Amazon EKS — Install AWS CLI

2 minute read

Install AWS CLI

The AWS CLI is your gateway to AWS services. Every EKS operation — from creating clusters to updating kubeconfig — requires it.

What is AWS CLI?

AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a tool that lets you interact with AWS services from your terminal. For EKS, you’ll use it to:

  • Configure AWS credentials
  • Update your kubeconfig to connect to EKS clusters
  • Check EKS cluster status
  • Manage IAM roles and policies

Install AWS CLI v2

macOS

$ curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.pkg" -o "AWSCLIV2.pkg"
$ sudo installer -pkg AWSCLIV2.pkg -target /
$ rm AWSCLIV2.pkg

Or with Homebrew:

$ brew install awscli

Linux (x86_64)

$ curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
$ unzip awscliv2.zip
$ sudo ./aws/install
$ rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip

Linux (ARM64 — Graviton)

$ curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-aarch64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
$ unzip awscliv2.zip
$ sudo ./aws/install
$ rm -rf aws awscliv2.zip

Windows

Download and run the MSI installer from: https://awscli.amazonaws.com/AWSCLIV2.msi

Verify Installation

$ aws --version
aws-cli/2.15.30 Python/3.11.8 Darwin/23.4.0 exe/x86_64 prompt/off

You should see version 2.x.x. If you see version 1.x, uninstall it and install v2.

Configure AWS CLI

$ aws configure
AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
Default region name [None]: us-east-1
Default output format [None]: json

This creates two files:

$ cat ~/.aws/credentials
[default]
aws_access_key_id = AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
aws_secret_access_key = wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

$ cat ~/.aws/config
[default]
region = us-east-1
output = json

Verify AWS Access

$ aws sts get-caller-identity
{
    "UserId": "AIDAEXAMPLEUSERID",
    "Account": "123456789012",
    "Arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/eks-admin"
}

If this command returns your account info, you’re good to go.

For multiple AWS accounts, use named profiles:

$ aws configure --profile eks-tutorial
AWS Access Key ID [None]: AKIA...
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: wJal...
Default region name [None]: us-east-1
Default output format [None]: json

Then use the profile:

$ export AWS_PROFILE=eks-tutorial
$ aws sts get-caller-identity

Best practice: Never use the default profile for production. Always use named profiles so you don’t accidentally run commands in the wrong account.

Region Selection for EKS

Choose your region based on:

Factor Recommendation
Latency Choose a region close to your users
Cost us-east-1 and us-west-2 are typically cheapest
Features New EKS features launch in us-east-1 first
Compliance Some data must stay in specific regions
Tutorial We’ll use us-east-1 throughout this tutorial

Common Mistakes

Mistake Fix
Using AWS CLI v1 Uninstall v1, install v2
Hardcoding credentials in scripts Use aws configure or environment variables
Using root account credentials Create an IAM user (see IAM Setup)
Wrong region Set AWS_DEFAULT_REGION or use --region flag

Quick Reference

# Install (macOS)
$ brew install awscli

# Configure
$ aws configure

# Verify
$ aws --version
$ aws sts get-caller-identity

# Use a profile
$ export AWS_PROFILE=eks-tutorial

What’s Next?

AWS CLI is ready. Now let’s install the EKS-specific tool: Install eksctl.

You may also enjoy