[Bug]: aws_ssm_activation ValidationException: Nonexistent role or missing ssm service principal in trust policy

[anden-dev]

Terraform Core Version

1.3.5

AWS Provider Version

4.40.0

Affected Resource(s)

• aws_ssm_activation

Expected Behavior

Using the example code from https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/resources/ssm_activation

resource "aws_iam_role" "test_role" {
  name = "test_role"

  assume_role_policy = <<EOF
  {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "ssm.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }
  }
EOF
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "test_attach" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.test_role.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore"
}

resource "aws_ssm_activation" "foo" {
  name               = "test_ssm_activation"
  description        = "Test"
  iam_role           = aws_iam_role.test_role.id
  registration_limit = "5"
  depends_on         = [aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.test_attach]
}

One would expect all resources to be created.

Actual Behavior

• 1st apply: aws_ssm_activation fails to create with error message regarding iam_role
• 2nd apply: creates the resources as expected

Relevant Error/Panic Output Snippet

Terraform used the selected providers to generate the following execution
plan. Resource actions are indicated with the following symbols:
  + create

Terraform will perform the following actions:

  # module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role.test_role will be created
  + resource "aws_iam_role" "test_role" {
      + arn                   = (known after apply)
      + assume_role_policy    = jsonencode(
            {
              + Statement = {
                  + Action    = "sts:AssumeRole"
                  + Effect    = "Allow"
                  + Principal = {
                      + Service = "ssm.amazonaws.com"
                    }
                }
              + Version   = "2012-10-17"
            }
        )
      + create_date           = (known after apply)
      + force_detach_policies = false
      + id                    = (known after apply)
      + managed_policy_arns   = (known after apply)
      + max_session_duration  = 3600
      + name                  = "test_role"
      + name_prefix           = (known after apply)
      + path                  = "/"
      + tags_all              = (known after apply)
      + unique_id             = (known after apply)

      + inline_policy {
          + name   = (known after apply)
          + policy = (known after apply)
        }
    }

  # module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.test_attach will be created
  + resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "test_attach" {
      + id         = (known after apply)
      + policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore"
      + role       = "test_role"
    }

  # module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_ssm_activation.foo will be created
  + resource "aws_ssm_activation" "foo" {
      + activation_code    = (known after apply)
      + description        = "Test"
      + expiration_date    = (known after apply)
      + expired            = (known after apply)
      + iam_role           = (known after apply)
      + id                 = (known after apply)
      + name               = "test_ssm_activation"
      + registration_count = (known after apply)
      + registration_limit = 5
      + tags_all           = (known after apply)
    }

Plan: 3 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.

Do you want to perform these actions?
  Terraform will perform the actions described above.
  Only 'yes' will be accepted to approve.

  Enter a value: yes

module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role.test_role: Creating...
module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role.test_role: Creation complete after 1s [id=test_role]
module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.test_attach: Creating...
module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.test_attach: Creation complete after 1s [id=test_role-20221122154054481200000001]
module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_ssm_activation.foo: Creating...
╷
│ Error: Error creating SSM activation: ValidationException: Nonexistent role or missing ssm service principal in trust policy: arn:aws:iam::<AWS_ACCOUNT_NUMBER>:role/test_role
│ 	status code: 400, request id: <REQUEST_ID>
│
│   with module.ssm_inventory_all.module.activation.aws_ssm_activation.foo,
│   on ../../../modules/terraform-component-ssm-inventory/modules/activation/main.tf line 21, in resource "aws_ssm_activation" "foo":
│   21: resource "aws_ssm_activation" "foo" {
│
╵
Releasing state lock. This may take a few moments...
ERRO[0014] 1 error occurred:
	* exit status 1

Terraform Configuration Files

https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/resources/ssm_activation

Steps to Reproduce

https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/resources/ssm_activation

resource "aws_iam_role" "test_role" {
  name = "test_role"

  assume_role_policy = <<EOF
  {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "ssm.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }
  }
EOF
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "test_attach" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.test_role.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore"
}

resource "aws_ssm_activation" "foo" {
  name               = "test_ssm_activation"
  description        = "Test"
  iam_role           = aws_iam_role.test_role.id
  registration_limit = "5"
  depends_on         = [aws_iam_role_policy_attachment.test_attach]
}

Debug Output

No response

Panic Output

No response

Important Factoids

No response

References

No response

Would you like to implement a fix?

No

[github-actions]

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[iMichka]

I think

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "test_attach" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.test_role.id
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore"
}

might fix it. Replace name by id for the role.

Can you confirm that? If yes, the documentation needs an update.

[danishrehman99]

replacing name with id is not making any difference

[iMichka]

I think it's a race condition. Running terraform apply a second time fixes it.

The first time; when aws_ssm_activation is created, the aws_iam_role has probably not yet been created. Is that possible?

[pstagner]

I am seeing the role be created and the policy get attached before and I even use a depends_on statement for the role attachment so the role has to exist technically for everything to be true. The "missing ssm service principal in trust policy" seems to be more of the smoking gun however it does create the activation for me on the second apply attempt. I am using version 1.0.6 in the environment I am experiencing this in.

[github-actions]

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.
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