Setting Up Amazon Cloud Map - Amazon Cloud Map
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Setting Up Amazon Cloud Map

The overview and procedures in this section are meant to help you get started with Amazon.

Sign Up for Amazon

Sign up for an Amazon Web Services account

If you do not have an Amazon Web Services account, use the following procedure to create one.

To sign up for Amazon Web Services
  1. Open http://www.amazonaws.cn/ and choose Sign Up.

  2. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Amazon sends you a confirmation email after the sign-up process is complete. At any time, you can view your current account activity and manage your account by going to http://www.amazonaws.cn/ and choosing My Account.

Secure IAM users

After you sign up for an Amazon Web Services account, safeguard your administrative user by turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA). For instructions, see Enable a virtual MFA device for an IAM user (console) in the IAM User Guide.

To give other users access to your Amazon Web Services account resources, create IAM users. To secure your IAM users, turn on MFA and only give the IAM users the permissions needed to perform their tasks.

For more information about creating and securing IAM users, see the following topics in the IAM User Guide:

Access the API, Amazon CLI, Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell, or the Amazon SDKs

To use the API, the Amazon CLI, Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell, or the Amazon SDKs, you must create access keys. These keys consist of an access key ID and secret access key, which are used to sign programmatic requests that you make to Amazon.

Users need programmatic access if they want to interact with Amazon outside of the Amazon Web Services Management Console. The Amazon APIs and the Amazon Command Line Interface require access keys. Whenever possible, create temporary credentials that consist of an access key ID, a secret access key, and a security token that indicates when the credentials expire.

To grant users programmatic access, choose one of the following options.

Which user needs programmatic access? To By
IAM Use short-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs). Following the instructions in Using temporary credentials with Amazon resources in the IAM User Guide.
IAM

(Not recommended)

Use long-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs).
Following the instructions in Managing access keys for IAM users in the IAM User Guide.

Set Up the Amazon Command Line Interface or Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell

The Amazon Command Line Interface (Amazon CLI) is a unified tool for managing Amazon services. For information about how to install and configure the Amazon CLI, see Getting Set Up with the Amazon Command Line Interface in the Amazon Command Line Interface User Guide.

If you have experience with Windows PowerShell, you might prefer to use Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell. For more information, see Setting up the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell in the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell User Guide.

Download an Amazon SDK

If you're using a programming language that Amazon provides an SDK for, we recommend that you use an SDK instead of the Amazon Cloud Map API. Using an SDK has several benefits. SDKs make authentication simpler, integrate easily with your development environment, and provide access to Amazon Cloud Map commands. For more information, see Tools for Amazon Web Services.