AWS CloudShell

Benefits

• No additional credentials to manage

The credentials of the person who is now logged into the AWS Management Console are passed down to CloudShell, so there is no need to spend additional time managing credentials locally.

• Updated regularly

CloudShell delivers a fully managed Amazon Linux 2 environment that comes pre-installed with the most recent versions of popular utilities updated to the latest releases. Therefore, it is not necessary to patch the environment or update the pre-installed utilities in this case.

• No charge

CloudShell offers you a browser-based shell via which you can run scripts and commands. It includes 1 GB of persistent storage per Region, provided at no further charge to you. You only pay for the AWS resources you consume when developing and running your applications with CloudShell.

• Customizable

With 1 GB of persistent storage per Region, you may use your home directory to store scripts, files, configuration preferences, and additional tools accessible from anywhere. With the shell, you can start working right away without having to customize your environment every time you open it.

Features

• A shell that is accessible through a web browser

To interact with your AWS resources, you can use the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) to issue commands, run scripts, access common command-line utilities such as PowerShell and Bash, and use other popular AWS CLIs, such as the Amazon ECS CLI and the Amazon SAM CLI, all without leaving your web browser.

• Well-known tools

CloudShell runs on Amazon Linux 2 and contains common AWS command-line interfaces, such as the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), the Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS CLI), and the AWS Serverless Application Model (AWS SAM CLI, as well as Python and Node.js runtimes and AWS SDKs for those languages. In addition, several more regularly used command-line utilities for shells (Bash, PowerShell, Zsh), editors (vi), source control (Git), and package management (npm, pip) are also installed on this machine.

• Manages your credentials on an automatic basis

The credentials of the currently logged into the AWS Management Console are passed to CloudShell by default. This simplifies authentication and saves operational effort by eliminating the need to configure and manage credentials per-user on the local machine.

• Completely managed and kept up to date.

CloudShell is fully managed, with the most recent security updates, the most recent versions of the operating system, and the most recent versions of the installed utilities. So instead of worrying about maintaining your local machines or software development services, or tooling, you can concentrate on developing and managing your AWS computing services.

• Persistent storage space of 1 GB

CloudShell comes with 1 GB of persistent storage for your home directory, which can be used for other purposes. Permanent storage allows you to keep track of your regularly used scripts and configuration files even when not in CloudShell.

• Inactivity timeouts and session persistence

Each CloudShell session will timeout after around 20 minutes of inactivity, and it can be re-established by simply refreshing the window.

• Regions

CloudShell is now accessible in the United States East (North Virginia), United States East (Ohio), United States West (Oregon), Europe (Ireland), and Asia Pacific (Tokyo) Regions, with the remaining regions scheduled to be added shortly.

• Consistent Storage

Files stored under $HOME are retained across CloudShell invocations, with a limit of 1 GB per area; all other storage is temporary and cannot be recovered. Any software installed outside of $HOME will not persist, and no matter what changes (or breaks), you will always be able to start again with a fresh CloudShell environment if you choose.

• Network Access

Sessions can establish outbound connections to the Internet, but they cannot establish inbound connections. Sessions cannot connect to resources located within private VPC subnets, although this is expected to change soon.

• Runtimes

In addition to the Python and Node runtimes, Bash, PowerShell, jq, git, the ECS CLI, the SAM CLI, npm, and pip have all been installed and are ready to be used by developers.

Pricing for AWS CloudShell

There are no additional fees associated with AWS CloudShell. All other AWS resources you use in conjunction with CloudShell to develop and run your apps are free. Furthermore, there are no minimum costs and no forced upfront commitments with this service. The amount charged for data transfer is based on the regular AWS data transfer rates.

A small number of our customers are most comfortable working from within a web browser and have not yet built up or customized their command-line interface to suit their needs (CLI). While none of these stages are particularly difficult or time-consuming, they can add complexity and friction to the process, and we are always happy to assist you in avoiding both.

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