aws

List S3 buckets

$ aws s3 ls

$ aws s3 cp [file.txt] s3://[bucket-name]/

$ aws ec2 describe-instances

$ aws sts get-caller-identity

$ aws lambda invoke --function-name [MyFunction] [output.json]

$ aws --profile [production] s3 ls

aws [options] service command [parameters]

aws is the unified command-line interface for Amazon Web Services. It provides direct access to AWS services including EC2, S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, and hundreds of others through a consistent interface.
The CLI enables automation, scripting, and management of AWS resources from the terminal without using the web console.

--profile name

Use specific AWS credentials profile

Override default region

Output format (json, text, table, yaml)

JMESPath query to filter output

Enable debug logging

Disable output paging

Override service endpoint

Disable SSL verification

~/.aws/credentials

Access keys and secret keys for named profiles.

Region, output format, and profile settings including role assumptions and SSO configuration.

- s3 - Object storage
- ec2 - Virtual servers
- lambda - Serverless functions
- dynamodb - NoSQL database
- iam - Identity and access management
- cloudformation - Infrastructure as code
- sts - Security token service
- logs - CloudWatch logs

Requires valid AWS credentials configured. API rate limits apply. Some operations are destructive and immediate. Large outputs may be truncated. Costs may apply for API calls. Use --dry-run when available.

The AWS CLI was released by Amazon in 2013 to provide a unified interface replacing multiple service-specific tools. Version 2 was released in 2020 with improved installation and features.

aws-configure(1), aws-vault(1), terraform(1)