Amazon Web Services - AWS Command Line Interface

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The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) is an open source tool that enables you to interact with AWS services using commands in your command-line shell. With minimal configuration, the AWS CLI enables you to start running commands that implement functionality equivalent to that provided by the browser-based AWS Management Console from the command prompt in your favorite terminal program:

The AWS CLI is available in two versions and information in this guide applies to both versions unless stated otherwise.

All IaaS (infrastructure as a service) AWS administration, management, and access functions in the AWS Management Console are available in the AWS API and CLI. New AWS IaaS features and services provide full AWS Management Console functionality through the API and CLI at launch or within 180 days of launch.

The AWS CLI provides direct access to the public APIs of AWS services. You can explore a service's capabilities with the AWS CLI, and develop shell scripts to manage your resources. Or, you can take what you learn to develop programs in other languages by using the AWS SDKs. In addition to the low-level, API-equivalent commands, several AWS services provide customizations for the AWS CLI. Customizations can include higher-level commands that simplify using a service with a complex API.

In addition to this guide, the following are valuable online resources for the AWS CLI.

The examples in this guide are formatted using the following conventions:

For example, the following command includes user input, replaceable text, and output. To use this example, enter aws configure at the command line, and then press Enter . The AWS CLI outputs lines of text, prompting you to enter additional information. Enter each of your access keys in turn, and then press Enter . Then, enter an AWS Region name in the format shown, press Enter , and then press Enter a final time to skip the output format setting. The final Enter command is shown as replaceable text because there is no user input for that line.

The following example shows a simple command with output. To use this example, enter the full text of the command (the highlighted text after the prompt), and then press Enter . The name of the security group, my-sg, is replaceable to your desired security group name. The JSON document, including the curly braces, is output. If you configure your CLI to output in text or table format, the output will be formatted differently. JSON is the default output format.

Note

Arguments that must be replaced (such as AWS Access Key ID ), and those that should be replaced (such as group name ), are both shown as replaceable text in italics. If an argument must be replaced, it's noted in the text that describes the example.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a collection of digital infrastructure services that developers can leverage when developing their applications. The services include computing, storage, database, and application synchronization (messaging and queuing). AWS uses a pay-as-you-go service model. You are charged only for the services that youor your applicationsuse. Also, to make AWS more approachable as a platform for prototyping and experimentation, AWS offers a free usage tier. On this tier, services are free below a certain level of usage. For more information about AWS costs and the Free Tier, see Test-Driving AWS in the Free Usage Tier. To obtain an AWS account, open the AWS home page and then click Sign Up .