Wondering why can’t run AWS CLI commands on my EC2? We can help you.

Here, at Bobcares, we assist our customers with several AWS queries as part of our AWS Support Services.

Today, let us see how we can fix this.

Can’t run AWS CLI commands on my EC2

Typically, you might see the below errors when running AWS CLI commands on your instance.

Unable to locate credentials. You can configure credentials by running ‘aws configure

An error occurred (UnauthorizedOperation) when calling the DescribeInstances operation: You are not authorized to perform this operation

An error occurred (AuthFailure) when calling the DescribeInstances operation: AWS was not able to validate the provided access credentials

An error occurred (ExpiredToken) when calling the GetCallerIdentity operation: The security token included in the request is expired

The operation listed in the error varies depending on the operation that you called when the error occurred.

Please note for communication issues between the AWS CLI and one of the AWS service endpoints, confirm that the DNS resolution and any VPC endpoints work correctly.

Today, let us see the simple suggestions provided by our Support techs to resolve such errors.

Verify that you’re running the most recent AWS CLI version

If you receive errors when running AWS CLI commands, make sure that you’re using the most recent version of the AWS CLI.

Unable to locate credentials

Verify that the AWS CLI is installed and configured correctly.

An error occurred (UnauthorizedOperation) and (AuthFailure)

• Firstly, make sure that the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role or IAM user has the correct permissions to run the relevant commands.
• Then make sure that the time on your Linux or Windows instance is correct.
• Make sure that you’re using the correct Amazon Simple Token Service (AWS STS) token format.
• Make sure that you’re using the correct credentials to make the API call. If there are multiple sets of credentials on the instance, credential precedence might affect which credentials the instance uses to make the API call. Verify which set of credentials you’re using by running the aws sts get-caller-identity command.

An error occurred (ExpiredToken)

Temporary credentials expire at the time interval specified during creation. If the credentials for your IAM role are expired, obtain a new STS token by assuming a new IAM role.

[Stuck with the error? We’d be happy to assist]

Conclusion

In short, we saw how our Support Techs issue while running AWS CLI commands on my EC2.