AWS CLI Cheatsheet

AWS

CLI

Cheatsheet

Command Line

Note

Author

Louis Becker

Published

July 12, 2026

Quick Reference - Most Used Commands

# Add a new AWS profile
aws configure --profile new-profile-name    # Create new profile with access keys
aws configure sso --profile new-profile-name # Create new SSO profile (interactive)

# SSO setup process:
# 1. Run: aws configure sso --profile profile-name
# 2. Enter SSO start URL when prompted (e.g., https://your-org.awsapps.com/start)
# 3. Enter SSO region (e.g., us-east-1)
# 4. It will open browser for authentication
# 5. Select the account and role

# Sign in to AWS (for SSO profiles)
aws sso login --profile profile-name    # Login to specific SSO profile
aws sso login                          # Login to default SSO profile

# List all AWS profiles/accounts on this computer
aws configure list-profiles             # Show all configured profiles

# Check which account/profile you're currently using
aws sts get-caller-identity             # Show current user/role
aws configure list                      # Show current profile configuration

# Switch between profiles
export AWS_PROFILE=profile-name         # Set profile for current session
aws configure list                      # Verify the switch worked

# Use a specific profile for one command (without switching)
aws s3 ls --profile profile-name        # Run single command with specific profile

# Clear profile (use default)
unset AWS_PROFILE                       # Remove profile override

Setup

# Configure AWS CLI
aws configure                           # Interactive setup
aws configure set region us-east-1      # Set default region
aws configure set output json           # Set output format
aws configure list                      # View current configuration
aws configure list-profiles             # List all profiles

# Check current identity
aws sts get-caller-identity             # Show current user/role

Configuration & Profiles

# List all available AWS profiles/accounts
aws configure list-profiles             # Show all configured profiles
cat ~/.aws/credentials | grep '\[' | tr -d '[]'  # Alternative way to list profiles
aws configure list                      # Show current profile configuration

# Multiple profiles
aws configure --profile myprofile       # Create named profile
aws s3 ls --profile myprofile          # Use specific profile

# Environment variables
export AWS_PROFILE=myprofile            # Set default profile
export AWS_REGION=us-west-2            # Set default region

S3 (Simple Storage Service)

# Bucket operations
aws s3 ls                              # List all buckets
aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket               # Create bucket
aws s3 rb s3://my-bucket               # Remove empty bucket
aws s3 rb s3://my-bucket --force       # Remove bucket and all contents

# Object operations
aws s3 ls s3://bucket-name             # List objects in bucket
aws s3 ls s3://bucket-name/folder/     # List objects in folder
aws s3 cp file.txt s3://bucket/        # Upload file
aws s3 cp s3://bucket/file.txt .       # Download file
aws s3 mv file.txt s3://bucket/        # Move file to S3
aws s3 rm s3://bucket/file.txt         # Delete file

# Sync operations
aws s3 sync ./local-folder s3://bucket/folder/    # Upload folder
aws s3 sync s3://bucket/folder/ ./local-folder    # Download folder
aws s3 sync . s3://bucket --delete                # Sync and delete removed files

EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

# Instance management
aws ec2 describe-instances                         # List all instances
aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids i-xxx   # Describe specific instance
aws ec2 start-instances --instance-ids i-xxx      # Start instance
aws ec2 stop-instances --instance-ids i-xxx       # Stop instance
aws ec2 reboot-instances --instance-ids i-xxx     # Reboot instance
aws ec2 terminate-instances --instance-ids i-xxx  # Terminate instance

# Instance filtering
aws ec2 describe-instances --filters "Name=instance-state-name,Values=running"
aws ec2 describe-instances --filters "Name=tag:Name,Values=my-server"

# Security groups
aws ec2 describe-security-groups                  # List security groups
aws ec2 describe-security-groups --group-ids sg-xxx

# Key pairs
aws ec2 describe-key-pairs                        # List key pairs
aws ec2 create-key-pair --key-name my-key         # Create key pair

# AMIs
aws ec2 describe-images --owners self              # List your AMIs
aws ec2 describe-images --image-ids ami-xxx        # Describe specific AMI

IAM (Identity and Access Management)

# Users
aws iam list-users                      # List all users
aws iam get-user                        # Get current user info
aws iam get-user --user-name username   # Get specific user info
aws iam create-user --user-name newuser # Create user

# Groups
aws iam list-groups                     # List all groups
aws iam get-group --group-name groupname

# Roles
aws iam list-roles                      # List all roles
aws iam get-role --role-name rolename   # Get specific role

# Policies
aws iam list-policies                   # List all policies
aws iam list-attached-user-policies --user-name username
aws iam list-attached-role-policies --role-name rolename

Lambda

# Function management
aws lambda list-functions               # List all functions
aws lambda get-function --function-name my-function
aws lambda invoke --function-name my-function output.json
aws lambda update-function-code --function-name my-function --zip-file fileb://function.zip

# Logs
aws logs describe-log-groups           # List log groups
aws logs tail /aws/lambda/my-function  # Tail function logs

RDS (Relational Database Service)

# Database instances
aws rds describe-db-instances           # List DB instances
aws rds describe-db-instances --db-instance-identifier mydb
aws rds start-db-instance --db-instance-identifier mydb
aws rds stop-db-instance --db-instance-identifier mydb
aws rds reboot-db-instance --db-instance-identifier mydb

Useful Query Examples

# Get instance IDs and states
aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId,State.Name]' --output table

# Get S3 bucket sizes
aws s3 ls --summarize --human-readable --recursive s3://bucket-name

# List running instances with names
aws ec2 describe-instances --filters "Name=instance-state-name,Values=running" \
  --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId,Tags[?Key==`Name`].Value|[0]]' --output table

# Get latest AMI ID for Amazon Linux
aws ec2 describe-images --owners amazon \
  --filters "Name=name,Values=amzn2-ami-hvm-*" "Name=virtualization-type,Values=hvm" \
  --query 'Images | sort_by(@, &CreationDate) | [-1].ImageId' --output text

Common Options

--profile profile-name                  # Use specific AWS profile
--region us-west-2                      # Override default region
--output table|json|text|yaml           # Set output format
--query 'expression'                    # Filter output with JMESPath
--dry-run                              # Preview operation without executing
--no-cli-pager                         # Disable paging for long output

Helpful Tips

Use aws <service> help for service documentation
Use aws <service> <command> help for command-specific help
Add --dry-run to preview destructive operations
Use --query to filter and format output
Set AWS_PAGER="" to disable paging globally
Use aws configure list to debug configuration issues

Error Troubleshooting

```bash # Common debugging commands aws sts get-caller-identity # Verify credentials aws configure list # Check configuration aws ec2 describe-regions # Test API connectivity