AWS CLI Installation Guide for Ubuntu

This guide provides instructions for installing the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) on Ubuntu machines.

Installation Methods

There are two primary methods to install AWS CLI:

1. Command Line Installer (Recommended for version control)

   • Allows specific version installation
   • Manual updates required
   • Good for teams that need to pin versions

2. Snap Package

   • Automatically updates to the latest version
   • No version selection support
   • Good for users who want to stay current

Installation Using Command Line Installer

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu machine (x86 64-bit)
• curl installed
• unzip utility installed
• Sudo privileges

Basic Installation Steps

1. Download the AWS CLI package:

curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"

2. Unzip the installer:

unzip awscliv2.zip

3. Run the install program:

sudo ./aws/install

Updating Existing Installation

To update your current AWS CLI installation:

curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install --bin-dir /usr/local/bin --install-dir /usr/local/aws-cli --update

Custom Installation Location

You can specify custom installation directories using these parameters:

• --install-dir or -i: Directory for AWS CLI files
• --bin-dir or -b: Directory for symlinks to AWS CLI program

Example:

./aws/install -i /usr/local/aws-cli -b /usr/local/bin

Note: Ensure paths contain no spaces or special characters.

Verification

Verify the installation by checking the AWS CLI version:

aws --version

Expected output format:

aws-cli/2.x.x Python/3.x.x Linux/x.x.x botocore/2.x.x

Troubleshooting

If the aws command is not found after installation:

1. Restart your terminal
2. Verify the installation path is in your system's PATH variable
3. Check if the symlink was created correctly in /usr/local/bin

Additional Notes

• The default installation location is /usr/local/aws-cli
• The default symlink location is /usr/local/bin
• When updating, use the -u flag with unzip to automatically overwrite existing files:

  unzip -u awscliv2.zip