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AWS CLI Hands-On

In which we start to use the AWS CLI

Key takeaways​

  • Access Key Creation: The lecture starts by explaining how to create access keys in the AWS Management Console, emphasizing the importance of understanding how these keys function for accessing the CLI.
    • To create access keys, click on your username and go to Security credentials. Scroll down to Access Keys and Click Create access key.
    • Select one of the use cases for the access key. In this case, I choose CLI, AWS is going to have alternatives recommended. For example, for the CLI, it says to use AWS CLI V2 and the aws login command. It also recommends to use AWS CloudShell which we will cover in the next lecture.
    • After creating the access key, you will be provided with an Access key ID and a Secret access key. It is crucial to copy and save these keys securely, as the secret access key will not be shown again for security reasons. If you lose it, you will need to create a new access key.
  • CLI Configuration: You need to configure the AWS CLI using the aws configure command by providing the access key ID, secret access key, default region, and output format. I use ap-southeast-2 as it is the closest region to me, but you can choose any region you prefer. Now the CLI is configured and ready to use.
  • Listing Users: To list users in the AWS account using the command aws iam list-users, highlighting the consistency of information retrieval through both the CLI and Management Console. Console vs CLI
  • Permission Management: Maarek illustrates how removing permissions from a user affect their ability to perform actions in the CLI. For example, taking the Rendy user out of the admin group results in a denial permission when trying to list users.
  • IAM Permission Consistency: Both the management console and CLI enforce the same IAM permission sets, meaning changes in permissions impact access across both interfaces. Permission consistency