How to Securely Set Up Terraform and AWS CLI Using IAM Identity Center

A developer guide published on DEV Community outlines a secure method for configuring a local Infrastructure as Code environment using Terraform and AWS CLI. The guide recommends using AWS IAM Identity Center, formerly known as AWS SSO, instead of hardcoding static access keys, as it generates short-lived temporary credentials that reduce security risks. The setup involves enabling IAM Identity Center from the AWS Management Console, creating a dedicated user and permission set, and retrieving the AWS access portal URL for SSO configuration. The author chose us-east-1 as the default AWS region and used AdministratorAccess for initial setup, while noting that production environments should use more restrictive custom permission sets. The guide emphasizes that proper authentication management is as critical as writing the infrastructure code itself.