AWS CLI vs AWS Shell

Overview

AWS Shell

Stacks33

Followers66

Votes0

GitHub Stars7.3K

Forks780

AWS CLI

Stacks145

Followers111

Votes0

GitHub Stars16.5K

Forks4.4K

AWS CLI vs AWS Shell: What are the differences?

AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) and AWS Shell are both command-line tools provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) for interacting with AWS services. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Ease of Use: AWS Shell is designed to provide an interactive command-line interface with contextual help and auto-completion features. It aims to be user-friendly, especially for beginners, by reducing the need to memorize complex command structures and providing intuitive prompts. On the other hand, AWS CLI offers a more direct and flexible approach with a wide range of commands and options, targeted towards advanced users and scripting automation.
Command Syntax: AWS CLI follows a more traditional command syntax, where commands are structured with a verb followed by options and parameters. In contrast, AWS Shell utilizes natural language syntax, allowing users to interact using plain English-like statements.
Integration with other Tools: AWS CLI has extensive support for scripting and automation, making it well-suited for integration with other tools and workflows. It can easily be embedded within shell scripts or utilized as part of larger automation frameworks. AWS Shell, on the other hand, prioritizes interactive usage and may not provide the same level of integration capabilities for complex automation scenarios.
Feature Set: AWS CLI offers access to the full range of AWS services and their functionalities, including advanced features and options. It covers a wide range of use cases, such as managing instances, configuring security groups, or interacting with AWS APIs. AWS Shell, while providing access to most common AWS services, may not have the same level of coverage for all services and advanced functionalities. It focuses more on usability and streamlined interactions.
Extensions and Plugins: AWS CLI has a rich ecosystem of extensions and plugins developed by the community, providing additional functionality beyond the core command set. These extensions can enhance AWS CLI with new features, such as simplified output formatting, session management, or additional service integrations. AWS Shell, being a simpler tool, may not offer the same extensibility and plugin ecosystem.
Dependence on AWS CLI: AWS Shell is built on top of AWS CLI, utilizing the same underlying infrastructure and libraries. It extends AWS CLI to provide a more user-friendly and interactive experience. This means that AWS Shell inherits the capabilities and features of AWS CLI and can benefit from future updates and improvements. However, this also means that AWS Shell requires the AWS CLI to be installed and configured properly.

In summary, AWS Shell offers an interactive command-line interface with user-friendly features like contextual help and auto-completion, catering to beginners. In contrast, AWS CLI provides a more flexible approach suited for advanced users and scripting automation, with extensive support for a wide range of AWS services and functionalities. While AWS CLI boasts a rich ecosystem of extensions and plugins for added functionality, AWS Shell inherits its capabilities from AWS CLI and requires its installation for proper use.

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CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Detailed Comparison

AWS Shell	AWS CLI
The AWS Command Line Interface is a unified tool to manage your AWS services.	It is a unified tool to manage your AWS services. With just one tool to download and configure, you can control multiple AWS services from the command line and automate them through scripts.
Auto Completion of Commands and Options;Shorthand Auto Completion;Server Side Auto Completion;Fuzzy Searching;Inline Documentation;Fish-Style Auto Suggestions;Command History;Toolbar Options;Dot Commands	File Commands for Amazon S3; Control multiple AWS services ; URI-based Parameter Input
Statistics
GitHub Stars 7.3K	GitHub Stars 16.5K
GitHub Forks 780	GitHub Forks 4.4K
Stacks 33	Stacks 145
Followers 66	Followers 111
Votes 0	Votes 0
Integrations
No integrations available	Linux Windows macOS

What are some alternatives to AWS Shell, AWS CLI?

LocalStack

LocalStack provides an easy-to-use test/mocking framework for developing Cloud applications.

AWS Amplify

A JavaScript library for frontend and mobile developers building cloud-enabled applications. The library is a declarative interface across different categories of operations in order to make common tasks easier to add into your application. The default implementation works with Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources but is designed to be open and pluggable for usage with other cloud services that wish to provide an implementation or custom backends.

awless

awless is a fast, powerful and easy-to-use command line interface (CLI) to manage Amazon Web Services.

Bash-My-AWS

It is a simple but extremely powerful set of CLI commands for managing resources on Amazon Web Services. They harness the power of Amazon's AWSCLI, while abstracting away verbosity. The project implements some innovative patterns but (arguably) remains simple, beautiful and readable.

troposphere

The troposphere library allows for easier creation of the AWS CloudFormation JSON by writing Python code to describe the AWS resources. troposphere also includes some basic support for OpenStack resources via Heat.

AWS Systems Manager

It is a secure end-to-end management solution for hybrid cloud environments. It centralizes operational data from multiple AWS services and automates tasks across your AWS resources. You can create logical groups of resources such as applications, different layers of an application stack, or production versus development environments.

AWS Organizations

It lets you create new AWS accounts at no additional charge. With accounts in an organization, you can easily allocate resources, group accounts, and apply governance policies to accounts or groups.

Vantage

It is an alternative to the AWS console focused on developer experience and cost transparency. It is meant to work alongside your existing automation tools.

AWS Trusted Advisor

It provides recommendations that help you follow AWS best practices. Trusted Advisor evaluates your account by using checks. These checks identify ways to optimize your AWS infrastructure, improve security and performance, reduce costs, and monitor service quotas. You can then follow the recommendations to optimize your services and resources.

Blox

Blox is a collection of open source projects for container management and orchestration. Blox gives you more control over how your containerized applications run on Amazon ECS. It enables you to build schedulers and integrate third-party schedulers on top of ECS, while leveraging Amazon ECS to fully manage and scale your clusters.

Related Comparisons

AWS CLI vs AWS Shell: What are the differences?

AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) and AWS Shell are both command-line tools provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) for interacting with AWS services. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Ease of Use: AWS Shell is designed to provide an interactive command-line interface with contextual help and auto-completion features. It aims to be user-friendly, especially for beginners, by reducing the need to memorize complex command structures and providing intuitive prompts. On the other hand, AWS CLI offers a more direct and flexible approach with a wide range of commands and options, targeted towards advanced users and scripting automation.
Command Syntax: AWS CLI follows a more traditional command syntax, where commands are structured with a verb followed by options and parameters. In contrast, AWS Shell utilizes natural language syntax, allowing users to interact using plain English-like statements.
Integration with other Tools: AWS CLI has extensive support for scripting and automation, making it well-suited for integration with other tools and workflows. It can easily be embedded within shell scripts or utilized as part of larger automation frameworks. AWS Shell, on the other hand, prioritizes interactive usage and may not provide the same level of integration capabilities for complex automation scenarios.
Feature Set: AWS CLI offers access to the full range of AWS services and their functionalities, including advanced features and options. It covers a wide range of use cases, such as managing instances, configuring security groups, or interacting with AWS APIs. AWS Shell, while providing access to most common AWS services, may not have the same level of coverage for all services and advanced functionalities. It focuses more on usability and streamlined interactions.
Extensions and Plugins: AWS CLI has a rich ecosystem of extensions and plugins developed by the community, providing additional functionality beyond the core command set. These extensions can enhance AWS CLI with new features, such as simplified output formatting, session management, or additional service integrations. AWS Shell, being a simpler tool, may not offer the same extensibility and plugin ecosystem.
Dependence on AWS CLI: AWS Shell is built on top of AWS CLI, utilizing the same underlying infrastructure and libraries. It extends AWS CLI to provide a more user-friendly and interactive experience. This means that AWS Shell inherits the capabilities and features of AWS CLI and can benefit from future updates and improvements. However, this also means that AWS Shell requires the AWS CLI to be installed and configured properly.

AWS CLI vs AWS Shell

Overview