AWS CLI basics: accounts, profiles and regions

Clicking through a cloud console is useful for exploration, but repeated work is easier to record and automate with commands. The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) lets you call AWS services from a terminal or script.

A command uses an authenticated identity and usually a selected region. A named profile stores configuration for a particular way of connecting. Before changing anything, confirm which account and role the command will use: a familiar terminal window does not tell you whether its credentials point to your lab or production.

Try it in a lab

Configure a lab profile using the current documented authentication method. Confirm the effective identity with a read-only command, then inspect one resource inventory in the intended region.

Check your understanding

Demonstrate that switching profiles changes the intended identity and explain the precedence of environment variables and configuration. Record commands without embedding credentials.

Before you start

Avoid long-lived keys where temporary access is available. A familiar shell prompt is not proof that the active credentials belong to the test account.

Read the official guide

Use the project documentation for version-specific commands and prerequisites. Record the versions and results of your own exercise. This page proposes a learning activity; it does not report a Kubedex test.

This is a newly written study reference at an address from the original Kubedex course outline. The original lesson was not recovered. It does not include course enrolment, progress tracking or a certificate.