The AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) is a unified tool to manage your AWS services. With just one tool to download and configure, you can control multiple AWS services from the command line and automate them through scripts.
AWS CLI lets you interact with AWS services directly from your terminal, enabling faster automation, scripting, and cloud resource management. Whether you’re setting up infrastructure, managing S3 buckets, or deploying applications, the AWS CLI is an essential part of any cloud or DevOps workflow. In this post, we’ll walk through the steps to install the AWS CLI on an Amazon EC2 instance (or any Linux server), so you can start managing your AWS environment efficiently from the command line.
🔧 Prerequisites
Before we begin, make sure you have the following:
- An active AWS account
- A running EC2 instance
- SSH access to your instance
🛠️Installation Guide
🖥️ Step 1: Connect to Your EC2 Instance
ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@your-ec2-public-ip
⚠️ Replace your-key.pem and your-ec2-public-ip with your actual key and instance IP.
📦 Step 2: Download Unzip
sudo apt update && sudo apt install unzip -y📦Step 3: Download the AWS CLI Installer, Unzip it & Run it
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install✅ Step 4: Verify Installation
aws --version🔐 Step 5: Configure AWS CLI
aws configureYou’ll be prompted to enter:
- AWS Access Key ID
- AWS Secret Access Key
- Default region name (e.g.,
us-east-1) - Output format (
json,table, ortext)
Once you have entered the information you are good to go.
📝 Conclusion
Installing the AWS CLI on an EC2 instance is a simple but essential step toward mastering cloud automation. Whether you’re scripting deployments, managing infrastructure, or exploring services, the CLI gives you full control over your AWS environment right from the terminal. Now that it’s installed and configured, you’re ready to streamline your AWS workflows with ease.