101 — AWS Account Setup and CLI Configuration

Beginner

Create an AWS account, secure root with MFA, set up an IAM admin user and AWS CLI v2, verify credentials, and add a budget alert — all following AWS best practices.

Learning Objectives

Verify or create an AWS account on the Free Tier

Secure the root account with MFA

Install AWS CLI v2 on macOS or Linux

Create a dedicated IAM admin user with an access key for CLI access

Configure the CLI with aws configure

Confirm your identity with aws sts get-caller-identity

Create a monthly cost budget with an email alert as a spending guardrail

Step 1

Verify or create an AWS account

You need an AWS account before the CLI can do anything. If you already have one, log in and confirm it is active. If not, sign up now — new accounts choose between a Free Plan and a Paid Plan during signup.

Instructions

Open aws.amazon.com/free in your browser

Open link

Click 'Create a Free Account' and follow the sign-up flow

When asked to choose a plan, select the FREE PLAN for this course

A credit card is required for identity verification

What This Does

Accounts created after July 15, 2025 use the current AWS Free Tier: you receive up to $200 in credits ($100 at signup, plus up to $100 more for trying services like EC2, Lambda, and AWS Budgets) and choose between two plans.

The Free Plan cannot incur charges — it expires after 6 months or when your credits run out, whichever comes first, and you can upgrade to the Paid Plan at any time.

Accounts created before that date stay on the legacy free tier (12 months of limited usage such as 5 GB of S3 and 750 hours/month of t2.micro).

Either way, all IAM operations in this module are always free.

The email address you sign up with becomes the root account — it has unrestricted access to everything in your account, which is why you should secure it immediately and never use it for daily work.

Expected Outcome

You can log in to https://console.aws.amazon.com and see the AWS Management Console home page.

Pro Tips

1
Choose the Free Plan for this course — it cannot incur charges, and every exercise in this track fits comfortably within the signup credits.
2
On the Free Plan, completing certain activities (launching EC2, creating a Lambda function, setting up an AWS Budget) earns additional credits — this course has you do all three.
3
IAM operations are always free — there is no cost for any step in Module 1.
4
Write down the 12-digit Account ID shown in the top-right corner of the console — you will need it later.
5
Never create access keys for the root account. AWS explicitly warns against this. You will create a dedicated IAM user for CLI access in step 5.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

⚠️Choosing the Paid Plan when you only want to learn — the Free Plan is the safe default for this course. If your account predates July 2025, you are on the legacy free tier and should complete step 8 (budget alert) with extra care.
⚠️Creating root account access keys — the root user should only be used for account-level tasks like billing and account closure. Use an IAM user for all CLI work.

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