The AWS Management Console

For physical computers you own, you just press the power button to turn on your computer and launch the application you wish to use. In the cloud, however, you lack access to the physical infrastructure that runs your applications. You can't simply press the power button and activate a cloud-based server. Here, specific tools are needed to interact with cloud services.

One such tool on AWS is the AWS Management Console, which we discuss in this topic. We will look at how to navigate around it, discuss some service consoles, and see some of its use cases and limitations.

The console

The AWS Management Console is a web-based visual interface that you can use to access and manage cloud resources. It gives you an intuitive, user-friendly interface for you to interact with AWS services and perform various tasks. The console is easier to use for beginners and those who prefer graphical interfaces over command-line ones. It's also quite helpful for visual tasks like cost analysis.

When you log in, you are welcomed by the Console Home page. It features widgets and a navigation bar with various tools:

We have widgets and a navigation bar at the top with various tools and utilities. Let's start with widgets. A widget is a mini-application for displaying information or performing a simple task. The console home features quite a few widgets. Here are some:

• The recently visited services widget for quick access to services visited recently;

• AWS Health widget for a brief overview of events that can impact cloud services in various regions;

• Cost and usage widget to help you quickly view your cloud spending.

• The security overview widget provides a few security recommendations from the AWS Security Hub service.

• The learning center widget with quick links to educational resources and other relevant information.

You can customize widgets according to your needs and liking. However, creating new widgets is not possible, but you can request new widgets from AWS.

Navigating the console

At the top, there is the navigation bar. On the top left, you'll find:

• Service selector

• Search bar

The service selector tab allows you to access all AWS services. Services are grouped into categories such as Compute, Storage, Database, Machine Learning, and more. Below is the service selector window showing some compute services:

When you hover over a service, a star icon appears. Clicking on it adds the services to your Favorites. Additionally, these services get pinned to the navigation bar. You can use this for services you frequently use:

Next, we have the search bar. It allows you to search for a specific service, and view its associated documentation, tutorials, articles, blogs, and many more. The search bar is quite handy when you need extra information about a specific service.

On the top right of the console, there are other additional icons:

• AWS CloudShell — a command-line interface for executing AWS CLI commands from the browser.

• Support — for accessing the AWS support center, forums, help, documentation, and more.

• Notifications — bring alerts for account-related notifications and service health events;

• Unified settings — configurations like language, default region, and theme.

• Region selector — for picking the region where you'll start your services.

• Account settings — provides entry to account management, billing, security, and other account-related settings.

Remember that certain services, such as AWS IAM and Amazon Route 53, are global. This means that the regions selector tab will not be active for these services. Also, to use some regions, you must explicitly enable them in settings. Additionally, not all services are available in all regions. Therefore, if you can't locate a specific service, you should check to ensure that the service is available in that region and switch to it using the region selector.

Service Consoles

Every AWS service comes with a corresponding service console. These consoles provide a clear, user-friendly interface for managing the relevant AWS services. For example, if you choose the Amazon EC2 service, it will take you to the Amazon EC2 service console. This console gives you a detailed view of your EC2 instances, AMIs, EBS volumes, and other EC2-related resources. It also provides options to launch, connect to, and terminate EC2 resources.

In the Amazon S3 console, you can create, configure, and manage S3 buckets and objects. Similarly, the AWS Lambda console helps developers to create, test, and manage Lambda functions:

Every service console is tailored to the specific needs of the service, providing a set of tools and features that simplify the management of the service. When you change your region, only services launched in that region will be displayed. Imagine if you had an EC2 instance that you launched and left running in a forgotten region. This would result in costs generated unknowingly. Make good use of the region selector tab to keep track of your services. Later, we'll explore different service consoles and use them to manage cloud resources.

AWS CloudShell

From the console, you also have access to a command line interface environment known as the AWS CloudShell. This is a browser-based shell used to manage, explore, and interact with AWS resources using text commands. The environment is already authenticated with your console credentials, eliminating the need to provide them. The CloudShell comes with the AWS CLI and other common developer tools already installed so you can just get started without any additional setup.

Let's run a simple command to display all available regions for you. Launch CloudShell by clicking on the terminal icon at the navigation bar. After the CloudShell environment is created, enter the command: aws ec2 describe-regions --output table. This displays a list of all available regions formatted as a table:

We'll utilize a lot of AWS CLI commands in upcoming topics, especially on a locally installed AWS command line interface. You can employ AWS CloudShell for several tasks like running scripts, interacting with APIs, and all other AWS CLI tasks. It even supports persistent file storage, meaning your work in the shell gets saved across sessions and can be accessed later. You can also load files such as scripts stored locally or in Amazon S3 to the CloudShell and run them. AWS CloudShell is a powerful tool and provides a smooth way to interact with AWS resources.

Use cases and limitations

If you're not familiar with AWS, the graphical interface simplifies your navigation and understanding of AWS services. This is particularly useful in scenarios requiring visual management and instant feedback, such as security analysis. Here are some typical use cases:

• Monitoring and troubleshooting using services like Amazon CloudWatch;

• One-off tasks, such as creating new AWS IAM users;

• Visual tasks like setting up a complex network with Amazon VPC;

• Cost analysis using services like AWS Cost Explorer;

• Creating temporary environments for prototyping and testing. For example, you can quickly launch an EC2 instance or create an S3 bucket for testing, then destroy it when you are finished.

Unfortunately, the console isn't fit for all operations. For some tasks, other tools such as the AWS CLI, SDKs, or Infrastructure as Code tools are more appropriate. Such situations include:

• Tasks that require automation through scripts;

• Repetitive tasks;

• Programmatic access from applications;

Conclusion

In this topic, we discussed the AWS Management Console. We saw that it is a user-friendly interface for handling AWS services. It is straightforward to use, and has a large collection of service consoles for different AWS services. Additionally, you can instantly access commonly used services and crucial information by pinning services and using widgets. If you like text commands without the need for local installation, the AWS CloudShell fits your needs perfectly.

While the console offers significant benefits for beginners and tasks demanding visual resource management, it cannot be used for repetitive tasks or programmatic access to AWS services. In these situations, tools like AWS CLI, SDKs, or Infrastructure as Code tools are more suitable. We'll see when, why, and how to use these various tools in future topics.