3.2 Navigating the Console

Key Console Areas

Area Where What It Does
Search bar Top center Find any AWS service by name
Region selector Top-right Switch between AWS regions
Account menu Top-right Account settings, sign out
CloudShell Top navigation bar icon Browser-based terminal with AWS CLI pre-installed

Regions

AWS resources exist in specific regions. Always check your region before creating or looking for resources.

Region Code When to Use
Sydney ap-southeast-2 Default for Australian users — use this unless you have a reason not to
US East (N. Virginia) us-east-1 Some services are only available here
US West (Oregon) us-west-2 Alternative US region
Warning

Resources created in one region are not visible in another. If you can’t find something, check the region selector first.

IAM (Identity & Access Management)

Your RACE federated login gives you a specific set of permissions. A few things to know:

  • Your permissions are managed by the RACE team — don’t create your own IAM users or roles without approval
  • If you get “Access Denied” on a service, contact RACE support to check your permissions
  • Use resource tags (see Tips) to track what you’ve created

CloudShell

CloudShell gives you a browser-based terminal with the AWS CLI pre-installed. Useful for quick tasks without setting up a local environment.

  1. Click the CloudShell icon in the top navigation bar
  2. A terminal opens at the bottom of the console
  3. Run AWS CLI commands directly:
# Check your identity
aws sts get-caller-identity

# List your EC2 instances
aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].[InstanceId,State.Name,InstanceType]' --output table