What is the AWS CLI?

|
The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is for managing your AWS services from a
terminal session on your own client, allowing you to control and configure multiple
AWS services and implement a level of automation.

If you’ve been using AWS for some time and feel comfortable clicking your way
through all the services, you may have noticed that there’s more to AWS than the
default eye-catching browser console. Using the AWS CLI can help you to unlock
further potential when managing your AWS environment. The AWS CLI is a unified tool
to manage your AWS services from a terminal session on your own client. With just
one tool to download and configure, you can control multiple AWS services from the
command line and automate them through scripts.

In this blog, I will show you how to use the AWS CLI and how to install it on your
Windows, Linux, Mac, or Unix Operating System. To see the process to configure the
AWS CLI in action, check out our beginner Introduction to the AWS CLI Hands-on Lab.
During this Lab, you’ll learn how to configure the AWS CLI, leverage the built-in
help tool, and set up an S3 website using the AWS CLI. The more you use the AWS
CLI, the more you’ll see how powerful it is.

Cloud Academy AWS CLI LabAWI CLI Lab

Downloading and installing the AWS CLI
First, you need to download the AWS CLI. Depending on your operating system, it
will require a different method.

Linux / macOS / Unix

Prerequisites:

You must ensure that you have at least Python 2 version 2.6.5+ or Python 3 version
3.3+ installed. To verify your current version, run the command:

python --version
Installation:

The recommendation for installing the AWS CLI is to use the bundled installer
provided by AWS. The bundled installer includes all dependencies required for the
installation.

1. To begin the installation run the following command:

curl "https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-cli/awscli-bundle.zip" -o "awscli-bundle.zip"

2. Next, you must unzip the downloaded package from step 1:

unzip awscli-bundle.zip
3. Once the package in unzipped, you can run the installation:

sudo ./awscli-bundle/install -i /usr/local/aws -b /usr/local/bin/aws

Using the -b option allows all users to use the AWS CLI from any directory, meaning
you will not need to specify the install directory in the user’s $PATH variable.

Windows
Prerequisites:

You must be running Microsoft Windows XP or later.

Installation:

There are three MSI installers to choose from:

64-bit version
32-bit version
A CLI Setup file that will automatically detect what you are running and install
the appropriate version (64-bit or 32-bit)
1. Select the option required to download the MSI

2. Run the downloaded MSI installer or the CLI setup file, as required

3. Follow the instructions that appear

Once installed, the program files will be stored as shown:

64-bit version

C:\Program Files\Amazon\AWSCLI
32-bit version

C:\Program Files (x86)\Amazon\AWSCLI

To confirm the installation, use the aws –version command at a command prompt.

Simple configuration of the AWS CLI

Once you have installed the AWS CLI, you now need to configure the application to
be able to connect to your AWS account. To do so, enter the following from your
command prompt:

aws configure
Through aws configure, the AWS CLI will prompt you for four pieces of information.
The first two are required. These are your AWS access key ID and AWS secret access
key, which serve as your account credentials. You can generate new credentials
within AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) if you do not already have them.
The other information you will need is region and output format, which you can
leave as default for the time being.

aws configure
AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
Default region name [None]: us-west-2
Default output format [None]: json
The default region name simply defines the Region where you requests will be sent
to. For all available regions, please see the following: Regions and Endpoints.

The default output format specifies how the results are formatted. Values that can
be used here include:

json
text
table
The AWS access key ID and AWS secret access key are used to authenticate your AWS
account. This authorizes you to carry out specific tasks and functions as defined
by your permissions level.

The AWS access key ID is made up of 20 random uppercase alphanumeric characters,

such as the one displayed on screen.

The AWS secret access key is made up of 40 random upper and lowercase alphanumeric
and non-alphanumeric characters as displayed.

These access keys can be created for any IAM user who requires authentication from
a programmatic perspective, such as when using the AWS CLI.