What are the requirements for AWS?
Last updated: November 29, 2025 By Sunil Shaw
When you talking about requirements for AWS, it depends on whether you mean requirements to start using AWS as a user/developer, or requirements for running specific AWS services. I’ll cover both clearly.
1.Requirements to Start Using AWS (General)
To begin using AWS, you mainly need:
a) Account & Credentials
- AWS account: Sign up at aws.amazon.com
- Email and payment method: Credit/debit card or an eligible payment method.
- IAM user (optional but recommended): Use Identity and Access Management (IAM) for secure access instead of the root account.
b) Basic Knowledge
- Cloud computing concepts: EC2 (compute), S3 (storage), VPC (networking basics)
- Networking basics: IPs, DNS, firewalls/security groups
- Command-line skills (optional but useful): AWS CLI, basic Linux commands
- Programming knowledge (optional): Python, Node.js, Java, or any SDK-supported language
c) Tools
- Browser: Modern browser to access AWS Management Console.
- CLI (optional): AWS CLI installed locally.
- SDKs (optional): AWS SDK for Python (boto3), JavaScript (AWS SDK), etc.
2. Requirements for Specific AWS Services
Different AWS services have specific requirements:
| Service | Minimum Requirements |
|---|---|
| EC2 (Compute) | AMI image, instance type, key pair for SSH, security group, VPC/subnet |
| S3 (Storage) | Bucket name, region, IAM permissions |
| RDS (Database) | DB engine, instance size, storage, VPC configuration |
| Lambda (Serverless) | Function code, runtime (Python, Node.js, etc.), IAM role with permissions |
| VPC (Networking) | Subnets, route tables, internet gateways (if public), CIDR blocks |
3. Hardware/Software Requirements (for your machine)
- Internet connection: Stable connection to access AWS services.
- Computer: Any modern PC/Mac/Linux system can work; AWS itself runs in the cloud, so local specs don’t matter much.
- Tools installed (optional): AWS CLI, Terraform, Docker (if using containers), Git.
4. Optional but Recommended
- AWS Free Tier account: To experiment without incurring costs.
- Cloud knowledge: Understanding of serverless, microservices, or DevOps concepts.
- Monitoring tools: CloudWatch, CloudTrail, for auditing and logging.
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Sunil Shaw
About Author
I am a Web Developer, Love to write code and explain in brief. I Worked on several projects and completed in no time.
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