You can find the 5-minute video that walks through all of the steps described here.
In this episode, we'll be looking at AWS CloudShell. CloudShell is a fully-managed service that provides you command line access to AWS resources and tools directly from a browser.
It comes preinstalled with tools including the AWS CLI, the SAM CLI, Node.js, Git, vim, Powershell, and Python. It run on an Amazon Linux 2 environment and is always up to date with the latest patches.
CloudShell is always available from the AWS console through a one-click icon at the top of every console page.
There are no extra credentials you need to manage as it uses the credentials of the logged in user to the console.
Your CloudShell environment is terminated after 20 minutes of inactivity but you can keep using it for 12 hours continuously. The only directory that persists changes that you make is your home directory. You can store 1GB in this home directory.
Your CloudShell environment is launched into a dedicated VPC managed by AWS. As of now, you can have outbound connections but not inbound connections. On AWS' near-term roadmap is launching into an existing VPC.
You can customize your shell environment with dark and light mode and by modifying your font size. You can download and upload files and launch multiple tabs and columns.
Because of the ephemeral nature of CloudShell, it can be used to ensure consistency since - other than your home directory - it resets its configuration every time you use it. Therefore, it can be very useful for experimentation. CloudShell is also helpful for establishing context as you switch between AWS accounts as it's easy to determine which account and in which region you are running.
As of February 2021, it has been launched in five AWS regions with more to come.
There is no extra cost. You only pay for the resources you use or create from CloudShell. You can run up to 10 sessions per region - which is a soft limit.
- Go to your AWS Console and select the Ohio/us-east-2 region.
Modify your environment preferences.
- Select the Gear icon on the right-hand side of your CloudShell environment.
- Choose a different Font size.
- Choose a different AWS CloudShell theme.
Perform the following actions from your CloudShell environment.
- Go to Actions and select New Tab.
- Go to Actions and select Split into rows.
- Go to Actions and select Split into columns.
- From your CloudShell environment, create a new file:
vim cloudshell.txt. - Make some changes to the file.
- Go to Actions and select Download File.
- On your local computer, modify the contents of the file.
- Change the name of the file to
local-env.txt. - Go to Actions and select Upload File.
- Run the following commands from your CloudShell environment:
cd ~
mkdir rs-dir1 rs-dir2 rs-dir3
sudo yum -y install mt-st
sudo yum list installed | grep mt-st
ls
- Go to Actions and select Restart AWS CloudShell. It will automatically restart your CloudShell environment. Once it's available again, type the following commands:
cd ~
sudo yum list installed | grep mt-st
ls
You should see the directories you created along with any of the files in your home directory but the mt-st package will no longer be installed. This is because CloudShell resets everything except for your home directory.
- Run the following commands from your CloudShell environment.
cd ~
mkdir del-dir1 del-dir2 del-dir3
ls
- Go to Actions and select Delete AWS CloudShell home directory. It will automatically restart your CloudShell environment. Once it's available again, type the following commands:
cd ~
ls
You should no longer see the directories or any of the files you created in your home directory.
- Run the following commands from your CloudShell environment:
pwd
ls
aws
git
node --version
python --version
pwsh
sam