Use RAM to limit the period of time in which users are allowed to access Alibaba Cloud resources

Step 1: Create a custom policy

1. Log on to the RAM console by using your Alibaba Cloud account.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Permissions > Policies.
3. On the Policies page, click Create Policy.
4. On the Create Custom Policy page, specify the Policy Name and Note parameters.
5. Set Configuration Mode to Script and enter the following information.

   The following policy indicates that the authorized RAM user can access Alibaba Cloud ECS only before 17:00 on August 12, 2019 (UTC+8). In this case, the acs:CurrentTime parameter in Condition is set to 2019-08-12T17:00:00+08:00.

   {
     "Statement": [
       {
         "Action": "ecs:*",
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Resource": "*",
         "Condition": {
             "DateLessThan": {
                 "acs:CurrentTime": "2019-08-12T17:00:00+08:00"
             }
         }
       }
     ],
     "Version": "1"
   }

   Note The Condition element applies only to the actions specified for the current policy. You can change the value 2019-08-12T17:00:00+08:00 based on your business requirements.
6. Click OK.

Step 2: Create a RAM user

1. Log on to the RAM console by using your Alibaba Cloud account.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Identities > Users.
3. On the Users page, click Create User.
4. On the Create User page, specify Logon Name and Display Name in the User Account Information section.
   Note You can click Add User to create multiple RAM users at a time.
5. In the Access Mode section, select Console Access or Programmatic Access.
   • Console Access: If you select this access mode, you must complete the logon security settings. These settings specify whether to use a system-generated or custom logon password, whether the password must be reset on the next logon, and whether to enable multi-factor authentication (MFA).
     Note If you select Custom Logon Password in the Console Password section, you must specify a password. The password must meet the complexity requirements. For more information about the complexity requirements, see Configure the password policy for RAM users.
   • Programmatic Access: If you select this access mode, an AccessKey pair is automatically created for the RAM user. The RAM user can call API operations or use other development tools to access Alibaba Cloud resources.

   Note We recommend that you select only one access mode for the RAM user to ensure the security of your Alibaba Cloud account. This prevents the RAM user from using an AccessKey pair to access Alibaba Cloud resources after the RAM user leaves the organization.
6. Click OK.

Step 3: Attach the policy to the RAM user

Attach the policy that is created in Step 1 to the RAM user that is created in Step 2.

1. Log on to the RAM console by using your Alibaba Cloud account.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Identities > Users.
3. On the Users page, find the RAM user to which you want to grant permissions. Click Add Permissions in the Actions column.
4. In the Add Permissions panel, grant permissions to the RAM user.
   1. Select the authorization scope.
      • Alibaba Cloud Account: Permissions take effect on the current Alibaba Cloud account.
      • Specific Resource Group: Permissions take effect on a specific resource group.
        Note If you select Specific Resource Group as the authorization scope, you must make sure that the cloud service supports resource groups. For more information, see Alibaba Cloud services that support resource groups.
   2. Specify the principal.
      The principal is the RAM user to which permissions are granted. By default, the current RAM user is specified. You can also specify another RAM user.
   3. Select policies.
      Note You can bind a maximum of five policies to a RAM user at a time. If you need to bind more than five policies to a RAM user, perform the bind operation multiple times.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Complete.