Configuration and credential file settings in the AWS CLI - AWS Command Line Interface

Configuration and credential file settings in the AWS CLI

You can save your frequently used configuration settings and credentials in files that are maintained by the AWS CLI.

The files are divided into profiles. By default, the AWS CLI uses the settings found in the profile named default. To use alternate settings, you can create and reference additional profiles.

You can override an individual setting by either setting one of the supported environment variables, or by using a command line parameter. For more information on configuration setting precedence, see Configuring settings for the AWS CLI.

Note

For information on setting up your credentials, see Authentication and access credentials for the AWS CLI.

Format of the configuration and credential files

The config and credentials files are organized into sections. Sections include profiles, sso-sessions, and services. A section is a named collection of settings, and continues until another section definition line is encountered. Multiple profiles and sections can be stored in the config and credentials files.

These files are plaintext files that use the following format:

  • Section names are enclosed in brackets [ ] such as [default], [profile user1], and [sso-session].

  • All entries in a section take the general form of setting_name=value.

  • Lines can be commented out by starting the line with a hash character (#).

The config and credentials files contain the following section types:

Section type: profile

The AWS CLI stores

Depending on the file, profile section names use the following format:

  • Config file: [default] [profile user1]

  • Credentials file: [default] [user1]

    Do not use the word profile when creating an entry in the credentials file.

Each profile can specify different credentials and can also specify different AWS Regions and output formats. When naming the profile in a config file, include the prefix word "profile", but do not include it in the credentials file.

The following examples show a credentials and config file with two profiles, region, and output specified. The first [default] is used when you run a AWS CLI command with no profile specified. The second is used when you run a AWS CLI command with the --profile user1 parameter.

IAM Identity Center (SSO)

This example is for AWS IAM Identity Center. For more information, see Configuring IAM Identity Center authentication with the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

The credentials file is not used for this authentication method.

Config file

[default] sso_session = my-sso sso_account_id = 111122223333 sso_role_name = readOnly region = us-west-2 output = text [profile user1] sso_session = my-sso sso_account_id = 444455556666 sso_role_name = readOnly region = us-east-1 output = json [sso-session my-sso] sso_region = us-east-1 sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start sso_registration_scopes = sso:account:access
IAM Identity Center (Legacy SSO)

This example is for the legacy method of AWS IAM Identity Center. For more information, see Configuring IAM Identity Center authentication with the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

The credentials file is not used for this authentication method.

Config file

[default] sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start sso_region = us-east-1 sso_account_id = 111122223333 sso_role_name = readOnly region = us-west-2 output = text [profile user1] sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start sso_region = us-east-1 sso_account_id = 444455556666 sso_role_name = readOnly region = us-east-1 output = json
Short-term credentials

This example is for the short-term credentials from AWS Identity and Access Management. For more information, see Authenticating with short-term credentials for the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

[default] aws_access_key_id=ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY aws_session_token = IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZVERYLONGSTRINGEXAMPLE [user1] aws_access_key_id=ASIAI44QH8DHBEXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key=je7MtGbClwBF/2Zp9Utk/h3yCo8nvbEXAMPLEKEY aws_session_token = fcZib3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZVERYLONGSTRINGEXAMPLE

Config file

[default] region=us-west-2 output=json [profile user1] region=us-east-1 output=text
IAM role

This example is for assuming an IAM role. Profiles that use IAM roles pull credentials from another profile, and then apply IAM role permissions. In the following examples, default is the source profile for credentials and user1 borrows the same credentials then assumes a new role. For more information, see Using an IAM role in the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

The credentials file depends on what authentication your source profile uses. For the following example, the source profile uses short-term credentials.

[default] aws_access_key_id=ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY aws_session_token = IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZVERYLONGSTRINGEXAMPLE

Config file

[default] region=us-west-2 output=json [profile user1] role_arn=arn:aws:iam::777788889999:role/user1role source_profile=default role_session_name=session_user1 region=us-east-1 output=text
Amazon EC2 instance metadata credentials

This example is for the credentials obtained from the hosting Amazon EC2 instance metadata. For more information, see Using Amazon EC2 instance metadata as credentials in the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

The credentials file is not used for this authentication method.

Config file

[default] role_arn=arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/defaultrole credential_source=Ec2InstanceMetadata region=us-west-2 output=json [profile user1] role_arn=arn:aws:iam::777788889999:role/user1role credential_source=Ec2InstanceMetadata region=us-east-1 output=text
Long-term credentials
Warning

To avoid security risks, don't use IAM users for authentication when developing purpose-built software or working with real data. Instead, use federation with an identity provider such as AWS IAM Identity Center.

This example is for the long-term credentials from AWS Identity and Access Management. For more information, see Authenticating using IAM user credentials for the AWS CLI.

Credentials file

[default] aws_access_key_id=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY [user1] aws_access_key_id=AKIAI44QH8DHBEXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key=je7MtGbClwBF/2Zp9Utk/h3yCo8nvbEXAMPLEKEY

Config file

[default] region=us-west-2 output=json [profile user1] region=us-east-1 output=text

For more information and additional authorization and credential methods see, see Authenticating using IAM user credentials for the AWS CLI.

Section type: sso-session

The sso-session section of the config file is used to group configuration variables for acquiring SSO access tokens, which can then be used to acquire AWS credentials. The following settings are used:

You define an sso-session section and associate it to a profile. sso_region and sso_start_url must be set within the sso-session section. Typically, sso_account_id and sso_role_name must be set in the profile section so that the SDK can request SSO credentials.

The following example configures the SDK to request SSO credentials and supports automated token refresh:

[profile dev] sso_session = my-sso sso_account_id = 111122223333 sso_role_name = SampleRole [sso-session my-sso] sso_region = us-east-1 sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start

This also allows sso-session configurations to be reused across multiple profiles:

[profile dev] sso_session = my-sso sso_account_id = 111122223333 sso_role_name = SampleRole [profile prod] sso_session = my-sso sso_account_id = 111122223333 sso_role_name = SampleRole2 [sso-session my-sso] sso_region = us-east-1 sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start

However, sso_account_id and sso_role_name aren't required for all scenarios of SSO token configuration. If your application only uses AWS services that support bearer authentication, then traditional AWS credentials are not needed. Bearer authentication is an HTTP authentication scheme that uses security tokens called bearer tokens. In this scenario, sso_account_id and sso_role_name aren't required. See the individual guide for your AWS service to determine if it supports bearer token authorization.

Additionally, registration scopes can be configured as part of a sso-session. Scope is a mechanism in OAuth 2.0 to limit an application's access to a user's account. An application can request one or more scopes, and the access token issued to the application will be limited to the scopes granted. These scopes define the permissions requested to be authorized for the registered OIDC client and access tokens retrieved by the client. The following example sets sso_registration_scopes to provide access for listing accounts/roles:

[sso-session my-sso] sso_region = us-east-1 sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start sso_registration_scopes = sso:account:access

The authentication token is cached to disk under the ~/.aws/sso/cache directory with a filename based on the session name.

For more information on this configuration type, see Configuring IAM Identity Center authentication with the AWS CLI.

Section type: services

The services section is a group of settings that configures custom endpoints for AWS service requests. A profile then is linked to a services section.

[profile dev] services = my-services

The services section is separated into subsections by <SERVICE> = lines, where <SERVICE> is the AWS service identifier key. The AWS service identifier is based on the API model’s serviceId by replacing all spaces with underscores and lowercasing all letters. For a list of all service identifier keys to use in the services section, see Using endpoints in the AWS CLI. The service identifier key is followed by nested settings with each on its own line and indented by two spaces.

The following example configures the endpoint to use for requests made to the Amazon DynamoDB service in the my-services section that is used in the dev profile. Any immediately following lines that are indented are included in that subsection and apply to that service.

[profile dev] services = my-services [services my-services] dynamodb = endpoint_url = http://localhost:8000

For more information on service-specific endpoints, see Using endpoints in the AWS CLI.

If your profile has role-based credentials configured through a source_profile parameter for IAM assume role functionality, the SDK only uses service configurations for the specified profile. It does not use profiles that are role chained to it. For example, using the following shared config file:

[profile A] credential_source = Ec2InstanceMetadata endpoint_url = https://profile-a-endpoint.aws/ [profile B] source_profile = A role_arn = arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/roleB services = profileB [services profileB] ec2 = endpoint_url = https://profile-b-ec2-endpoint.aws

If you use profile B and make a call in your code to Amazon EC2, the endpoint resolves as https://profile-b-ec2-endpoint.aws. If your code makes a request to any other service, the endpoint resolution will not follow any custom logic. The endpoint does not resolve to the global endpoint defined in profile A. For a global endpoint to take effect for profile B, you would need to set endpoint_url directly within profile B.

Where are configuration settings stored?

The AWS CLI stores sensitive credential information that you specify with aws configure in a local file named credentials, in a folder named .aws in your home directory. The less sensitive configuration options that you specify with aws configure are stored in a local file named config, also stored in the .aws folder in your home directory.

Storing credentials in the config file

You can keep all of your profile settings in a single file as the AWS CLI can read credentials from the config file. If there are credentials in both files for a profile sharing the same name, the keys in the credentials file take precedence. We suggest keeping credentials in the credentials files. These files are also used by the various language software development kits (SDKs). If you use one of the SDKs in addition to the AWS CLI, confirm if the credentials should be stored in their own file.

Where you find your home directory location varies based on the operating system, but is referred to using the environment variables %UserProfile% in Windows and $HOME or ~ (tilde) in Unix-based systems. You can specify a non-default location for the files by setting the AWS_CONFIG_FILE and AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE environment variables to another local path. See Configuring environment variables for the AWS CLI for details.

When you use a shared profile that specifies an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role, the AWS CLI calls the AWS STS AssumeRole operation to retrieve temporary credentials. These credentials are then stored (in ~/.aws/cli/cache). Subsequent AWS CLI commands use the cached temporary credentials until they expire, and at that point the AWS CLI automatically refreshes the credentials.

Using named profiles

If no profile is explicitly defined, the default profile is used.

To use a named profile, add the --profile profile-name option to your command. The following example lists all of your Amazon EC2 instances using the credentials and settings defined in the user1 profile.

$ aws ec2 describe-instances --profile user1

To use a named profile for multiple commands, you can avoid specifying the profile in every command by setting the AWS_PROFILE environment variable as the default profile. You can override this setting by using the --profile parameter.

Linux or macOS
$ export AWS_PROFILE=user1
Windows
C:\> setx AWS_PROFILE user1

Using set to set an environment variable changes the value used until the end of the current command prompt session, or until you set the variable to a different value.

Using setx to set an environment variable changes the value in all command shells that you create after running the command. It does not affect any command shell that is already running at the time you run the command. Close and restart the command shell to see the effects of the change.

Setting the environment variable changes the default profile until the end of your shell session, or until you set the variable to a different value. You can make environment variables persistent across future sessions by putting them in your shell's startup script. For more information, see Configuring environment variables for the AWS CLI.

Set and view configuration settings using commands

There are several ways to view and set your configuration settings using commands.

aws configure

Run this command to quickly set and view your credentials, Region, and output format. The following example shows sample values.

$ aws configure AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY Default region name [None]: us-west-2 Default output format [None]: json
aws configure set

You can set any credentials or configuration settings using aws configure set. Specify the profile that you want to view or modify with the --profile setting.

For example, the following command sets the region in the profile named integ.

$ aws configure set region us-west-2 --profile integ

To remove a setting, manually delete the setting in your config and credentials files in a text editor.

aws configure get

You can retrieve any credentials or configuration settings you've set using aws configure get. Specify the profile that you want to view or modify with the --profile setting.

For example, the following command retrieves the region setting in the profile named integ.

$ aws configure get region --profile integ us-west-2

If the output is empty, the setting is not explicitly set and uses the default value.

aws configure import

Import CSV credentials generated from the IAM web console. This is not for credentials generated from IAM Identity Center; customers who use IAM Identity Center should use aws configure sso. A CSV file is imported with the profile name matching the username. The CSV file must contain the following headers.

  • User Name

  • Access key ID

  • Secret access key

Note

During initial key pair creation, once you close the Download .csv file dialog box, you cannot access your secret access key after you close the dialog box. If you need a .csv file, you'll need to create one yourself with the required headers and your stored key pair information. If you do not have access to your key pair information, you need to create a new key pair.

$ aws configure import --csv file://credentials.csv
aws configure list

To list configuration data, use the aws configure list command. This command lists the profile, access key, secret key, and region configuration information used for the specified profile. For each configuration item, it shows the value, where the configuration value was retrieved, and the configuration variable name.

For example, if you provide the AWS Region in an environment variable, this command shows you the name of the region you've configured, that this value came from an environment variable, and the name of the environment variable.

For temporary credential methods such as roles and IAM Identity Center, this command displays the temporarily cached access key and secret access key is displayed.

$ aws configure list Name Value Type Location ---- ----- ---- -------- profile <not set> None None access_key ****************ABCD shared-credentials-file secret_key ****************ABCD shared-credentials-file region us-west-2 env AWS_DEFAULT_REGION
aws configure list-profiles

To list all your profile names, use the aws configure list-profiles command.

$ aws configure list-profiles default test
aws configure sso

Run this command to quickly set and view your AWS IAM Identity Center credentials, Region, and output format. The following example shows sample values.

$ aws configure sso SSO session name (Recommended): my-sso SSO start URL [None]: https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start SSO region [None]: us-east-1 SSO registration scopes [None]: sso:account:access
aws configure sso-session

Run this command to quickly set and view your AWS IAM Identity Center credentials, Region, and output format in the sso-session section of the credentials and config files. The following example shows sample values.

$ aws configure sso-session SSO session name: my-sso SSO start URL [None]: https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start SSO region [None]: us-east-1 SSO registration scopes [None]: sso:account:access

Setting new configuration and credentials command examples

The following examples show configuring a default profile with credentials, region, and output specified for different authentication methods.

IAM Identity Center (SSO)

This example is for AWS IAM Identity Center using the aws configure sso wizard. For more information, see Configuring IAM Identity Center authentication with the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure sso SSO session name (Recommended): my-sso SSO start URL [None]: https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start SSO region [None]:us-east-1 Attempting to automatically open the SSO authorization page in your default browser. There are 2 AWS accounts available to you. > DeveloperAccount, developer-account-admin@example.com (111122223333) ProductionAccount, production-account-admin@example.com (444455556666) Using the account ID 111122223333 There are 2 roles available to you. > ReadOnly FullAccess Using the role name "ReadOnly" CLI default client Region [None]: us-west-2 CLI default output format [None]: json CLI profile name [123456789011_ReadOnly]: user1
IAM Identity Center (Legacy SSO)

This example is for the legacy method of AWS IAM Identity Center using the aws configure sso wizard. To use the legacy SSO, leave the session name blank. For more information, see Configuring IAM Identity Center authentication with the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure sso SSO session name (Recommended): SSO start URL [None]: https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start SSO region [None]:us-east-1 SSO authorization page has automatically been opened in your default browser. Follow the instructions in the browser to complete this authorization request. There are 2 AWS accounts available to you. > DeveloperAccount, developer-account-admin@example.com (111122223333) ProductionAccount, production-account-admin@example.com (444455556666) Using the account ID 111122223333 There are 2 roles available to you. > ReadOnly FullAccess Using the role name "ReadOnly" CLI default client Region [None]: us-west-2 CLI default output format [None]: json CLI profile name [123456789011_ReadOnly]: user1
Short-term credentials

This example is for the short-term credentials from AWS Identity and Access Management. The aws configure wizard is used to set initial values and then the aws configure set command assigns the last value needed. For more information, see Authenticating with short-term credentials for the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY Default region name [None]: us-west-2 Default output format [None]: json $ aws configure set aws_session_token fcZib3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZ2luX2IQoJb3JpZVERYLONGSTRINGEXAMPLE
IAM role

This example is for assuming an IAM role. Profiles that use IAM roles pull credentials from another profile, and then apply IAM role permissions. In the following examples, default is the source profile for credentials and user1 borrows the same credentials then assumes a new role. There is no wizard for this process, therefore each value is set using the aws configure set command. For more information, see Using an IAM role in the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure set role_arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/defaultrole $ aws configure set source_profile default $ aws configure set role_session_name session_user1 $ aws configure set region us-west-2 $ aws configure set output json
Amazon EC2 instance metadata credentials

This example is for the credentials obtained from the hosting Amazon EC2 instance metadata. There is no wizard for this process, therefore each value is set using the aws configure set command. For more information, see Using Amazon EC2 instance metadata as credentials in the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure set role_arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/defaultrole $ aws configure set credential_source Ec2InstanceMetadata $ aws configure set region us-west-2 $ aws configure set output json
Long-term credentials
Warning

To avoid security risks, don't use IAM users for authentication when developing purpose-built software or working with real data. Instead, use federation with an identity provider such as AWS IAM Identity Center.

This example is for the long-term credentials from AWS Identity and Access Management. For more information, see Authenticating using IAM user credentials for the AWS CLI.

$ aws configure AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY Default region name [None]: us-west-2 Default output format [None]: json

Supported config file settings

The following settings are supported in the config file. The values listed in the specified (or default) profile are used unless they are overridden by the presence of an environment variable with the same name, or a command line option with the same name. For more information on what order settings take precendence, see Configuring settings for the AWS CLI

Global settings

aws_access_key_id

Specifies the AWS access key used as part of the credentials to authenticate the command request. Although this can be stored in the config file, we recommend that you store this in the credentials file.

Can be overridden by the AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID environment variable. You can't specify the access key ID as a command line option.

aws_access_key_id = AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
aws_secret_access_key

Specifies the AWS secret key used as part of the credentials to authenticate the command request. Although this can be stored in the config file, we recommend that you store this in the credentials file.

Can be overridden by the AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variable. You can't specify the secret access key as a command line option.

aws_secret_access_key = wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
aws_session_token

Specifies an AWS session token. A session token is required only if you manually specify temporary security credentials. Although this can be stored in the config file, we recommend that you store this in the credentials file.

Can be overridden by the AWS_SESSION_TOKEN environment variable. You can't specify the session token as a command line option.

aws_session_token = AQoEXAMPLEH4aoAH0gNCAPyJxz4BlCFFxWNE1OPTgk5TthT+FvwqnKwRcOIfrRh3c/LTo6UDdyJwOOvEVPvLXCrrrUtdnniCEXAMPLE/IvU1dYUg2RVAJBanLiHb4IgRmpRV3zrkuWJOgQs8IZZaIv2BXIa2R4Olgk
ca_bundle

Specifies a CA certificate bundle (a file with the .pem extension) that is used to verify SSL certificates.

Can be overridden by the AWS_CA_BUNDLE environment variable or the --ca-bundle command line option.

ca_bundle = dev/apps/ca-certs/cabundle-2019mar05.pem
cli_auto_prompt

Enables the auto-prompt for the AWS CLI version 2. There are two settings that can be used:

  • on uses the full auto-prompt mode each time you attempt to run an aws command. This includes pressing ENTER after both a complete command or incomplete command.

    cli_auto_prompt = on
  • on-partial uses partial auto-prompt mode. If a command is incomplete or cannot be run due to client-side validation errors, auto-prompt is used. This mode is particular useful if you have pre-existing scripts, runbooks, or you only want to be auto-prompted for commands you are unfamiliar with rather than prompted on every command.

    cli_auto_prompt = on-partial

You can override this setting by using the aws_cli_auto_prompt environment variable or the --cli-auto-prompt and --no-cli-auto-prompt command line parameters.

For information on the AWS CLI version 2 auto-prompt feature, see Enabling and using command prompts in the AWS CLI.

cli_binary_format

Specifies how the AWS CLI version 2 interprets binary input parameters. It can be one of the following values:

  • base64 – This is the default value. An input parameter that is typed as a binary large object (BLOB) accepts a base64-encoded string. To pass true binary content, put the content in a file and provide the file's path and name with the fileb:// prefix as the parameter's value. To pass base64-encoded text contained in a file, provide the file's path and name with the file:// prefix as the parameter's value.

  • raw-in-base64-out – Default for the AWS CLI version 1. If the setting's value is raw-in-base64-out, files referenced using the file:// prefix is read as text and then the AWS CLI attempts to encode it to binary.

This entry does not have an equivalent environment variable. You can specify the value on a single command by using the --cli-binary-format raw-in-base64-out parameter.

cli_binary_format = raw-in-base64-out

If you reference a binary value in a file using the fileb:// prefix notation, the AWS CLI always expects the file to contain raw binary content and does not attempt to convert the value.

If you reference a binary value in a file using the file:// prefix notation, the AWS CLI handles the file according to the current cli_binary_format setting. If that setting's value is base64 (the default when not explicitly set), the AWS CLI expects the file to contain base64-encoded text. If that setting's value is raw-in-base64-out, the AWS CLI expects the file to contain raw binary content.

cli_history

Disabled by default. This setting enables command history for the AWS CLI. After enabling this setting, the AWS CLI records the history of aws commands.

cli_history = enabled

You can list your history using the aws history list command, and use the resulting command_ids in the aws history show command for details. For more information see aws history in the AWS CLI reference guide.

cli_pager

Specifies the pager program used for output. By default, AWS CLI version 2 returns all output through your operating system’s default pager program.

Can be overridden by the AWS_PAGER environment variable.

cli_pager=less
cli_timestamp_format

Specifies the format of timestamp values included in the output. You can specify either of the following values:

  • iso8601 – The default value for the AWS CLI version 2. If specified, the AWS CLI reformats all timestamps according to ISO 8601.

    ISO 8601 formatted timestamps look like the following examples. The first example shows the time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by including a Z after the time. The date and the time are separated by a T.

    2019-10-31T22:21:41Z

    To specify a different time zone, instead of the Z, specify a + or - and the number of hours the desired time zone is ahead of or behind UTC, as a two-digit value. The following example shows the same time as the previous example but adjusted to Pacific Standard time, which is eight hours behind UTC.

    2019-10-31T14:21:41-08
  • wire – The default value for the AWS CLI version 1. If specified, the AWS CLI displays all timestamp values exactly as received in the HTTP query response.

This entry does not have an equivalent environment variable or command line option.

cli_timestamp_format = iso8601
credential_process

Specifies an external command that the AWS CLI runs to generate or retrieve authentication credentials to use for this command. The command must return the credentials in a specific format. For more information about how to use this setting, see Sourcing credentials with an external process in the AWS CLI.

This entry does not have an equivalent environment variable or command line option.

credential_process = /opt/bin/awscreds-retriever --username susan
credential_source

Used within Amazon EC2 instances or containers to specify where the AWS CLI can find credentials to use to assume the role you specified with the role_arn parameter. You cannot specify both source_profile and credential_source in the same profile.

This parameter can have one of three values:

  • Environment – Specifies that the AWS CLI is to retrieve source credentials from environment variables.

  • Ec2InstanceMetadata – Specifies that the AWS CLI is to use the IAM role attached to the EC2 instance profile to get source credentials.

  • EcsContainer – Specifies that the AWS CLI is to use the IAM role attached to the ECS container as source credentials.

credential_source = Ec2InstanceMetadata
duration_seconds

Specifies the maximum duration of the role session, in seconds. The value can range from 900 seconds (15 minutes) up to the maximum session duration setting for the role (which can be a maximum of 43200). This is an optional parameter and by default, the value is set to 3600 seconds.

endpoint_url

Specifies the endpoint that is used for all service requests. If this setting is used in the services section of the config file, then the endpoint is used only for the specified service.

The following example uses the global endpoint http://localhost:1234 and a service-specific endpoint of http://localhost:4567 for Amazon S3.

[profile dev] endpoint_url = http://localhost:1234 services = s3-specific [services s3-specific] s3 = endpoint_url = http://localhost:4567

Endpoint configuration settings are located in multiple places, such as the system or user environment variables, local AWS configuration files, or explicitly declared on the command line as a parameter. The AWS CLI endpoint configuration settings take precedence in the following order:

  1. The --endpoint-url command line option.

  2. If enabled, the AWS_IGNORE_CONFIGURED_ENDPOINT_URLS global endpoint environment variable or profile setting ignore_configure_endpoint_urls to ignore custom endpoints.

  3. The value provided by a service-specific environment variable AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_<SERVICE>, such as AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_DYNAMODB.

  4. The values provided by the AWS_USE_DUALSTACK_ENDPOINT, AWS_USE_FIPS_ENDPOINT, and AWS_ENDPOINT_URL environment variables.

  5. The service-specific endpoint value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a services section of the shared config file.

  6. The value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a profile of the shared config file.

  7. use_dualstack_endpoint, use_fips_endpoint, and endpoint_url settings.

  8. Any default endpoint URL for the respective AWS service is used last. For a list of the standard service endpoints available in each Region, see AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

ignore_configure_endpoint_urls

If enabled, the AWS CLI ignores all custom endpoint configurations specified in the config file. Valid values are true and false.

ignore_configure_endpoint_urls = true

Endpoint configuration settings are located in multiple places, such as the system or user environment variables, local AWS configuration files, or explicitly declared on the command line as a parameter. The AWS CLI endpoint configuration settings take precedence in the following order:

  1. The --endpoint-url command line option.

  2. If enabled, the AWS_IGNORE_CONFIGURED_ENDPOINT_URLS global endpoint environment variable or profile setting ignore_configure_endpoint_urls to ignore custom endpoints.

  3. The value provided by a service-specific environment variable AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_<SERVICE>, such as AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_DYNAMODB.

  4. The values provided by the AWS_USE_DUALSTACK_ENDPOINT, AWS_USE_FIPS_ENDPOINT, and AWS_ENDPOINT_URL environment variables.

  5. The service-specific endpoint value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a services section of the shared config file.

  6. The value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a profile of the shared config file.

  7. use_dualstack_endpoint, use_fips_endpoint, and endpoint_url settings.

  8. Any default endpoint URL for the respective AWS service is used last. For a list of the standard service endpoints available in each Region, see AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

external_id

Specifies a unique identifier that is used by third parties to assume a role in their customers' accounts. This maps to the ExternalId parameter in the AssumeRole operation. This parameter is needed only if the trust policy for the role specifies a value for ExternalId. For more information, see How to use an external ID when granting access to your AWS resources to a third party in the IAM User Guide.

max_attempts

Specifies a value of maximum retry attempts the AWS CLI retry handler uses, where the initial call counts toward the max_attempts value that you provide.

You can override this value by using the AWS_MAX_ATTEMPTS environment variable.

max_attempts = 3
mfa_serial

The identification number of an MFA device to use when assuming a role. This is mandatory only if the trust policy of the role being assumed includes a condition that requires MFA authentication. The value can be either a serial number for a hardware device (such as GAHT12345678) or an Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for a virtual MFA device (such as arn:aws:iam::123456789012:mfa/user).

output

Specifies the default output format for commands requested using this profile. You can specify any of the following values:

  • json – The output is formatted as a JSON string.

  • yaml – The output is formatted as a YAML string.

  • yaml-stream – The output is streamed and formatted as a YAML string. Streaming allows for faster handling of large data types.

  • text – The output is formatted as multiple lines of tab-separated string values. This can be useful to pass the output to a text processor, like grep, sed, or awk.

  • table – The output is formatted as a table using the characters +|- to form the cell borders. It typically presents the information in a "human-friendly" format that is much easier to read than the others, but not as programmatically useful.

Can be overridden by the AWS_DEFAULT_OUTPUT environment variable or the --output command line option.

output = table
parameter_validation

Specifies whether the AWS CLI client attempts to validate parameters before sending them to the AWS service endpoint.

  • true – This is the default value. If specified, the AWS CLI performs local validation of command line parameters.

  • false – If specified, the AWS CLI does not validate command line parameters before sending them to the AWS service endpoint.

This entry does not have an equivalent environment variable or command line option.

parameter_validation = false
region

Specifies the AWS Region to send requests to for commands requested using this profile.

  • You can specify any of the Region codes available for the chosen service as listed in AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

  • aws_global enables you to specify the global endpoint for services that support a global endpoint in addition to Regional endpoints, such as AWS Security Token Service (AWS STS) and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

You can override this value by using the AWS_REGION environment variable, AWS_DEFAULT_REGION environment variable, or the --region command line option.

region = us-west-2
retry_mode

Specifies which retry mode AWS CLI uses. There are three retry modes available: legacy (default), standard, and adaptive. For more information on retries, see AWS CLI retries in the AWS CLI.

You can override this value by using the AWS_RETRY_MODE environment variable.

retry_mode = standard
role_arn

Specifies the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of an IAM role that you want to use to run the AWS CLI commands. You must also specify one of the following parameters to identify the credentials that have permission to assume this role:

  • source_profile

  • credential_source

role_arn = arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/role-name

The environment variable AWS_ROLE_ARN overrides this setting.

For more information on using web identities, see Assume role with web identity.

role_session_name

Specifies the name to attach to the role session. This value is provided to the RoleSessionName parameter when the AWS CLI calls the AssumeRole operation, and becomes part of the assumed role user ARN: arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/role_name/role_session_name. This is an optional parameter. If you do not provide this value, a session name is generated automatically. This name appears in AWS CloudTrail logs for entries associated with this session.

role_session_name = maria_garcia_role

The environment variable AWS_ROLE_SESSION_NAME overrides this setting.

For more information on using web identities, see Assume role with web identity.

services

Specifies the service configuration to use for your profile.

[profile dev-s3-specific-and-global] endpoint_url = http://localhost:1234 services = s3-specific [services s3-specific] s3 = endpoint_url = http://localhost:4567

For more information on the services section, see Section type: services.

The environment variable AWS_ROLE_SESSION_NAME overrides this setting.

For more information on using web identities, see Assume role with web identity.

sdk_ua_app_id

A single AWS account can be used by multiple customer applications to make calls to AWS services. Application ID identifies which source application made a set of calls using an AWS service. AWS SDKs and services don't use or interpret this value other than to surface it back in customer communications. For example, this value can be included in operational emails to uniquely identify which of your applications is associated with the notification.

The Application ID is a string with maximum length of 50 characters. Letters, numbers and the following special characters are allowed: ! $ % & * + - . , ^ _ ` | ~ By default, no value is assigned.

sdk_ua_app_id = prod1

This setting can be overwritten by using the AWS_SDK_UA_APP_ID environment variable. You can't set this value as a command line parameter.

source_profile

Specifies a named profile with long-term credentials that the AWS CLI can use to assume a role that you specified with the role_arn parameter. You cannot specify both source_profile and credential_source in the same profile.

source_profile = production-profile
sso_account_id

Specifies the AWS account ID that contains the IAM role with the permission that you want to grant to the associated IAM Identity Center user.

This setting does not have an environment variable or command line option.

sso_account_id = 123456789012
sso_region

Specifies the AWS Region that contains the AWS access portal host. This is separate from, and can be a different Region than the default CLI region parameter.

This setting does not have an environment variable or command line option.

sso_region = us_west-2
sso_registration_scopes

A comma-delimited list of scopes to be authorized for the sso-session. Scopes authorize access to IAM Identity Center bearer token authorized endpoints. A valid scope is a string, such as sso:account:access. This setting isn't applicable to the legacy non-refreshable configuration.

sso_registration_scopes = sso:account:access
sso_role_name

Specifies the friendly name of the IAM role that defines the user's permissions when using this profile.

This setting does not have an environment variable or command line option.

sso_role_name = ReadAccess
sso_start_url

Specifies the URL that points to the organization's AWS access portal. The AWS CLI uses this URL to establish a session with the IAM Identity Center service to authenticate its users. To find your AWS access portal URL, use one of the following:

This setting does not have an environment variable or command line option.

sso_start_url = https://my-sso-portal.awsapps.com/start
use_dualstack_endpoint

Enables the use of dual-stack endpoints to send AWS requests. To learn more about dual-stack endpoints, which support both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, see Using Amazon S3 dual-stack endpoints in the Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide. Dual-stack endpoints are available for some services in some regions. If a dual-stack endpoint does not exist for the service or AWS Region, the request fails. This is disabled by default.

This is mutually exclusive with the use_accelerate_endpoint setting.

Endpoint configuration settings are located in multiple places, such as the system or user environment variables, local AWS configuration files, or explicitly declared on the command line as a parameter. The AWS CLI endpoint configuration settings take precedence in the following order:

  1. The --endpoint-url command line option.

  2. If enabled, the AWS_IGNORE_CONFIGURED_ENDPOINT_URLS global endpoint environment variable or profile setting ignore_configure_endpoint_urls to ignore custom endpoints.

  3. The value provided by a service-specific environment variable AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_<SERVICE>, such as AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_DYNAMODB.

  4. The values provided by the AWS_USE_DUALSTACK_ENDPOINT, AWS_USE_FIPS_ENDPOINT, and AWS_ENDPOINT_URL environment variables.

  5. The service-specific endpoint value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a services section of the shared config file.

  6. The value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a profile of the shared config file.

  7. use_dualstack_endpoint, use_fips_endpoint, and endpoint_url settings.

  8. Any default endpoint URL for the respective AWS service is used last. For a list of the standard service endpoints available in each Region, see AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

use_fips_endpoint

Some AWS services offer endpoints that support Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 in some AWS Regions. When the AWS service supports FIPS, this setting specifies what FIPS endpoint the AWS CLI should use . Unlike standard AWS endpoints, FIPS endpoints use a TLS software library that complies with FIPS 140-2. These endpoints might be required by enterprises that interact with the United States government.

If this setting is enabled, but a FIPS endpoint does not exist for the service in your AWS Region, the AWS command may fail. In this case, manually specify the endpoint to use in the command using the --endpoint-url option or use service-specific endpoints.

For more information on specifying FIPS endpoints by AWS Region, see FIPS Endpoints by Service.

Endpoint configuration settings are located in multiple places, such as the system or user environment variables, local AWS configuration files, or explicitly declared on the command line as a parameter. The AWS CLI endpoint configuration settings take precedence in the following order:

  1. The --endpoint-url command line option.

  2. If enabled, the AWS_IGNORE_CONFIGURED_ENDPOINT_URLS global endpoint environment variable or profile setting ignore_configure_endpoint_urls to ignore custom endpoints.

  3. The value provided by a service-specific environment variable AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_<SERVICE>, such as AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_DYNAMODB.

  4. The values provided by the AWS_USE_DUALSTACK_ENDPOINT, AWS_USE_FIPS_ENDPOINT, and AWS_ENDPOINT_URL environment variables.

  5. The service-specific endpoint value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a services section of the shared config file.

  6. The value provided by the endpoint_url setting within a profile of the shared config file.

  7. use_dualstack_endpoint, use_fips_endpoint, and endpoint_url settings.

  8. Any default endpoint URL for the respective AWS service is used last. For a list of the standard service endpoints available in each Region, see AWS Regions and Endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

web_identity_token_file

Specifies the path to a file that contains an OAuth 2.0 access token or OpenID Connect ID token that is provided by an identity provider. The AWS CLI loads the contents of this file and passes it as the WebIdentityToken argument to the AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity operation.

The environment variable AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE overrides this setting.

For more information on using web identities, see Assume role with web identity.

tcp_keepalive

Specifies whether the AWS CLI client uses TCP keep-alive packets.

This entry does not have an equivalent environment variable or command line option.

tcp_keepalive = false

S3 Custom command settings

Amazon S3 supports several settings that configure how the AWS CLI performs Amazon S3 operations. Some apply to all S3 commands in both the s3api and s3 namespaces. Others are specifically for the S3 "custom" commands that abstract common operations and do more than a one-to-one mapping to an API operation. The aws s3 transfer commands cp, sync, mv, and rm have additional settings you can use to control S3 transfers.

All of these options can be configured by specifying the s3 nested setting in your config file. Each setting is then indented on its own line.

Note

These settings are entirely optional. You should be able to successfully use the aws s3 transfer commands without configuring any of these settings. These settings are provided to enable you to tune for performance or to account for the specific environment where you are running these aws s3 commands.

These settings are all set under a top-level s3 key in the config file, as shown in the following example for the development profile.

[profile development] s3 = max_concurrent_requests = 20 max_queue_size = 10000 multipart_threshold = 64MB multipart_chunksize = 16MB max_bandwidth = 50MB/s use_accelerate_endpoint = true addressing_style = path

The following settings apply to any S3 command in the s3 or s3api namespaces.

addressing_style

Specifies which addressing style to use. This controls whether the bucket name is in the hostname or is part of the URL. Valid values are: path, virtual, and auto. The default value is auto.

There are two styles of constructing an Amazon S3 endpoint. The first is called virtual and includes the bucket name as part of the hostname. For example: https://bucketname.s3.amazonaws.com. Alternatively, with the path style, you treat the bucket name as if it is a path in the URI; for example, https://s3.amazonaws.com/bucketname. The default value in the CLI is to use auto, which attempts to use the virtual style where it can, but will fall back to path style when required. For example, if your bucket name is not DNS compatible, the bucket name cannot be part of the hostname and must be in the path. With auto, the CLI will detect this condition and automatically switch to path style for you. If you set the addressing style to path, you must then ensure that the AWS Region you configured in the AWS CLI matches the Region of your bucket.

payload_signing_enabled

Specifies whether to SHA256 sign sigv4 payloads. By default, this is disabled for streaming uploads (UploadPart and PutObject) when using HTTPS. By default, this is set to false for streaming uploads (UploadPart and PutObject), but only if a ContentMD5 is present (it is generated by default) and the endpoint uses HTTPS.

If set to true, S3 requests receive additional content validation in the form of a SHA256 checksum which is calculated for you and included in the request signature. If set to false, the checksum isn't calculated. Disabling this can be useful to reduce the performance overhead created by the checksum calculation.

use_accelerate_endpoint

Use the Amazon S3 Accelerate endpoint for all s3 and s3api commands. The default value is false. This is mutually exclusive with the use_dualstack_endpoint setting.

If set to true, the AWS CLI directs all Amazon S3 requests to the S3 Accelerate endpoint at s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com. To use this endpoint, you must enable your bucket to use S3 Accelerate. All requests are sent using the virtual style of bucket addressing: my-bucket.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com. Any ListBuckets, CreateBucket, and DeleteBucket requests aren't sent to the S3 Accelerate endpoint as that endpoint doesn't support those operations. This behavior can also be set if the --endpoint-url parameter is set to https://s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com or http://s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com for any s3 or s3api command.

The following settings apply only to commands in the s3 namespace command set.

max_bandwidth

Specifies the maximum bandwidth that can be consumed for uploading and downloading data to and from Amazon S3. The default is no limit.

This limits the maximum bandwidth that the S3 commands can use to transfer data to and from Amazon S3. This value applies to only uploads and downloads; it doesn't apply to copies or deletes. The value is expressed as bytes per second. The value can be specified as:

  • An integer. For example, 1048576 sets the maximum bandwidth usage to 1 megabyte per second.

  • An integer followed by a rate suffix. You can specify rate suffixes using: KB/s, MB/s, or GB/s. For example, 300KB/s, 10MB/s.

In general, we recommend that you first try to lower bandwidth consumption by lowering max_concurrent_requests. If that doesn't adequately limit bandwidth consumption to the desired rate, you can use the max_bandwidth setting to further limit bandwidth consumption. This is because max_concurrent_requests controls how many threads are currently running. If you instead first lower max_bandwidth but leave a high max_concurrent_requests setting, it can result in threads having to wait unnecessarily. This can lead to excess resource consumption and connection timeouts.

max_concurrent_requests

Specifies the maximum number of concurrent requests. The default value is 10.

The aws s3 transfer commands are multithreaded. At any given time, multiple Amazon S3 requests can be running. For example, when you use the command aws s3 cp localdir s3://bucket/ --recursive to upload files to an S3 bucket, the AWS CLI can upload the files localdir/file1, localdir/file2, and localdir/file3 in parallel. The setting max_concurrent_requests specifies the maximum number of transfer operations that can run at the same time.

You might need to change this value for a few reasons:

  • Decreasing this value – On some environments, the default of 10 concurrent requests can overwhelm a system. This can cause connection timeouts or slow the responsiveness of the system. Lowering this value makes the S3 transfer commands less resource intensive. The tradeoff is that S3 transfers can take longer to complete. Lowering this value might be necessary if you use a tool to limit bandwidth.

  • Increasing this value – In some scenarios, you might want the Amazon S3 transfers to complete as quickly as possible, using as much network bandwidth as necessary. In this scenario, the default number of concurrent requests might not be sufficient to use all of the available network bandwidth. Increasing this value can improve the time it takes to complete an Amazon S3 transfer.

max_queue_size

Specifies the maximum number of tasks in the task queue. The default value is 1000.

The AWS CLI internally uses a model where it queues up Amazon S3 tasks that are then executed by consumers whose numbers are limited by max_concurrent_requests. A task generally maps to a single Amazon S3 operation. For example, a task could be a PutObjectTask, or a GetObjectTask, or an UploadPartTask. The rate at which tasks are added to the queue can be much faster than the rate at which consumers finish the tasks. To avoid unbounded growth, the task queue size is capped to a specific size. This setting changes the value of that maximum number.

You generally don't need to change this setting. This setting also corresponds to the number of tasks that the AWS CLI is aware of that need to be run. This means that by default the AWS CLI can only see 1000 tasks ahead. Increasing this value means that the AWS CLI can more quickly know the total number of tasks needed, assuming that the queuing rate is quicker than the rate of task completion. The tradeoff is that a larger max_queue_size requires more memory.

multipart_chunksize

Specifies the chunk size that the AWS CLI uses for multipart transfers of individual files. The default value is 8 MB, with a minimum of 5 MB.

When a file transfer exceeds the multipart_threshold, the AWS CLI divides the file into chunks of this size. This value can be specified using the same syntax as multipart_threshold, either as the number of bytes as an integer, or by using a size and a suffix.

multipart_threshold

Specifies the size threshold the AWS CLI uses for multipart transfers of individual files. The default value is 8 MB.

When uploading, downloading, or copying a file, the Amazon S3 commands switch to multipart operations if the file exceeds this size. You can specify this value in one of two ways:

  • The file size in bytes. For example, 1048576.

  • The file size with a size suffix. You can use KB, MB, GB, or TB. For example: 10MB, 1GB.

    Note

    S3 can impose constraints on valid values that can be used for multipart operations. For more information, see the S3 Multipart Upload documentation in the Amazon Simple Storage Service User Guide.