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LocalStack: Emulate AWS Services for Local Development & Testing

Lionel♾️☁️ on August 24, 2023

It can be time-consuming, difficult, and even dangerous to create and test cloud-based apps in a production setting. This is when the significance ...
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Jack

Thank you for writing this article! If you plan to expand it further, it would be great to include details on how to authenticate to LocalStack once it is running and some examples of using various AWS services. Additionally, I have been experimenting with using LocalStack in conjunction with Terraform for work, so insights on that would be very valuable as well. Thanks again!

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bartszy • Edited

Hi @jack, I am from LocalStack, happy to share some specific samples on how to use LS with Terraform, but our docs here should be a good starting point!
docs.localstack.cloud/user-guide/i...

Let me know if I can help more!

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Michael victor enuemezie

Hey good day

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Micheal Angelo

As a beginner, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced with AWS is not knowing where to start, especially when free-tier limitations and billing concerns make hands-on experimentation feel risky. Because of that, many concepts often remain theoretical and hard to truly understand.

Following the approach you described using LocalStack and Docker made things click for me. I was able to run AWS services locally, create my first S3 bucket and store files in it, work with DynamoDB to store structured data, and even create and invoke my first Lambda function — all without touching a real AWS account.

What I really appreciate is how this setup closely mirrors how things work in a real production environment, while still being safe and beginner-friendly. It helped me understand AWS services not just conceptually, but practically — how they interact, how the CLI commands work, and how serverless components fit together.

I think this post is an excellent starting point for anyone new to AWS who wants hands-on experience without the fear of costs or misconfiguration. It bridges a gap that many beginners struggle with.

Thanks again for writing this — I wish I had come across this post much earlier.

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Suvrajeet Banerjee

Local magic! ✨

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Khanh Le

Thanks for the great article.
I wonder if I can use a docker alternative, for example, podman?

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Arvin Jay Romero

Thanks for your article.
Can you give me more details about local AWS development using LocalStack?
I am very interested in it.
Thanks.

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Mangabo Kolawole

I used localstack to use as an alternative for a course on SAA.

very useful tool and thanks for the article

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Roshan Sharma

Great guide! Are you planning to cover more AWS services with LocalStack in a follow-up?

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Idopise Edwin

Will give it a try right a way.

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Michiel

Wow this is such a good idea, will definitely try it!