Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
User Guide (API Version 2013-02-01)
AWS Documentation » Amazon EC2 » User Guide » Setting Up the Amazon EC2 Command Line Interface Tools
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Setting Up the Amazon EC2 Command Line Interface Tools

The Amazon EC2 command line interface tools (also called the CLI tools) wrap the Amazon EC2 API actions. These tools are written in Java and include shell scripts for both Windows and Linux/UNIX/Mac OSX.

Before you can use the Amazon EC2 CLI tools, you need to download them and configure them to use your AWS account.

Complete the following tasks to set up your Amazon EC2 environment:

Topics

For a detailed reference guide that describes the commands, see the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Command Line Reference.

Download the Command Line Interface Tools

The CLI tools are available as a ZIP file on this site: Amazon EC2 CLI Tools. The ZIP file is self-contained; no installation is required. You can simply download the file and unzip it.

Optional step before you unzip: For detailed information about authenticating the download before unzipping the file, see Verify the Signature of the Tools Download.

Some additional setup is required before you can use the CLI tools. These steps are discussed next.

Downloading an SSH Client

To connect to a Linux instance, you'll need an SSH client. Most Linux and UNIX installations include an SSH client by default. If yours doesn't, the OpenSSH project provides a free implementation of the full suite of SSH tools. For more information, see http://www.openssh.org.

Windows users can download and install PuTTY, a free SSH client. To download the client and installation instructions, go to http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/. For information about how to use PuTTY with Amazon EC2, see Connecting to Linux/UNIX Instances from Windows Using PuTTY.

Downloading a Remote Desktop Client

To connect to a Windows instance, you'll need a Remote Desktop client. The most recent versions of Windows include a Remote Desktop client by default. To check whether you have one, open a Command Prompt window and type mstsc. If this command displays the Remote Desktop Connection window, you're set. Otherwise, go to the Microsoft Windows home page and search for the download for Remote Desktop Connection.

Getting Your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key

The access key ID and secret access key are the most commonly used set of AWS credentials. They are used to make Query and REST-based requests. You can use up to two sets of access keys at a time. You can generate new keys at any time or disable existing keys.

To get your access key ID and secret access key

  1. Go to the Amazon Web Services web site at http://aws.amazon.com.

  2. Click My Account/Console, and then click Security Credentials.

    If you are not already logged in, you are prompted to do so.

  3. Under the Access Credentials section, ensure that the Access Keys tab is selected.

  4. Locate an active access key under Your Access Keys.

  5. To display the secret access key, click Show in the Secret Access Key column.

  6. Write down the keys or save them.

  7. If there are no access keys in the list, click Create a New Access Key and follow the on-screen prompts.

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