Accessing the AWS platform using the CLI

As previously discussed, you can access the vast array of AWS services using the web-based management console or the CLI. The AWS CLI is a unified tool to manage your AWS services programmatically. The AWS CLI gives you access to the application programming interface (API) of each AWS service. This enables you to remotely access your AWS account and run commands from your Terminal application on Linux and Mac computers or use Command Prompt on Windows computers.

The AWS CLI is therefore ideal for running simple commands to complete repetitive tasks and because a single command string can contain necessary attributes of your request, you will find it a lot faster than using mouse clicks within the web console. The CLI is something you will need to get accustomed to—for one, you will need to know how to construct commands, but AWS offers complete reference documentation for this.

You can run your CLI commands line by line individually...