Install AWS CLI

Install AWS CLI

AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) is available in two versions. To ensure a smooth experience, this guide covers the installation of AWS CLI v2 for Windows and Ubuntu, as it is simpler, more convenient, and feature-complete compared to v1.

  • AWS CLI version 1 (AWS CLI v1): The original AWS CLI, still supported by AWS.
  • AWS CLI version 2 (AWS CLI v2): The latest version supporting all the newest AWS features. Some features available in v2 are not supported in v1, so upgrading is necessary to use those features.
  1. Let’s begin by installing the AWS CLI on different platforms.
  • For Linux:
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install
  • For Windows:
msiexec.exe /i https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.msi
  • For MacOS:
sudo ln -s /folder/installed/aws-cli/aws /usr/local/bin/aws
sudo ln -s /folder/installed/aws-cli/aws_completer /usr/local/bin/aws_completer

AWS CLI

  1. Verify that AWS CLI is installed:
aws --version

AWS CLI

Create Default Profile

  1. Use the aws configure command to set up the AWS CLI. This is the fastest way to configure it. You will be prompted for the following details:

    • Access key ID
    • Secret access key
    • AWS Region
    • Output format (e.g., JSON)
aws configure

AWS Access Key ID [None]: *AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE*
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: *wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY*
Default region name [None]: *ap-southeast-1*
Default output format [None]: *json*

AWS CLI

The AWS CLI stores this information in a profile named default in the credentials file. This profile is used when no specific profile is specified.

Create Custom Profile

  1. To configure multiple profiles, create another profile (e.g., devops).
aws configure --profile devops

AWS CLI

The access key (Access Key ID and Secret Access Key) is used to authenticate requests to AWS.

  1. Verify that the profile is configured:

AWS CLI

Manage Multiple Profiles

  1. Check the configuration of CLI credentials:
cd ~/.aws/
ls
cat config

AWS CLI

  1. You can also verify the region for a specific profile:
aws configure get region --profile devops

AWS CLI

  1. List the current configuration:
aws configure list

AWS CLI

  1. List all profiles:
aws configure list-profiles

AWS CLI

You can add or edit profiles directly by editing the config and credentials files using a text editor.