🌟 Day 3: AWS Console Tour
👶 Goal: Get comfortable with the AWS Console — your main control center in AWS.
🖥️ What is the AWS Console?
The AWS Management Console is a web-based interface (like a website) where you can manage and use all the AWS services.
Think of it like the dashboard of a car — it shows you what’s happening and lets you control things easily.
🔐 Step 1: Sign in to the Console
- Go to: https://aws.amazon.com
- Click “Sign In to the Console” (top right)
- Log in with your root account or IAM user (if you’ve already created one)
🛑 Don’t have an AWS account? Create one here — use the free tier!
🧭 Step 2: Explore the AWS Console Layout
Once you’re inside, here’s what you’ll see:
1. Search Bar (at the top)
- You can search for any service like “EC2”, “S3”, or “Lambda”.
- It’s the fastest way to jump into any tool.
2. Service Menu
- You’ll see categories like:
- Compute (e.g., EC2)
- Storage (e.g., S3)
- Networking (e.g., VPC)
- Security (e.g., IAM)
3. Recently Visited Services
- Once you start using AWS, your most-used services show up here for easy access.
4. Account Info (Top-right corner)
- Shows your account name, billing info, and region (important for pricing & setup).
🌍 Step 3: Understand AWS Regions
Look at the top-right — you’ll see a dropdown like N. Virginia (us-east-1).
- AWS has data centers around the world called regions.
- Services and pricing can differ by region.
- Always choose the closest region to your users (for speed).
🧠 Tip: Some services (like IAM) are global, but others (like EC2, S3) are region-specific.
🔁 Step 4: Practice Using the Console
Try clicking and exploring (don’t worry, no charges for just looking around):
| What to Click | What You’ll See |
|---|---|
| EC2 | Launch instances (virtual servers) |
| S3 | Create a bucket (storage) |
| IAM | View users and permissions |
| VPC | Your private network setup |
| RDS | Databases you can launch |
🧪 Tip: Don’t launch anything yet — just click to explore!
🛠️ Optional Hands-On Task
Let’s make your first move:
- Go to S3
- Click “Create bucket”
- Give it a name like
my-first-s3-bucket - Leave everything as default, scroll to the bottom and click “Create bucket”
- You’ve created your first cloud storage!
📝 Summary
- The AWS Console is your main control center
- Use the search bar to find services quickly
- AWS services are grouped by category (Compute, Storage, etc.)
- Regions matter — always choose one near your users
- You can safely explore without launching paid resources