AWS CLI Cheat Sheet

Krishna Neupane

AWS CLI Cheat Sheet

Introduction to AWS CLI

The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a powerful tool to interact with AWS services, enabling scripting and automation for efficient cloud management.

  • Purpose: Manage AWS services, automate tasks, and script operations.

Configuration and Setup

Configure AWS CLI

  • aws configure
  • Sets up AWS credentials (Access Key, Secret Key) and default region.

View Configuration

  • aws configure list
  • Lists the current AWS CLI configuration settings.

Using Profiles

  • aws configure --profile [profile_name]
  • Configure multiple profiles for different AWS accounts or roles.

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)

List S3 Buckets

  • aws s3 ls
  • Lists all S3 buckets in the account.

Create S3 Bucket

  • aws s3 mb s3://[bucket-name]
  • Creates a new S3 bucket.

Copy Files to/from S3

  • aws s3 cp [local_path] s3://[bucket-name]/[object]
  • aws s3 cp s3://[bucket-name]/[object] [local_path]
  • Copies files to or from S3.

Sync Local Directory with S3

  • aws s3 sync [local_path] s3://[bucket-name]
  • Synchronizes contents of a local directory with an S3 bucket.

EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

List EC2 Instances

  • aws ec2 describe-instances
  • Displays information about EC2 instances.

Start/Stop EC2 Instances

  • aws ec2 start-instances --instance-ids [instance_id]
  • aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids [instance_id]
  • Starts or stops specified EC2 instances.

Create EC2 Key Pair

  • aws ec2 create-key-pair --key-name [key_name]
  • Creates a new key pair for EC2 instances.

Launch EC2 Instance

  • aws ec2 run-instances --image-id [ami_id] --count [number] --instance-type [type] --key-name [key_name]
  • Launches a specified number of EC2 instances.

Terminate EC2 Instance

  • aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids [instance_id]
  • Terminates specified EC2 instances.

IAM (Identity and Access Management)

List IAM Users

  • aws iam list-users
  • Lists all IAM users in the AWS account.

Create IAM User

  • aws iam create-user --user-name [username]
  • Creates a new IAM user.

Attach Policy to User

  • aws iam attach-user-policy --policy-arn [policy_arn] --user-name [username]
  • Attaches a managed policy to an IAM user.

Create IAM Role

  • aws iam create-role --role-name [role_name] --assume-role-policy-document [policy_json]
  • Creates a new IAM role with specified trust relationships.

Networking with VPC

Describe VPCs

  • aws ec2 describe-vpcs
  • Lists all VPCs in the account.

Create VPC

  • aws ec2 create-vpc --cidr-block [cidr_block]
  • Creates a new VPC with the specified CIDR block.

Create Subnet

  • aws ec2 create-subnet --vpc-id [vpc_id] --cidr-block [cidr_block]
  • Creates a subnet in a specified VPC.

Create Internet Gateway

  • aws ec2 create-internet-gateway
  • Creates an internet gateway for VPC.

Attach Internet Gateway to VPC

  • aws ec2 attach-internet-gateway --internet-gateway-id [igw_id] --vpc-id [vpc_id]
  • Attaches an internet gateway to a VPC.

AWS Lambda

List Lambda Functions

  • aws lambda list-functions
  • Lists AWS Lambda functions in the account.

Create Lambda Function

  • aws lambda create-function --function-name [name] --runtime [runtime] --role [role_arn] --handler [handler] --zip-file fileb://[file_path]
  • Creates a new Lambda function.

Invoke Lambda Function

  • aws lambda invoke --function-name [name] --payload [payload] [output_file]
  • Invokes a Lambda function with specified payload.

Update Lambda Function Code

  • aws lambda update-function-code --function-name [name] --zip-file fileb://[file_path]
  • Updates the code of an existing Lambda function.

AWS RDS (Relational Database Service)

List RDS Instances

  • aws rds describe-db-instances
  • Lists all RDS instances in the account.

Create RDS Instance

  • aws rds create-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [id] --allocated-storage [size] --db-instance-class [class] --engine [engine] --master-username [username] --master-user-password [password]
  • Creates a new RDS database instance.

Delete RDS Instance

  • aws rds delete-db-instance --db-instance-identifier [id] --skip-final-snapshot
  • Deletes an RDS database instance.

Tips for Using AWS CLI

  • Scripting and Automation: Integrate AWS CLI commands into scripts for automation of AWS services.
  • Output Formatting: Use the --output option to format the CLI output as json, text, or table.
  • Version Update: Regularly update AWS CLI to the latest version for new features and improvements.
  • Help and Documentation: Use aws [service] [command] help for detailed information and examples.

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