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karoon sillapapan
karoon sillapapan

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Installing AWS CLI v2 on WSL (Ubuntu)

Installing AWS CLI v2 on WSL (Ubuntu)

This guide walks you through installing the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) version 2 on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) with Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

  • WSL with Ubuntu installed
  • Internet connection
  • Basic terminal knowledge

Installation Steps

There are two main methods to install AWS CLI v2 on WSL Ubuntu:

Method 1: Using the Official Installer (Recommended)

This is the recommended method as it installs the latest AWS CLI v2 directly from Amazon.

# 1. Update your Ubuntu packages
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

# 2. Install unzip if you don't have it already
sudo apt install -y unzip curl

# 3. Download the AWS CLI v2 installation package
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"

# 4. Unzip the installer
unzip awscliv2.zip

# 5. Run the install program
sudo ./aws/install

# 6. Verify the installation
aws --version
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Method 2: Using Python pip (Alternative for AWS CLI v1)

This method installs AWS CLI v1, which is an older version but may be sufficient for basic needs.

# 1. Install Python and pip if not already installed
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip

# 2. Install AWS CLI using pip
pip3 install awscli --upgrade --user

# 3. Add the installation directory to your PATH
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# 4. Verify the installation
aws --version
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Configuring AWS CLI

After installation, you need to configure AWS CLI with your credentials:

# Run the AWS configure command
aws configure
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You'll be prompted to enter:

  • AWS Access Key ID
  • AWS Secret Access Key
  • Default region name (e.g., us-west-2, eu-west-1)
  • Default output format (json, text, or yaml)

Updating AWS CLI

To update an existing AWS CLI v2 installation:

# 1. Download the latest version
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"

# 2. Unzip the installer
unzip -u awscliv2.zip

# 3. Update the existing installation
sudo ./aws/install --bin-dir /usr/local/bin --install-dir /usr/local/aws-cli --update
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Troubleshooting

  1. If aws --version returns "command not found":

    • Restart your terminal or run source ~/.bashrc
    • Verify the installation path is in your PATH variable

  2. If you encounter permission errors:

    • Make sure you're using sudo when required
    • Check file permissions in the installation directory

  3. For "Fatal error condition" issues:

    • This can happen with certain WSL configurations
    • Try using Method 2 (pip installation) instead

Additional Resources

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