AWS CloudShell

AWS CloudShell is a browser-based shell within Amazon Web Services that provides command-line access to AWS tools and resources directly from a web browser.

Key points

  • Browser-based, so it requires no local installation.
  • Pre-authenticated service accessed directly from the AWS Management Console — console sign-in credentials are automatically available in the shell session, so AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) v2 works with no separate configuration step.
  • Provides command-line access to AWS tools and resources, complementing the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) with a fully in-browser experience.
  • Compute environment is based on Amazon Linux 2023, with a choice of Bash, PowerShell, or Z shell, and pre-installed tools (git, pip, tmux, vim, and more) plus runtimes such as Node.js, Python, and .NET Core.
  • Provides up to 1 GB of persistent storage per AWS Region (in the home directory), which survives between sessions; CloudShell VPC environments do not get persistent storage.
  • No additional charge for the service itself; standard rates apply for any other AWS resources used from within it.

Sources