AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess

Summary

Provides read-only access to Auto Scaling via the AWS Management Console. The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling User Guide says it works when you use launch configurations, but not when you use launch templates.

Permissions imported from the AWS Managed Policy Reference Guide; other sections reviewed against the listed AWS sources.

Identity

ARN

arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccessCopy ARN

Default version

v1

Created

2017-01-12

Last edited

2017-01-12

Services

autoscaling, cloudwatch, ec2, elasticloadbalancing, sns

Control-plane actions (53)

By access level: 29 List, 24 Read.

Data-plane actions (2)

By access level: 1 List, 1 Read.

Excluded and conditional actions

No patterns are excluded by NotAction or Deny statements.

Resource scope and attachment

Resource scope across granted actions: all-resources.

Can be attached: Yes, to users, groups and roles.

Why this tier

• Grants only List and Read actions.

Guidance

Related policies

Same service

• AdministratorAccess-AWSElasticBeanstalk
• AmazonApplicationRecoveryControllerRegionSwitchPlanExecutionPolicy
• AmazonAthenaServiceRolePolicy
• AmazonAuroraDSQLReadOnlyAccess
• AmazonChimeSDKMediaPipelinesServiceLinkedRolePolicy
• AmazonCloudWatchEvidentlyFullAccess
• AmazonCloudWatchRUMReadOnlyAccess
• AmazonCloudWatchRUMServiceRolePolicy

Same domain

• AIDevOpsReleaseManagementVPCPolicy
• AmazonAppStreamServiceAccess
• AmazonBioDiscoveryServiceLinkedRolePolicy
• AmazonBraketJobsExecutionPolicy
• AmazonDMSVPCManagementRole
• AmazonDRSVPCManagement
• AmazonEBSCSIDriverEKSClusterScopedPolicy
• AmazonEBSCSIDriverPolicy

Frequently asked questions

When should I attach AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess?

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling User Guide says it grants read-only access to Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling using the AWS Management Console and works with launch configurations, not launch templates. Attach it where console viewing of Auto Scaling groups on launch configurations is intended.

What does AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess grant?

It allows autoscaling:Describe*, elasticloadbalancing:Describe*, cloudwatch:ListMetrics, cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics, cloudwatch:Describe*, four EC2 describe actions, sns:ListSubscriptions and sns:ListTopics on all resources.

What are the security risks of AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess?

The policy grants no write actions, but it applies to all resources and reads beyond Auto Scaling. AWS managed policies don't grant least privilege permissions, and you must consider the security risk of granting principals more permissions than they need. AWS updates to the policy affect every identity it is attached to.

Policy JSON

Download policy.json

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ec2:DescribeVpcs",
        "ec2:DescribeVpcClassicLink",
        "ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones",
        "ec2:DescribeSubnets"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "cloudwatch:ListMetrics",
        "cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
        "cloudwatch:Describe*"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "autoscaling:Describe*",
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "sns:ListSubscriptions",
        "sns:ListTopics"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Version history

Current version v1, edited by AWS on 2017-01-12. Version history is recorded from 2026-11-11. Earlier versions are in the IAM console under Policy versions.

Attach snippets

aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name ROLE_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name USER_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-group-policy --group-name GROUP_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess

Resources:
  ExampleRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument: {}  # replace with your trust policy
      ManagedPolicyArns:
        - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "autoscalingconsolereadonlyaccess" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.example.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess"
}

role.addManagedPolicy(
  iam.ManagedPolicy.fromAwsManagedPolicyName("AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess"),
);

Sources

• AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess (AWS Managed Policy Reference Guide) (retrieved 2026-11-13; supports summary, practicalScope, securityConsiderations, assignmentGuidance, faqs)
• AWS managed policies for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling (retrieved 2026-11-13; supports summary, useCases, prerequisites, assignmentGuidance, faqs)
• Managed policies and inline policies (IAM User Guide) (retrieved 2026-11-12; supports securityConsiderations, faqs)
• AWS managed policies for job functions (IAM User Guide) (retrieved 2026-11-12; supports bestPractices, faqs)

• Official AWS reference for AutoScalingConsoleReadOnlyAccess
• AWS service guide
• Report a data issue