Amazon Directory Service

AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory, also known as AWS Managed Microsoft AD, enables your directory-aware workloads and AWS resources to use managed Active Directory in AWS. It provides a fully managed, highly available Microsoft Active Directory in the AWS Cloud, with features including trust relationships, domain controllers, LDAPS, and multi-account directory sharing.

• URL: https://aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/
• Run:

Tags: Active Directory, Authentication, AWS, Directory Services, Identity Management

Created: 2026-03-16 | Modified: 2026-04-19

APIs

• AWS Directory Service API - Provides programmatic access to create and manage directories, trusts, snapshots, and domain controllers for Microsoft Active Directory in the AWS Cloud.
  • Base URL: https://ds.amazonaws.com
  • Version: 2015-04-16
  • OpenAPI: amazon-directory-service-openapi.yaml

Common Properties

Property	URL
Documentation	https://docs.aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/latest/devguide/what_is.html
Getting Started	https://aws.amazon.com/directoryservice/getting-started/
Terms of Service	https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/
Privacy Policy	https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/
Sign Up	https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup
GitHub Organization	https://github.com/aws
Status Page	https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status

Features

Feature	Description
Managed Microsoft AD	Fully managed AWS Managed Microsoft Active Directory with automatic patching and monitoring
Simple AD	Standalone managed directory powered by Samba 4 for basic AD functionality
AD Connector	Proxy service for connecting AWS applications to existing on-premises AD
Trust Relationships	One-way and two-way trust relationships between AWS and on-premises directories
Multi-Region Replication	Replicate your AWS Managed Microsoft AD across multiple AWS Regions
Directory Sharing	Share a single directory across multiple AWS accounts and VPCs

Use Cases

Use Case	Description
Hybrid Identity	Extend on-premises Active Directory into AWS for unified identity management
Workload Authentication	Enable Windows and Linux workloads to join and authenticate against managed AD
AWS Application Integration	Use managed AD for AWS WorkSpaces, RDS, and other AD-aware services
LDAPS Encryption	Secure LDAP communications with certificates for compliance requirements
Disaster Recovery	Use directory snapshots for point-in-time recovery of directory data

Integrations

Integration	Description
Amazon WorkSpaces	Join WorkSpaces desktops to managed AD for enterprise desktop management
Amazon RDS	Enable Windows Authentication for SQL Server RDS instances via managed AD
AWS IAM Identity Center	Use managed AD as identity source for centralized access management
AWS CloudTrail	Audit all Directory Service API calls for compliance and security monitoring
Amazon SNS	Receive directory event notifications via SNS topic subscriptions

Artifacts

OpenAPI

Name	Description	File
AWS Directory Service OpenAPI	OpenAPI 3.x specification for the AWS Directory Service API	amazon-directory-service-openapi.yaml

JSON Schema

Schema	Description	File
DirectoryDescription	Full description of a managed directory	amazon-directory-service-directory-description-schema.json
Trust	A trust relationship between directories	amazon-directory-service-trust-schema.json
Snapshot	A point-in-time snapshot of a directory	amazon-directory-service-snapshot-schema.json
Certificate	A certificate registered for directory authentication	amazon-directory-service-certificate-schema.json
IpRouteInfo	An IP route entry for directory traffic	amazon-directory-service-ip-route-info-schema.json
ConditionalForwarder	A DNS conditional forwarder for a directory	amazon-directory-service-conditional-forwarder-schema.json

JSON Structure

Schema	Description	File
DirectoryDescription	JSON Structure for DirectoryDescription	amazon-directory-service-directory-description-structure.json
Trust	JSON Structure for Trust	amazon-directory-service-trust-structure.json
Snapshot	JSON Structure for Snapshot	amazon-directory-service-snapshot-structure.json

JSON-LD

Name	Description	File
Amazon Directory Service Context	JSON-LD 1.1 context for Amazon Directory Service types and properties	amazon-directory-service-context.jsonld

Capabilities

Shared API Definitions

Name	Description	File
Amazon Directory Service API	Shared Naftiko capability definition for Directory Service API operations	directory-service-api.yaml

Workflows

Workflow	Description	Tools	Personas	File
Active Directory Management	End-to-end Active Directory lifecycle management using Amazon Directory Service	14	Identity Engineer, Cloud Architect	active-directory-management.yaml

Vocabulary

Name	Description	File
Amazon Directory Service Vocabulary	Unified taxonomy mapping operational and capability dimensions	amazon-directory-service-vocabulary.yaml

Rules

Name	Description	File
Amazon Directory Service Spectral Rules	Spectral governance rules for AWS Directory Service API quality	amazon-directory-service-spectral-rules.yml

Maintainers

• Kin Lane - kin@apievangelist.com