--- title: "How to Leverage AWS PowerShell Commands for Automation" description: "Learn to get started using the AWS PowerShell tools to manage resources and automate tasks within the AWS environment!" canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/aws-powershell/" --- # How to Leverage AWS PowerShell Commands for Automation > Learn to get started using the AWS PowerShell tools to manage resources and automate tasks within the AWS environment! Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/aws-powershell/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![How to Leverage AWS PowerShell Commands for Automation](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/How-to-Leverage-AWS-PowerShell-Commands-for-Automation.jpg) # How to Leverage AWS PowerShell Commands for Automation [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/31b81fca75dbee0e688880e229577076d71f16e2a297c257566284fcf416c7d5?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Victory Nwani](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/victory-nwani/)5 April 20228 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[AWS](/tag/aws/)[PowerShell](/tag/powershell/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) * [Installing the AWS PowerShell Tools Installer Module](#installing-the-aws-powershell-tools-installer-module) * [Building a PowerShell Module using AWS PowerShell Tools](#building-a-powershell-module-using-aws-powershell-tools) * [Installing Modules for AWS Services](#installing-modules-for-aws-services) * [Creating An IAM User for PowerShell](#creating-an-iam-user-for-powershell) * [Handling AWS Credentials for PowerShell Tools](#handling-aws-credentials-for-powershell-tools) * [Inline Credentials](#inline-credentials) * [AWS Credentials Profile](#aws-credentials-profile) * [Creating a Custom PowerShell Module](#creating-a-custom-powershell-module) * [Running Your Custom AWS PowerShell Module](#running-your-custom-aws-powershell-module) * [Backing Up Files to S3](#backing-up-files-to-s3) * [Restoring Files from S3](#restoring-files-from-s3) * [Conclusion](#conclusion) Are you tired of interacting with your AWS Services from your PowerShell environment through the REST API endpoints? Although functional, interacting with AWS services through the REST API endpoints can be complex. What is the way out? AWS PowerShell Tools is the solution! The AWS Tools for PowerShell provide developers and system administrators a way to manage their AWS resources from a PowerShell environment. The AWS PowerShell Tools allow you to perform actions against your AWS resources and services all within PowerShell. Keep reading and follow along. This tutorial will teach you to leverage the AWS PowerShell tools to manage AWS resources and automate tasks. ## Prerequisites This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following: * An AWS account. You may register a [free tier](https://aws.amazon.com/free/?all-free-tier.sort-by=item.additionalFields.SortRank&all-free-tier.sort-order=asc&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Types=*all&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Categories=*all) account first if you don’t have one. * An AWS S3 bucket. Follow this link on [creating an S3 bucket](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/create-bucket-overview.html) if you do not have one yet. Make sure to get the name of your S3 bucket. * A computer with at least Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 6.0 installed. The examples in this tutorial will be using PowerShell version 7.2.1. Related:[How to Check your PowerShell Version (All the Ways!](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-version/) ## Installing the AWS PowerShell Tools Installer Module The AWS Tools Installer introduces a modular approach to installing, removing, and updating PowerShell modules for different AWS services. The AWS Tools Installer is available across Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems. Proceed as follows to install the AWS Tools Installer. 1\. Open a PowerShell window and execute the below command to install the [`AWS.Tools.Installer`](https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/AWS.Tools.Installer) module. ```bash Install-Module -Name AWS.Tools.Installer ``` 2\. To confirm the successful installation, run the below command to verify the module information. ```powershell Get-Module AWS.Tools.Installer -ListAvailable ``` As you can see below, the latest AWS.Tools.Installer version as of this writing is 1.0.2.4. ![Verifying the AWS Tools Installer module installation](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-568.png) Verifying the AWS Tools Installer module installation 3\. Finally, list the module cmdlets by running the below command. ```powershell Get-Command -Module AWS.Tools.Installer ``` You’ll see that there are three cmdlets in the module: the Install-AWSToolsModule, Uninstall-AWSToolsModule, and Update-AWSToolsModule. These cmdlets are for installing, uninstalling, and updating AWS PowerShell modules, respectively. ![Listing the AWS.Tools.Installer cmdlets](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-569.png) Listing the AWS.Tools.Installer cmdlets ## Building a PowerShell Module using AWS PowerShell Tools Now that you’ve installed the `AWS.Tools.Installer` module, get ready to jump in with both feet. The following sub-sections will teach you how to interact with the AWS S3 service from your PowerShell environment. ### Installing Modules for AWS Services At this point, remember that you’ve only installed the AWS Tools installer, which allows you to install other AWS Tools modules conveniently. In this example, before you can interact with the AWS S3 service with PowerShell, you’ll first need to install the `AWS.Tools.S3` module. With this module, you can create, upload, and delete files within an S3 bucket. To install the `AWS.Tools.S3` module, run the below command. ```bash Install-AWSToolsModule -Name AWS.Tools.S3 ``` At the confirmation prompt, press Y and Enter to continue with the installation. ![Installing the AWS.Tools.S3 module](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-570.png) Installing the AWS.Tools.S3 module ### Creating An IAM User for PowerShell Every API requests you make by running commands in PowerShell require an [IAM user](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/introduction.html) credential to authenticate. The same is true when running commands against AWS S3. To create the IAM user with appropriate permissions, proceed as follows. > _You may also create the IAM user [via the AWS CLI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/iam/create-policy.html), but this tutorial will teach you how to do so in the Amazon Management Console._ 1\. Open a web browser and log in to your _[AWS Management Console](https://aws.amazon.com/)._ 2\. Navigate to the IAM user page, typing “_IAM user_” into the search box. Click on the **Users** item within the **Features** section. ![Search results for the IAM users page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-571.png) Search results for the IAM users page 3\. Click the **Add Users** button on the IAM users page. ![Clicking the Add users button to create a new IAM user](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-572.png) Clicking the Add users button to create a new IAM user 4\. Provide a unique name for the **User name** field. This IAM user name in this example is `ata-aws-powershell`. Next, click the Access key – programmatic access checkbox under the Select AWS access type section. Lastly, on this page, click the Next: Permissions button. ![Providing a name and access type details for the IAM user](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-573.png) Providing a name and access type details for the IAM user 5\. Click the **Attach existing policies directly** to add an existing AWS policy to the IAM user. Type “_S3_” in the policy search box to find existing policies used for the AWS S3 service. Click the checkbox for the AmazonS3FullAccess policy. This policy will give the IAM user complete control over the S3 service for your AWS account. Click the Next: Tags button (do not assign any tags at this point), and then click the Next: Review button. ![Setting permissions for the IAM user](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-574.png) Setting permissions for the IAM user 6\. Confirm the user details you’re creating and click the **Create user** button to create the IAM user. ![Reviewing details for the IAM user](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-575.png) Reviewing details for the IAM user 7\. Copy the **Access Key ID** and **Secret access key** values into a secured notepad on your computer. You will use these values in the next step. ![Viewing the IAM credentials for the created user](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-576.png) Viewing the IAM credentials for the created user ### Handling AWS Credentials for PowerShell Tools So now you have the AWS credentials in the form of the _Access key ID_ and _Secret access key_. How do you use these keys with AWS PowerShell? There are two ways – inline with the cmdlet parameters and in AWS credential profile. #### Inline Credentials Using the inline credentials approach requires you to specify your AWS Secret Key ID and Secret Access Key when executing an AWS command from PowerShell. For example, the command below uses your IAM User secret access key (`-SecretKey`) and access key ID (`-AccessKey`) credentials when retrieving (`Get-S3Object`) the content of an S3 bucket (`-BucketName`). ```powershell Get-S3Object -BucketName testbucket -SecretKey XXXX -AccessKey XXXX -Region us-east-1 ``` > _The inline approach may be convenient, but you’ll be supplying your credentials in plain text. As such, be cautious when using this method in scripting because you’d have to hard code the credentials in your scripts._ #### AWS Credentials Profile Unlike the inline credential approach, you can create multiple credential profiles. For example, you can have a separate credential profile with access to S3 and EC2. These credentials are encrypted, making them secure. You can then reference each profile when executing commands. Execute the command below (`Set-AWSCredential`) to create a profile containing the IAM User key (`SecretKey`) access key (`-AccessKey`) credentials. > _The -StoreAs default parameter means that this credential is the default when you don’t specify a credential profile when running commands. To create an alternate profile, specify a name other than default. For example, -StoreAs myS3profile creates a profile named myS3profile._ ```powershell Set-AWSCredential -AccessKey ACCESS_KEY_ID -SecretKey SECRET_KEY_ID -StoreAs default ``` ### Creating a Custom PowerShell Module At this point, you’ve already set up the `AWS.Tools.S3` module, including the credential profile. Now you’ll start writing the custom PowerShell Module called `Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup`. The module will contain two functions in a single PowerShell module file named `Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1` and one module manifest file called `Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psd1`. 1\. [Open PowerShell as administrator](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/) on your computer. 2\. Execute the following commands to create the new module files. ```powershell # Change the working directory PowerShell module path. Set-Location $env:PSModulePath # Create a new subdirectory matching the custom module name. New-Item -Type Directory -Name Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup # Change the working directory into the new module directory. Set-Location Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup # Create module and manifest files New-Item -Type File -Path "Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1","Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psd1" ``` 3\. Open the module manifest file (`Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psd1`) using your code editor and add the code block’s content below. The code block contains manifest details of the Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup module alongside the names of two functions to export from the Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1 file. ```powershell # # Module manifest for module 'Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup' # @{ # Script module or binary module file associated with this manifest RootModule = 'Custom.AWS.Blob.Sync.psm1' ModuleVersion = '0.0.1' Author = 'Tutorial Reader' # Description of the functionality provided by this module Description = 'The Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1 module makes it easier to backup old files to an S3 bucket and retrieves new files stored in the bucket.' FunctionsToExport = @( 'Backup-S3BlobFiles', 'Restore-S3Files' ) } ``` 4\. Open the module file (`Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1`) and add the code block’s content below. The comments below contain the [comment-based help](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_comment_based_help?view=powershell-7.2) for the `Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup` PowerShell module. ```powershell <# .SYNOPSIS Synchronizes files between a local computer and AWS S3 bucket .DESCRIPTION The Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1 module makes it easier to backup old files to an S3 bucket and retrieve new files stored in a bucket. .EXAMPLE PS C:\> Backup-S3BlobFiles -S3Bucket test-bucket -ExtensionType .png -DayInterval 50 Uploads files the extension parameter files, created within the DayInterval parameter to the S3 bucket specified in the S3Bucket param PS C:\> Backup-S3BlobFiles -S3Bucket test-bucket -FileAge 50 Downloads files within the FileAge range from the S3 bucket specified in the S3Bucket parameter .INPUTS -S3Bucket -ExtensitionType -DayInterval -FileAge -S3Bucket .NOTES - This function supports the backup and pulling down of data from AWS S3 buckets only. #> ``` 5\. Next, append the function `Backup-S3BlobFile` below into the module file `Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1`. Below is an advanced function that accepts three mandatory parameters. The function uses the [Get-ChildItem](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-childitem?view=powershell-7.2) cmdlet to retrieve the files in a directory that matches the ExtensionType parameter. The retrieved files are piped to the [Where-Object](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/where-object?view=powershell-7.2) cmdlet to be filtered by the DayInterval parameter. Related:[How to Use PowerShell Where-Object to Filter All the Things](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-foreach/) Finally, each filtered file is uploaded to the specified S3 object (BucketName) using the [Write-S3Object](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Write-S3Object.html) cmdlet during a foreach iteration. Related:[Back to Basics: The PowerShell Foreach Loop](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-foreach/) ```powershell function Backup-S3BlobFiles { [CmdletBinding()] param ( [Parameter(Mandatory)] [string]$S3Bucket, [Parameter(Mandatory, HelpMessage="Enter extension type of files to backup.")] [ValidateSet(".png", ".jpeg", ".jpg", ".mp4", ".mkvi", ".heic")] [string]$ExtensionType, [Parameter(Mandatory, HelpMessage="Enter date interval of files to backup from 0 - 1000")] [Int32][ValidateRange(0, 1000)]$DayInterval ) $LocalFiles = Get-ChildItem -Path "*$ExtensionType" -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.CreationTime -lt ($(Get-Date).AddDays(-$TimeInterval))} $NoOfLocalFiles = $LocalFiles.Length Write-Verbose -Message "Found $NoOfLocalFiles files to backup to S3 bucket." -Verbose foreach ($file in $LocalFiles ) { Write-S3Object -BucketName $S3Bucket -File $file -Key $file } } ``` 6\. Lastly, append the below function code (`Restore-S3Files`) below into the module file (`Custom.AWS.Blob.Backup.psm1`). The advanced function below accepts two mandatory parameters (S3Bucket and FileAge). The [Get-S3Object](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Get-S3Object.html) cmdlet retrieves all files within the S3 bucket specified in the S3Bucket parameter. A foreach iteration runs on the files, and if a file is within the date range within the FileAge, the [Read-S3Object](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/Read-S3Object.html) cmdlet downloads the file. ```powershell function Restore-S3Files { [CmdletBinding()] param ( [Parameter(Mandatory)] [string]$S3Bucket, [Parameter(Mandatory, HelpMessage="Enter age of file to pull down from S3 bucket")] [Int32][ValidateRange(0, 1000)]$FileAge ) $RemoteFiles = Get-S3Object -BucketName $S3Bucket $NoOfRemoteFiles = $RemoteFiles.Length Write-Verbose -Message "Found $NoOfRemoteFiles files in $S3Bucket bucket." -Verbose foreach ($file in $RemoteFiles ) { if ($file.LastModified -gt ($(Get-Date).AddDays(-$FileAge))) { Read-S3Object -BucketName $S3Bucket -File $file.Key -Key $file.Key } } } ``` ## Running Your Custom AWS PowerShell Module Now that you’ve created the custom module, it’s time to put it into action. > _The steps below assume that you have previously created a bucket within the S3 service. Make sure to replace the YOUR\_S3\_BUCKET placeholders with the name of your S3 bucket._ ### Backing Up Files to S3 Suppose you have a bunch of screenshots in PNG format that you want to backup to your S3 bucket. To do so, execute the `Backup-S3Blobfiles` command below to upload PNG files less than ten days old. > _The_ [module auto-loading](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_modules?view=powershell-7.2#module-auto-loading) _feature automatically loads the appropriate module that contains the command you’re executing._ ```powershell Backup-S3BlobFiles -S3Bucket YOUR_S3_BUCKET -ExtensionType .png -DayInterval 10 ``` ![Uploading PNG files past test days to an S3 bucket](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-577.png) Uploading PNG files past test days to an S3 bucket ### Restoring Files from S3 Execute the `Restore-S3Files` command below to download files from the S3 bucket whose last modification dates are within the previous five days. ```powershell Restore-S3Files -S3Bucket test-bucket -FileAge 5 ``` ![Downloading files created within the past five days from an S3 bucket](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image-578.png) Downloading files created within the past five days from an S3 bucket ## Conclusion The goal of this tutorial was to teach you how to interact with AWS using the AWS PowerShell Tools programmatically. You learned how to install, configure and interact with the S3 service on AWS through `AWS.Tool.S3` module. With your newly built custom PowerShell module, you now have a baseline for automating other AWS tasks. Perhaps you could also schedule AWS PowerShell Tools execution at your desired intervals using [PSake](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-psake/)? 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