Day 40: IAM Programmatic access and AWS CLI 🚀

In AWS (Amazon Web Services), IAM (Identity and Access Management) programmatic access allows applications, scripts, or AWS services to interact with AWS resources programmatically. This is achieved through the use of access keys (access key ID and secret access key) associated with an IAM user or role.

To enable programmatic access for an IAM user:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the IAM console.

2. In the navigation pane, choose "Users".

3. Select the IAM user for which you want to enable programmatic access.

4. Choose the "Security credentials" tab.

5. Under "Access keys", choose "Create access key".

6. Record the access key ID and secret access key, as you won't be able to view the secret access key again.

Once you have the access key ID and secret access key, you can use them to authenticate your requests to AWS services through AWS SDKs, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), or directly in your application code.

Here's an example of how to configure AWS CLI with IAM programmatic access:

1. Install AWS CLI on your local machine if you haven't already.

2. Run aws configure command.

3. Enter the access key ID and secret access key when prompted.

4. Optionally, set the default region and output format.

After configuring AWS CLI with the access keys, you can start using AWS CLI commands to interact with AWS resources programmatically.

AWS CLI

The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a powerful tool that allows you to interact with various AWS services directly from your command line or terminal. You can use it to manage AWS resources, automate tasks, and script actions.

Here are some basic commands and examples of how to use AWS CLI:

1. Installation: Before you can use the AWS CLI, you need to install it on your local machine. You can install it via pip (Python package manager) or by downloading the installer directly from AWS.

    Copy codepip install awscli
   

2. Configuration: After installing the AWS CLI, you need to configure it with your AWS credentials. You can do this by running the aws configure command and providing your access key ID, secret access key, default region, and output format.

    Copy codeaws configure
   

3. Basic Usage: Once configured, you can start using AWS CLI commands. Here are some examples:

   • List all S3 buckets:

       bashCopy codeaws s3 ls
     

   • Upload a file to an S3 bucket:

       luaCopy codeaws s3 cp <local-file-path> s3://<bucket-name>/<destination-path>
     

   • Create an EC2 instance:

       pythonCopy codeaws ec2 run-instances --image-id <ami-id> --instance-type <instance-type> --key-name <key-pair-name> --subnet-id <subnet-id>
     

   • Describe EC2 instances:

       sqlCopy codeaws ec2 describe-instances
     

   • Create an IAM user:

       sqlCopy codeaws iam create-user --user-name <username>
     

   • List IAM users:

       Copy codeaws iam list-users
     

4. Help: You can always get help on specific commands or services by using the --help option. For example:

    bashCopy codeaws s3 ls --help
   

This is just a brief overview of what you can do with AWS CLI. It supports many more commands and options for interacting with various AWS services. You can explore the AWS CLI documentation for more details and advanced usage.

• Create AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY from AWS Console.

Sure, here are the general steps to create access keys (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY) from the AWS Management Console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console: Go to the AWS Management Console (https://aws.amazon.com/console/) and sign in with your AWS account credentials.

2. Open the IAM Console: Once logged in, navigate to the IAM service by either searching for IAM in the AWS services search bar or by directly selecting IAM from the list of available services.

3. Navigate to Users: In the IAM dashboard, select "Users" from the navigation pane on the left side of the screen.

4. Select the User: Choose the IAM user for which you want to create access keys by clicking on the username.

5. Access Keys Section: In the "Security credentials" tab of the user details page, scroll down to the "Access keys" section.

6. Create Access Key: Click on the "Create access key" button.

7. Record Credentials: Once the access key is created, you will see the access key ID and the corresponding secret access key. It's important to record these credentials immediately, as you won't be able to retrieve the secret access key again. You can download the credentials as a CSV file for safekeeping.

8. Configure Access: You can use these credentials (access key ID and secret access key) to authenticate your AWS CLI, SDKs, or other applications that require programmatic access to AWS services.

9. Manage Access Keys: You can manage your access keys from the IAM console at any time. For example, you can deactivate or delete access keys if they are compromised or no longer needed.

Remember to keep your access keys secure and never share them publicly. If your access keys are compromised, immediately deactivate or delete them and create new ones. Additionally, regularly rotate your access keys for improved security.