companies achieve top 1% cloud efficiency.

Update Your North Stack

Update your North stack when North needs a permission that your current stack does not grant. Your North stack is the CloudFormation stack that you deployed during onboarding. The update applies the current North template to your North stack. You will typically need to do this when North releases new features that you may want to use.

Turn on trusted access for CloudFormation StackSets in AWS Organizations before you update your North stack. See the official AWS documentation.

Open CloudFormation in the AWS account and region where you deployed your North stack.
Select your North stack. The default name is NorthCloudformationAllFeatures.
Start an update of the stack.
Replace the current template with this Amazon S3 URL: https://north-cloudformation-template-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/billing-and-usage-read-only-cf-stack/north-all-features.yaml
Keep the existing value of the OrgId parameter.
Acknowledge that the stack creates IAM resources.
Review the changes that AWS lists.
Submit the update.

Run the following command on the AWS CLI. If your North stack has a different name, replace NorthCloudformationAllFeatures with that name.

aws cloudformation update-stack --stack-name NorthCloudformationAllFeatures --template-url https://north-cloudformation-template-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/billing-and-usage-read-only-cf-stack/north-all-features.yaml --region us-east-1 --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM --parameters ParameterKey=OrgId,UsePreviousValue=true

Copy the current Terraform file from the Terraform tab under Select your integration method.
Run terraform apply in the Terraform workspace that you used for your first deployment.

Terraform reads the existing state of that workspace and updates your existing resources. A new workspace tries to create every resource again. That fails, because your Cost and Usage Report bucket already exists.

Member Accounts

Your North stack adds the NorthCloudWatchCrossAccountSharingRole role to each member account in the Organizational Unit that you entered as OrgId. Member accounts that join that Organizational Unit later get the role automatically.

To include an account outside that Organizational Unit, change OrgId to an Organizational Unit ID that contains the account.

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