The aws command is the official Command Line Interface (CLI) tool provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It serves as a unified interface to interact with various AWS services and resources from the command line. With the aws CLI, you can perform a wide range of tasks, including managing infrastructure, deploying applications, accessing data, and configuring services.
Here’s an overview of the aws CLI and its functionality:
- Unified Interface: The aws CLI offers a consistent and unified interface to interact with AWS services. It provides a set of commands and subcommands that correspond to different AWS services, allowing you to manage and configure those services through a single tool.
- Service Integration: The aws CLI integrates with a wide range of AWS services, including compute services (e.g., Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda), storage services (e.g., Amazon S3, Amazon EBS), database services (e.g., Amazon RDS, Amazon DynamoDB), networking services (e.g., Amazon VPC, Amazon Route 53), and many more.
- Authentication and Authorization: The aws CLI requires authentication to access AWS resources. You can configure your AWS access keys or use IAM roles to authenticate the CLI tool. The CLI also supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) for additional security.
- Command Structure: The aws CLI follows a structured command syntax. It consists of the main aws command followed by the service name and the desired subcommand. For example, aws ec2 describe-instances retrieves information about EC2 instances.
- Configurable Profiles: The aws CLI allows you to configure multiple profiles, each with its own set of AWS access keys and settings. This makes it convenient to switch between different AWS accounts or environments from the command line.
- Output Formatting: The aws CLI provides various options to control the output format, allowing you to retrieve data in JSON, text, or table format. You can customize the output to suit your needs, making it easier to parse and process the information returned by AWS services.
- Subcommand Documentation: Many AWS services have their own specific subcommands under the aws CLI. For example, aws s3 provides commands for interacting with Amazon S3, and aws ec2 offers commands for managing Amazon EC2 instances. Each subcommand typically has its own usage documentation, which can be accessed using the –help flag.
The aws CLI is a powerful tool that enables you to automate and manage your AWS resources efficiently from the command line. It provides a comprehensive set of commands to interact with various AWS services, allowing you to configure, deploy, and manage your infrastructure and applications with ease.
aws Command Examples
1. Configure the AWS Command-line:
# aws configure wizard
2. Configure the AWS Command-line using SSO:
# aws configure sso
3. See help text for the AWS command:
# aws command help
4. Get the caller identity (used to troubleshoot permissions):
# aws sts get-caller-identity
5. List AWS resources in a region and output in YAML:
# aws dynamodb list-tables --region us-east-1 --output yaml
6. Use auto prompt to help with a command:
# aws iam create-user --cli-auto-prompt
7. Get an interactive wizard for an AWS resource:
# aws dynamodb wizard new_table
8. Generate a JSON CLI Skeleton (useful for infrastructure as code):
# aws dynamodb update-table --generate-cli-skeleton