AWS CLI Installation

Install and configure the AWS Command Line Interface

💵 Cost: The AWS CLI tool is FREE to install and use. You only pay for the AWS services you interact with.

What is the AWS CLI?

The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a tool that lets you control AWS services from your terminal. Instead of clicking around in the web console, you can run commands like aws s3 ls to list your S3 buckets.

Installation

On Mac, the easiest way is using Homebrew. If you dont have Homebrew, install it first from brew.sh.

Terminal
$brew install awscli

For Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2/M3/M4), also install Rosetta 2 for compatibility:

Terminal
$softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

Verify Installation

Terminal
$aws --version
aws-cli/2.15.0 Python/3.11.6 Darwin/23.0.0 exe/x86_64 prompt/off

Configure Your Credentials

Now connect the CLI to your AWS account using the access keys you created earlier:

Terminal
$aws configure

Youll be prompted to enter four pieces of information:

Plain Text
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

Choosing a Region

We recommend ap-southeast-1 (Singapore) for users in Asia-Pacific. Other popular regions:

  • us-east-1 - N. Virginia (most services available)
  • us-west-2 - Oregon
  • eu-west-1 - Ireland

Test Your Configuration

Verify everything works by listing your S3 buckets:

Terminal
$aws sts get-caller-identity
{
    "UserId": "AIDAEXAMPLEUSERID",
    "Account": "123456789012",
    "Arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/dev-user-fargate"
}

Success!

If you see your account ID and user ARN, your CLI is configured correctly!

Where Are Credentials Stored?

The CLI stores your credentials in:

  • Mac/Linux: ~/.aws/credentials
  • Windows: C:\Users\USERNAME\.aws\credentials

You can have multiple profiles for different AWS accounts. The default profile is used when you dont specify one.

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