I've been diving into using the command line interface (CLI) for various tasks, starting with some basic commands to get comfortable. I have a solid grasp of using console UIs, but I'm curious about how often others in the development community use the CLI, especially cloud developers. I'm guessing that on-premises developers or infrastructure teams probably rely on it quite a bit due to the lack of graphical interfaces. What kind of tasks do you typically perform using the CLI?
5 Answers
I usually only hop into the console for monitoring or logging purposes. For everything else, it's all about the CLI or using Python scripts.
I pretty much live in the CLI! I'm an old-school Unix fan and can navigate bash like a pro. Just the other day, I was doing some complex tasks for an AWS support call, and the speed at which I maneuvered through commands left them impressed. For me, going through the UI just feels slower once you get the hang of it.
For making actual changes to infrastructure, I rely on Terraform, often combined with GitHub and ArgoCD. I tend to use the CLI mainly for testing connections between different AWS accounts, like trying to access S3 buckets from another account's perspective.
Ah, that makes sense! I find myself using the CLI for creating roles and policies, too, but those commands can get a bit lengthy. It's good to know I’m not alone in this!
We typically set most things up with CloudFormation or CDK. I use the console for monitoring, but I hit the CLI for repetitive tasks that can’t be managed through those tools. If you want to get better with the CLI, definitely invest some time in learning tools like CloudFormation, Terraform, or CDK.
Thanks for the tips! I'm definitely considering diving deeper into those tools.
I've got nearly a decade of experience with AWS, and honestly, I rarely touch the CLI. For one-off tasks, the console is just quicker than finding the right command line arguments. If it’s something I do often, I usually automate it with Infrastructure as Code.
Totally get that! Once you're efficient with the CLI, it really does save so much time compared to clicking through all the UI options.