Installing AWS Tools for PowerShell on Linux or macOS
This topic provides instructions on how to install the AWS Tools for PowerShell on Linux or macOS.
Overview of Setup
To install AWS Tools for PowerShell on a Linux or macOS computer, you can choose from two package options:
-
AWS.Tools – The modularized version of AWS Tools for PowerShell. Each AWS service is supported by its own individual, small module, with shared support modules
.AWS.Tools
.Common -
AWSPowerShell.NetCore – The single, large-module version of AWS Tools for PowerShell. All AWS services are supported by this single, large module.
Note
Be aware that the single module might be too large to use with AWS Lambda
functions. Instead, use the modularized version shown above.
Setting either of these up on a computer running Linux or macOS involves the following tasks, described in detail later in this topic:
-
Install PowerShell Core 6.0 or later on a supported system.
-
After installing PowerShell Core, start PowerShell by running
pwsh
in your system shell. -
Install either
AWS.Tools
or AWSPowerShell.NetCore. -
Run the appropriate
Import-Module
cmdlet to import the module into your PowerShell session. -
Run the Initialize-AWSDefaultConfiguration cmdlet to provide your AWS credentials.
Prerequisites
To run the AWS Tools for PowerShell Core, your computer must be running PowerShell Core 6.0 or later.
-
For a list of supported Linux platform releases and for information about how to install the latest version of PowerShell on a Linux-based computer, see Installing PowerShell on Linux
on Microsoft's website. Some Linux-based operating systems, such as Arch, Kali, and Raspbian, are not officially supported, but have varying levels of community support. -
For information about supported macOS versions and about how to install the latest version of PowerShell on macOS, see Installing PowerShell on macOS
on Microsoft's website.
Install AWS.Tools
on Linux or macOS
You can install the modularized version of AWS Tools for PowerShell on computers that are running PowerShell
Core 6.0 or later. For information about how to install PowerShell Core, see Installing
various versions of PowerShell
You can install AWS.Tools
in one of three ways:
-
Using the cmdlets in the
AWS.Tools.Installer
module. This module simplifies the installation and update of otherAWS.Tools
modules.AWS.Tools.Installer
requiresPowerShellGet
, and automatically downloads and installs an updated version of it.AWS.Tools.Installer
automatically keeps your module versions in sync. When you install or update to a newer version of one module, the cmdlets inAWS.Tools.Installer
automatically update all of your otherAWS.Tools
modules to the same version.This method is described in the procedure that follows.
-
Downloading the modules from
AWS.Tools.zip
and extracting them in one of the module directories. You can discover your module directories by printing the value of the$Env:PSModulePath
variable. -
Installing each service module from the PowerShell Gallery using the
Install-Module
cmdlet.
To install AWS.Tools
on Linux or macOS using the AWS.Tools.Installer
module
-
Start a PowerShell Core session by running the following command.
$
pwsh
Note
We recommend that you don't run PowerShell as an administrator with elevated permissions except when required by the task at hand. This is because of the potential security risk and is inconsistent with the principle of least privilege.
-
To install the modularized
AWS.Tools
package using theAWS.Tools.Installer
module, run the following command.PS >
Install-Module -Name AWS.Tools.Installer
Untrusted repository You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from 'PSGallery'? [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"):
y
If you are notified that the repository is "untrusted", you're asked if you want to install anyway. Enter
y
to allow PowerShell to install the module. To avoid the prompt and install the module without trusting the repository, you can run the following command.PS >
Install-Module -Name AWS.Tools.Installer -Force -
You can now install the module for each service that you want to use. For example, the following command installs the Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 modules. This command also installs any dependent modules that are required for the specified module to work. For example, when you install your first
AWS.Tools
service module, it also installsAWS.Tools.Common
. This is a shared module required by all AWS service modules. It also removes older versions of the modules, and updates other modules to the same newer version.PS >
Install-AWSToolsModule AWS.Tools.EC2,AWS.Tools.S3 -CleanUp
Confirm Are you sure you want to perform this action? Performing the operation "Install-AWSToolsModule" on target "AWS Tools version 4.0.0.0". [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): Installing module AWS.Tools.Common version 4.0.0.0 Installing module AWS.Tools.EC2 version 4.0.0.0 Installing module AWS.Tools.Glacier version 4.0.0.0 Installing module AWS.Tools.S3 version 4.0.0.0 Uninstalling AWS.Tools version 3.3.618.0 Uninstalling module AWS.Tools.Glacier Uninstalling module AWS.Tools.S3 Uninstalling module AWS.Tools.SimpleNotificationService Uninstalling module AWS.Tools.SQS Uninstalling module AWS.Tools.Common
Note
The
Install-AWSToolsModule
cmdlet downloads all requested modules from thePSRepository
namedPSGallery
(https://www.powershellgallery.com/) and considers the repository as a trusted source. Use the command Get-PSRepository -Name PSGallery
for more information about thisPSRepository
.The previous command installs modules into the default directories on your system. The actual directories depend on your operating system distribution and version and on the version of PowerShell you installed. For example, if you installed PowerShell 7 on a RHEL-like system, the default modules are most likely located in
/opt/microsoft/powershell/7/Modules
(or$PSHOME/Modules
) and user modules are most likely located in~/.local/share/powershell/Modules
. For more information, see Install PowerShell on Linuxon the Microsoft PowerShell website. To see where modules are installed, run the following command: PS >
Get-Module -ListAvailable
To install other modules, run similar commands with the appropriate module names, as found in the PowerShell Gallery
.
Install AWSPowerShell.NetCore on Linux or macOS
To upgrade to a newer release of AWSPowerShell.NetCore, follow the instructions in Updating the AWS Tools for PowerShell on Linux or macOS. Uninstall earlier versions of AWSPowerShell.NetCore first.
You can install AWSPowerShell.NetCore in one of two ways:
-
Downloading the module from
AWSPowerShell.NetCore.zip
and extracting it in one of the module directories. You can discover your module directories by printing the value of the$Env:PSModulePath
variable. -
Installing from the PowerShell Gallery using the
Install-Module
cmdlet as described in the following procedure.
To install AWSPowerShell.NetCore on Linux or macOS using the Install-Module cmdlet
Start a PowerShell Core session by running the following command.
$
pwsh
Note
We recommend that you don't start PowerShell by running
sudo pwsh
to run PowerShell with elevated, administrator rights. This is because of the
potential security risk and is inconsistent with the principle of least privilege.
To install the AWSPowerShell.NetCore single-module package from the PowerShell Gallery, run the following command.
PS >
Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore
Untrusted repository You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from 'PSGallery'? [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"):
y
If you are notified that the repository is "untrusted", you're asked if you want to install anyway.
Enter y
to allow PowerShell to install the module. To avoid the prompt without
trusting the repository, you can run the following command.
PS >
Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -Force
You don't have to run this command as root, unless you want to install the AWS Tools for PowerShell for all
users of a computer. To do this, run the following command in a PowerShell session that you have started
with sudo pwsh
.
PS >
Install-Module -Scope AllUsers -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -Force
Script Execution
The Set-ExecutionPolicy
command isn't available on non-Windows systems. You can run
Get-ExecutionPolicy
, which shows that the default execution policy setting in PowerShell
Core running on non-Windows systems is Unrestricted
. For more information, see About Execution Policies
Because the PSModulePath
includes the location of the AWS module's directory, the
Get-Module -ListAvailable
cmdlet shows the module that you installed.
AWS.Tools
PS >
Get-Module -ListAvailable
Directory: /Users/
username
/.local/share/powershell/Modules ModuleType Version Name PSEdition ExportedCommands ---------- ------- ---- --------- ---------------- Binary 3.3.563.1 AWS.Tools.Common Desk {Clear-AWSHistory, Set-AWSHistoryConfiguration, Initialize-AWSDefaultConfiguration, Clear-AWSDefaultConfigurat…
AWSPowerShell.NetCore
PS >
Get-Module -ListAvailable
Directory: /Users/
username
/.local/share/powershell/Modules ModuleType Version Name ExportedCommands ---------- ------- ---- ---------------- Binary 3.3.563.1 AWSPowerShell.NetCore
Configure a PowerShell Console to Use the AWS Tools for PowerShell Core (AWSPowerShell.NetCore Only)
PowerShell Core typically loads modules automatically whenever you run a cmdlet in the module. But
this doesn't work for AWSPowerShell.NetCore because of its large size. To start running AWSPowerShell.NetCore cmdlets, you must
first run the Import-Module AWSPowerShell.NetCore
command. This isn't required for cmdlets
in AWS.Tools
modules.
Initialize Your PowerShell Session
When you start PowerShell on a Linux-based or macOS-based system after you have installed the
AWS Tools for PowerShell, you must run Initialize-AWSDefaultConfiguration to specify which AWS access key to use. For more
information about Initialize-AWSDefaultConfiguration
, see Using AWS Credentials.
Note
In earlier (before 3.3.96.0) releases of the AWS Tools for PowerShell, this cmdlet was named
Initialize-AWSDefaults
.
Versioning
AWS releases new versions of the AWS Tools for PowerShell periodically to support new AWS services and features. To determine the version of the AWS Tools for PowerShell that you have installed, run the Get-AWSPowerShellVersion cmdlet.
PS >
Get-AWSPowerShellVersion
Tools for PowerShell Version 4.0.123.0 Copyright 2012-2019 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Amazon Web Services SDK for .NET Core Runtime Version 3.3.103.22 Copyright 2009-2015 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Release notes: https://github.com/aws/aws-tools-for-powershell/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md This software includes third party software subject to the following copyrights: - Logging from log4net, Apache License [http://logging.apache.org/log4net/license.html]
To see a list of the supported AWS services in the current version of the tools, add the
-ListServiceVersionInfo
parameter to a Get-AWSPowerShellVersion cmdlet.
To determine the version of PowerShell that you are running, enter $PSVersionTable
to
view the contents of the $PSVersionTable
automatic variable
PS >
$PSVersionTable
Name Value ---- ----- PSVersion 6.2.2 PSEdition Core GitCommitId 6.2.2 OS Darwin 18.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 18.7.0: Tue Aug 20 16:57:14 PDT 2019; root:xnu-4903.271.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64 Platform Unix PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…} PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3 SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1 WSManStackVersion 3.0
Updating the AWS Tools for PowerShell on Linux or macOS
Periodically, as updated versions of the AWS Tools for PowerShell are released, you should update the version that you're running locally.
Update the modularized AWS.Tools
modules
To update your AWS.Tools
modules to the latest version, run the following command:
PS >
Update-AWSToolsModule -CleanUp
This command updates all of the currently installed AWS.Tools
modules and, for those modules that
were successfully updated, removes the earlier versions.
Note
The Update-AWSToolsModule
cmdlet downloads all modules from the
PSRepository
named PSGallery
(https://www.powershellgallery.com/Get-PSRepository -Name PSGallery
for more
information about this PSRepository
.
Update the Tools for PowerShell Core
Run the Get-AWSPowerShellVersion
cmdlet to determine the version that you are
running, and compare that with the version of Tools for Windows PowerShell that is available on the PowerShell Gallery
Before you install a newer release of AWSPowerShell.NetCore, uninstall the existing module. Close any open PowerShell sessions before you uninstall the existing package. Run the following command to uninstall the package.
PS >
Uninstall-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -AllVersions
After the package is uninstalled, install the updated module by running the following command.
PS >
Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore
After installation, run the command Import-Module AWSPowerShell.NetCore
to load the
updated cmdlets into your PowerShell session.