aws

Unified command-line interface for Amazon Web Services

TLDR

List S3 buckets

$ aws s3 ls

Upload file to S3

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

List EC2 instances

$ aws ec2 describe-instances

Get caller identity

$ aws sts get-caller-identity

Invoke Lambda function

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

Use specific profile

$ aws --profile [production] s3 ls

Configure AWS credentials

$ aws configure

Filter output with JMESPath query

$ aws ec2 describe-instances --query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId,State.Name]" --output table

SYNOPSIS

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.

PARAMETERS

--profile name

Use specific AWS credentials profile

--region region

Override default region

--output format

Output format (json, text, table, yaml)

--query query

JMESPath query to filter output

--debug

Enable debug logging

--no-cli-pager

Disable output paging

--endpoint-url url

Override service endpoint

--no-verify-ssl

Disable SSL verification

CONFIGURATION

~/.aws/credentials

Access keys and secret keys for named profiles.

~/.aws/config

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

COMMON SERVICES

- 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

CAVEATS

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.

HISTORY

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