Using PowerShell for managing AWS resources

How to configure PowerShell for managing AWS resources (Windows platform)

• Login to the machine using privileged account.
• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell:

powershell

Note: You need to run cmd.exe or PowerShell.exe as administrator.

• Run the command below to find out the current PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

• In-case you currently have version older than 5.1, follow the article below to locate the download URL for upgrading to the latest version of PowerShell:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/setup/installing-windows-powershell?view=powershell-6

Also, review the article below for PowerShell installation pre-requirements:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/setup/windows-powershell-system-requirements?view=powershell-5.1

• Run the below command to check if you have PowerShellGet installed on your system:

Get-Module PowerShellGet -list | Select-Object Name,Version,Path

• In-case you don’t have PowerShellGet, run the commands below:

Install-PackageProvider Nuget –Force

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet –Force

For more information about installation or upgrade of PowerShellGet, see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/gallery/installing-psget

• Run the command below to install AWS tools for PowerShell core:

Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -AllowClobber -Force

• Run the command below to import the AWS PowerShell module:

Import-Module AWSPowerShell

• Run the command below to update to the latest AWS PowerShell module:

Update-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -Force

• To view the installed versions of AWS PowerShell module, run the command below:

Get-Module -Name AWSPowerShell -List | select Name,Version

Get-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -List | select Name,Version

• To view the list of AWS services supported by the Tools for PowerShell, run the command below:

Get-AWSPowerShellVersion -ListServiceVersionInfo

How to configure PowerShell for managing Azure resources (CentOS platform)

• Login to the machine using privileged account.
• Run the command below to register the RedHat repository:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo

Note: The above command should be written in a single line

• Run the command below to install PowerShell:

sudo yum install -y powershell

• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell:

sudo pwsh

• Run the command below to find out the current PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

• Run the below command to check if you have PowerShellGet installed on your system:

Get-Module PowerShellGet -list | Select-Object Name,Version,Path

• In-case you don’t have PowerShellGet, run the commands below:

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet –Force

For more information about installation or upgrade of PowerShellGet, see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/gallery/installing-psget

• Run the command below to install AWS tools for PowerShell core:

Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -AllowClobber -Force

• Run the command below to update to the latest AWS PowerShell module:

Update-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -Force

• To view the installed versions of AWS PowerShell module, run the command below:

Get-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -List | select Name,Version

• To view the list of AWS services supported by the Tools for PowerShell, run the command below:

Get-AWSPowerShellVersion -ListServiceVersionInfo

How to configure AWS Account and Access Keys

• Login to the IAM Console:

https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/

• From the left pane, click on Users -> click on “Add user” -> specify the user name -> access type: “Programmatic access” -> do not select “AWS Management Console access” -> click “Next: Permissions”
• From the “add user to group”, either select existing group or click on “Create group” -> click “Next: Review” -> click on “Create user”
• Download the CSV file with the “Access key ID” and “Secret access key” and save the CSV file in a secure location
• Click Close

Managing Profiles

• Login to the machine using privileged account.
• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell (Windows platform)

powershell

• From command prompt, run the command below to invoke PowerShell (CentOS platform)

sudo pwsh

• Run the command below to add a new profile:

Set-AWSCredential -AccessKey <AWS_Access_Key> -SecretKey <AWS_Secret_Key> -StoreAs <Profile_Name>

Note 1: Replace <AWS_Access_Key> with the relevant value from the CSV file created above.

Note 2: Replace <AWS_Secret_Key> with the relevant value from the CSV file created above.

Note 3: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

• List all available profiles:

Get-AWSCredential -ListProfileDetail

Reference:

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-configure-files.html

VPC related commands

• List all available VPC’s in a specific region:

Get-EC2VPC -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 2: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

Get-EC2VPC -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

• Create a new VPC inside a specific region:

New-EC2VPC -CidrBlock <CIDR_Block> -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <CIDR_Block> with the IPv4 network range for the VPC, in CIDR notation. For example, 10.0.0.0/16.

Note 2: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 3: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

New-EC2VPC -CidrBlock 10.0.0.0/16 -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

Subnet related commands

• List all available subnets inside a specific region:

Get-EC2Subnet -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 2: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

Get-EC2Subnet -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

• Get information about specific subnet:

Get-EC2Subnet -SubnetId <Subnet_ID> -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: The above command should be written in a single line

Note 2: Replace <Subnet_ID> with the relevant value

Note 3: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 4: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

Get-EC2Subnet -SubnetId subnet-101ad84c -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

Security Group related commands

• List all security groups in a specific region:

Get-EC2SecurityGroup -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 2: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

Get-EC2SecurityGroup -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

• Create a new security group inside a specific VPC:

$groupid = New-EC2SecurityGroup -VpcId <VPC_Name> -GroupName <Security_Group_Name> -GroupDescription <Group_Description> -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: The above command should be written a single line

Note 2: Replace <VPC_Name> with the relevant value

Note 3: Replace <Security_Group_Name> with a unique value (up to 255 characters), as mentioned below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_SecurityGroups.html

Note 4: Replace <Group Description> with relevant value, as mentioned below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_SecurityGroups.html

Note 5: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 6: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

$groupid = New-EC2SecurityGroup -VpcId "vpc-64c0c61f" -GroupName "myPSSecurityGroup" -GroupDescription "EC2-VPC from PowerShell" -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName cliuser

Reference:

• https://4sysops.com/archives/create-and-view-ec2-security-groups-with-powershell/

Key Pair related commands

• Create a new key pair:

$myPSKeyPair = New-EC2KeyPair -KeyName <Key_Pair_Name> -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name>

Note 1: The above command must be written as a single line

Note 2: Replace <Key_Pair_Name> with your own key pair name

Note 3: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 4: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

$myPSKeyPair = New-EC2KeyPair -KeyName MyKeyPair01 -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile

• View a key pair fingerprint:

Get-EC2KeyPair -KeyName <Key_Pair_Name> -Region <Region_Name> -ProfileName <Profile_Name> | format-list KeyName, KeyFingerprint

Note 1: The above command must be written as a single line

Note 2: Replace <Key_Pair_Name> with your own key pair name

Note 3: Replace <Region_Name> with the target region, from the list below:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RegionsAndAvailabilityZones.html

Note 4: Replace <Profile_Name> with your own profile name

Example:

Get-EC2KeyPair -KeyName MyKeyPair01 -Region us-east-1 -ProfileName MyProfile | format-list KeyName, KeyFingerprint

• Storing a private key to a file:

$myPSKeyPair.KeyMaterial | Out-File -Encoding ascii <Private_Key_Name>.pem

Note: Replace <Private_Key_Name>.pem with your own value

Reference:

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/pstools-ec2-keypairs.html
• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/pstools-ec2.html