Refer to the following guide to learn how to use IAM in the cloud\
<https://scribehow.com/shared/Creating_an_IAM_User_and_User_Group_in_AWS_Management_Console__hWNiiXlcRJKFqYZZEJD-cg>

Sign in to **AWS Management Console** as an **IAM User**

**Pre-requisite** - Ensure you have selected the AWS region closest to your location\
For this guide, we will be using us-east-2 (Ohio) as a preferred choice

Type **EC2** in the search bar and click on **EC2** to view the EC2 Dashboard

**What is EC2 in AWS?**

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows users to rent virtual servers, known as instances, on which they can run their own applications. EC2 provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud, making it easy to scale computing resources up or down based on demand.

On the EC2 dashboard click on **Lifecycle Manager** from the left bar to view the Lifecycle Manager dashboard

**What is Lifecycle Manager in AWS?**

It is a service that helps you streamline the management of backups for your AWS resources. It focuses primarily on Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) snapshots and EBS-backed Amazon Machine Images (AMIs).

On the **Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager** page, select the **Custom policy** radio button and click on the **Next** button

**Specify settings** wizard will open, select the **Volume** radio button and provide a Target resource tags

**What are Target resources?**

Target resources define the specific AWS assets you want to manage using DLM policies. DLM currently supports two primary resource types:

- **Volume:** DLM creates regular EBS snapshots (point-in-time backups) of the selected EBS volumes.

- **Instance:** DLM creates EBS-backed AMIs (Amazon Machine Images) of the entire EC2 instance. This includes all attached EBS volumes.

**What are Target resource tags?**

These tags are key-value pairs you can apply to your AWS resources (EBS volumes, EC2 instances, etc.). They help organize, categorize, and search for resources.

Scroll to the **Description** section and provide the **Policy description** in text input field

Scroll to the **IAM role** section and select the option **Default role**

Scroll to the **Policy status** section, select the **Enabled radio button** and click on the **Next** button to create a Lifecycle Manager

**What is Policy status?**

The Policy status indicates whether your lifecycle policy is active or inactive

Congratulations on completing the lab for creating a lifecycle manager!

In conclusion, we've explored various aspects of managing Amazon EBS volumes and snapshots. By leveraging snapshot features and tools like Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager, users can ensure data availability, security, and cost-effectiveness within the AWS ecosystem.

Amazon Web Services

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) and its scenarios with snapshots.

Reviewing Amazon EBS - Scenarios with Snapshots