💫EMR SaaS Installation

Summary

This guide shows how to grant DataFlint read-only access to Amazon EMR metadata via cross-account IAM role assumption. It applies to EMR on EC2, EMR Serverless, and EMR on EKS (IAM called this "EMR Containers").

For the broader SaaS threat model and stability notes, see SaaS Security & Stability.

You will:

Create a dedicated IAM role in your AWS account.
Add a trust policy that allows the DataFlint service role to assume it.
Attach a minimal read-only policy for EMR / EMR Containers APIs.
Share the role ARN + regions with DataFlint.

The entire process should take a few minutes.

You need to repeat this per AWS account you want DataFlint to read from.

Cross-account roles must use an External ID. Ask DataFlint for your CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID and the DataFlint AWS account details.

What DataFlint needs

Send DataFlint:

Role ARN you created (one per AWS account).
Region(s) where you run EMR (and/or EMR on EKS / EMR Containers).
The role name (optional, helps troubleshooting).

How it works

DataFlint assumes the role you create and calls read-only EMR APIs to:

Discover clusters / virtual clusters.
List and describe job runs and steps.
Fetch application UI links when applicable (read-only).

AWS classifies a few EMR “UI helper” APIs as write actions (for example elasticmapreduce:CreatePersistentAppUI). DataFlint uses them only to generate read-only UI access links.

Required IAM permissions (minimal)

Use a dedicated policy attached to the role. This is the minimal set we currently require for EMR + EMR Containers read access:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "AllowEmrContainersBasicAccess",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "emr-containers:ListVirtualClusters",
        "emr-containers:DescribeVirtualCluster",
        "emr-containers:ListJobRuns",
        "emr-containers:DescribeJobRun",
        "elasticmapreduce:CreatePersistentAppUI",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribePersistentAppUI",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetPersistentAppUIPresignedURL",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeCluster",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeEditor",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeJobFlows",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeSecurityConfiguration",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeStep",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeReleaseLabel",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetBlockPublicAccessConfiguration",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetManagedScalingPolicy",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetAutoTerminationPolicy",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListBootstrapActions",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListClusters",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListEditors",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceFleets",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceGroups",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstances",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSecurityConfigurations",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSteps",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSupportedInstanceTypes",
        "elasticmapreduce:ViewEventsFromAllClustersInConsole"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

If you want to scope down further (by region, tags, or resource ARNs), tell us your constraints and we’ll help tighten it.

Installation

Pick one method. All methods create the same resources.

Step 1: Create the IAM policy

Open IAM → Policies.
Click Create policy.
Choose JSON.
Paste the minimal policy from Required IAM permissions.
Click Next.
Policy name: DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly
Create the policy.

Step 2: Create the IAM role

Open IAM → Roles.
Click Create role.
Trusted entity type: AWS account.
Select Another AWS account.
Account ID: DATAFLINT_ACCOUNT_ID (get it from DataFlint).
Enable Require external ID.
External ID: CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID (get it from DataFlint).
In Add permissions, attach DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly.
Role name: dataflint-emr-read-only-role
Create the role.

Step 3: Update the trust policy (Principal role)

In some accounts, the UI creates the trust policy with the root principal. We require the DataFlint service role principal instead.

Open the new role.
Go to Trust relationships → Edit trust policy.
Use this trust policy (replace placeholders):

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::DATAFLINT_ACCOUNT_ID:role/eks-dataflint-service-role"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "sts:ExternalId": "CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Step 4: Copy the role ARN

Open the role summary and copy the ARN. You’ll share it with DataFlint.

Prerequisites

AWS CLI v2 installed
Logged in to the target AWS account

aws sts get-caller-identity

Create the trust policy file

trust-policy.json

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::DATAFLINT_ACCOUNT_ID:role/eks-dataflint-service-role"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "sts:ExternalId": "CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Create the permissions policy file

permissions-policy.json

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "AllowEmrContainersBasicAccess",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "emr-containers:ListVirtualClusters",
        "emr-containers:DescribeVirtualCluster",
        "emr-containers:ListJobRuns",
        "emr-containers:DescribeJobRun",
        "elasticmapreduce:CreatePersistentAppUI",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribePersistentAppUI",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetPersistentAppUIPresignedURL",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeCluster",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeEditor",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeJobFlows",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeSecurityConfiguration",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeStep",
        "elasticmapreduce:DescribeReleaseLabel",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetBlockPublicAccessConfiguration",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetManagedScalingPolicy",
        "elasticmapreduce:GetAutoTerminationPolicy",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListBootstrapActions",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListClusters",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListEditors",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceFleets",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceGroups",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListInstances",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSecurityConfigurations",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSteps",
        "elasticmapreduce:ListSupportedInstanceTypes",
        "elasticmapreduce:ViewEventsFromAllClustersInConsole"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Create role + policy and attach

Replace placeholders before running:

DATAFLINT_ACCOUNT_ID
CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID

ROLE_NAME="dataflint-emr-read-only-role"
POLICY_NAME="DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly"

aws iam create-role \
  --role-name "${ROLE_NAME}" \
  --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json \
  --description "Role for DataFlint to access EMR in read-only mode"

POLICY_ARN="$(aws iam create-policy \
  --policy-name "${POLICY_NAME}" \
  --policy-document file://permissions-policy.json \
  --query 'Policy.Arn' \
  --output text)"

aws iam attach-role-policy \
  --role-name "${ROLE_NAME}" \
  --policy-arn "${POLICY_ARN}"

aws iam get-role --role-name "${ROLE_NAME}" --query 'Role.Arn' --output text

If your org mandates a permissions boundary or specific tags, add them at create-role.

Terraform example

This creates:

an IAM role dataflint-emr-read-only-role
a minimal read-only IAM policy for EMR / EMR Containers
the trust policy with sts:ExternalId

main.tf

terraform {
  required_version = ">= 1.0"
  required_providers {
    aws = {
      source  = "hashicorp/aws"
      version = "~> 5.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "aws" {}

variable "dataflint_account_id" {
  description = "AWS account ID of DataFlint (provided by DataFlint)"
  type        = string
  default     = "975050001706"
}

variable "customer_external_id" {
  description = "External ID (provided by DataFlint)"
  type        = string
  sensitive   = true
}

variable "dataflint_service_role_name" {
  description = "Role name in the DataFlint account that will assume this role"
  type        = string
  default     = "eks-dataflint-service-role"
}

resource "aws_iam_role" "dataflint_emr_read_only" {
  name        = "dataflint-emr-read-only-role"
  description = "Role for DataFlint to access EMR / EMR Containers in read-only mode"

  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          AWS = "arn:aws:iam::${var.dataflint_account_id}:role/${var.dataflint_service_role_name}"
        }
        Action = "sts:AssumeRole"
        Condition = {
          StringEquals = {
            "sts:ExternalId" = var.customer_external_id
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  })

  tags = {
    Name      = "dataflint-emr-read-only-role"
    Purpose   = "DataFlint EMR Integration"
    ManagedBy = "Terraform"
  }
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "emr_containers_read_only" {
  name        = "DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly"
  description = "Policy granting read-only access to EMR / EMR Containers for DataFlint"

  policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Sid    = "AllowEmrContainersBasicAccess"
        Effect = "Allow"
        Action = [
          "emr-containers:ListVirtualClusters",
          "emr-containers:DescribeVirtualCluster",
          "emr-containers:ListJobRuns",
          "emr-containers:DescribeJobRun",
          "elasticmapreduce:CreatePersistentAppUI",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribePersistentAppUI",
          "elasticmapreduce:GetPersistentAppUIPresignedURL",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeCluster",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeEditor",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeJobFlows",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeSecurityConfiguration",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeStep",
          "elasticmapreduce:DescribeReleaseLabel",
          "elasticmapreduce:GetBlockPublicAccessConfiguration",
          "elasticmapreduce:GetManagedScalingPolicy",
          "elasticmapreduce:GetAutoTerminationPolicy",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListBootstrapActions",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListClusters",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListEditors",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceFleets",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceGroups",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListInstances",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListSecurityConfigurations",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListSteps",
          "elasticmapreduce:ListSupportedInstanceTypes",
          "elasticmapreduce:ViewEventsFromAllClustersInConsole"
        ]
        Resource = "*"
      }
    ]
  })

  tags = {
    Name      = "DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly"
    Purpose   = "DataFlint EMR Integration"
    ManagedBy = "Terraform"
  }
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "dataflint_emr_policy_attachment" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.dataflint_emr_read_only.name
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.emr_containers_read_only.arn
}

output "role_arn" {
  description = "Provide this ARN to DataFlint"
  value       = aws_iam_role.dataflint_emr_read_only.arn
}

Apply

terraform init
terraform apply

CloudFormation template

This stack creates a role + inline policy. It requires CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM.

dataflint-emr-read-only-role.yaml

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09"
Description: "DataFlint - EMR / EMR Containers read-only cross-account role"

Parameters:
  RoleName:
    Type: String
    Default: dataflint-emr-read-only-role
    Description: "Name of the IAM role to create"

  DataflintAccountId:
    Type: String
    Default: "975050001706"
    Description: "AWS account ID of DataFlint"

  DataflintServiceRoleName:
    Type: String
    Default: eks-dataflint-service-role
    Description: "Role name in the DataFlint account that will assume this role"

  CustomerExternalId:
    Type: String
    NoEcho: true
    Description: "External ID (provided by DataFlint)"

Resources:
  DataflintEmrReadOnlyRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      RoleName: !Ref RoleName
      Description: "Role for DataFlint to access EMR / EMR Containers in read-only mode"
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: "2012-10-17"
        Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Principal:
              AWS: !Sub "arn:aws:iam::${DataflintAccountId}:role/${DataflintServiceRoleName}"
            Action: "sts:AssumeRole"
            Condition:
              StringEquals:
                sts:ExternalId: !Ref CustomerExternalId
      Policies:
        - PolicyName: DataflintEmrContainersReadOnly
          PolicyDocument:
            Version: "2012-10-17"
            Statement:
              - Sid: AllowEmrContainersBasicAccess
                Effect: Allow
                Action:
                  - emr-containers:ListVirtualClusters
                  - emr-containers:DescribeVirtualCluster
                  - emr-containers:ListJobRuns
                  - emr-containers:DescribeJobRun
                  - elasticmapreduce:CreatePersistentAppUI
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribePersistentAppUI
                  - elasticmapreduce:GetPersistentAppUIPresignedURL
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeCluster
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeEditor
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeJobFlows
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeSecurityConfiguration
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeStep
                  - elasticmapreduce:DescribeReleaseLabel
                  - elasticmapreduce:GetBlockPublicAccessConfiguration
                  - elasticmapreduce:GetManagedScalingPolicy
                  - elasticmapreduce:GetAutoTerminationPolicy
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListBootstrapActions
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListClusters
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListEditors
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceFleets
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListInstanceGroups
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListInstances
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListSecurityConfigurations
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListSteps
                  - elasticmapreduce:ListSupportedInstanceTypes
                  - elasticmapreduce:ViewEventsFromAllClustersInConsole
                Resource: "*"

Outputs:
  RoleArn:
    Description: "Provide this ARN to DataFlint"
    Value: !GetAtt DataflintEmrReadOnlyRole.Arn

Deploy via Console

Open CloudFormation → Create stack.
Upload the template file.
Fill:
- DataflintAccountId
- CustomerExternalId
Create stack.

Deploy via AWS CLI

aws cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name dataflint-emr-read-only \
  --template-body file://dataflint-emr-read-only-role.yaml \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM \
  --parameters \
    ParameterKey=DataflintAccountId,ParameterValue=DATAFLINT_ACCOUNT_ID \
    ParameterKey=CustomerExternalId,ParameterValue=CUSTOMER_EXTERNAL_ID \
    ParameterKey=RoleName,ParameterValue=dataflint-emr-read-only-role

Validate the setup (recommended)

You can validate that the role exists and has the expected policies attached.

aws iam get-role --role-name dataflint-emr-read-only-role
aws iam list-attached-role-policies --role-name dataflint-emr-read-only-role

You can also validate permissions using IAM simulation:

ROLE_ARN="$(aws iam get-role --role-name dataflint-emr-read-only-role --query 'Role.Arn' --output text)"

aws iam simulate-principal-policy \
  --policy-source-arn "${ROLE_ARN}" \
  --action-names emr-containers:ListVirtualClusters elasticmapreduce:ListClusters \
  --output text

Send the details to DataFlint

Share over your approved secure channel:

Role ARN
Regions for EMR / EMR Containers

Last updated 2 days ago

hashtagSummary

hashtagWhat DataFlint needs

hashtagHow it works

hashtagRequired IAM permissions (minimal)

hashtagInstallation

hashtagStep 1: Create the IAM policy

hashtagStep 2: Create the IAM role

hashtagStep 3: Update the trust policy (Principal role)

hashtagStep 4: Copy the role ARN

hashtagPrerequisites

hashtagCreate the trust policy file

hashtagCreate the permissions policy file

hashtagCreate role + policy and attach

hashtagTerraform example

hashtagApply

hashtagCloudFormation template

hashtagDeploy via Console

hashtagDeploy via AWS CLI

hashtagValidate the setup (recommended)

hashtagSend the details to DataFlint

Summary

What DataFlint needs

How it works

Required IAM permissions (minimal)

Installation

Step 1: Create the IAM policy

Step 2: Create the IAM role

Step 3: Update the trust policy (Principal role)

Step 4: Copy the role ARN

Prerequisites

Create the trust policy file

Create the permissions policy file

Create role + policy and attach

Terraform example

Apply

CloudFormation template

Deploy via Console

Deploy via AWS CLI

Validate the setup (recommended)

Send the details to DataFlint