Beginner cannot get root access to the AWS Command Line Interface

Question

Hello Forum.

**Question:** *Can someone show me how to get root user access to the AWS Command Line Interface?*  
  
I am stuck on Step 3 (Module 3: Setting Up the AWS CLI) of the getting started guide found here:  
https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/guides/setup-environment/

Here are the steps I have taken:

Module 1: Create Your Account.  
I created an account a few years ago but it has been dormant. I just today decided to learn Amazon AWS.

Module 2: Secure Your Account.  
I went through the steps to secure my account. I secured the root user account. I created an IAM user account for myself. There are now two accounts, the root user (myself) and the user account, also for myself.

Module 3: Setting Up the AWS CLI.   
I downloaded and installed the AWS Command Line Interface. I accessed the AWS CLI from the C prompt on my computer. I configured the credentials to access my AWS account.  
  
Here is the problem: I configured the credentials using the *IAM user account* and not the root user account.

```
/* I mistakenly used the credentials for the user instead of the root user below */

aws configure

AWS Access Key ID [None]: ANOTREALACCESSKEYID 
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: ANOTREALSECRETACCESSKEY
Default region name [None]: eu-west-1
Default output format [None]: json
```
Now the AWS CLI will not let me into root user area. It tells me that I do not have permissions for access to that area.

I am a beginner. All of this is kind of confusing. I would appreciate any assistance with this matter anyone can provide.

Thank you in advance.

Accepted Answer

You are on the right track. Here's a warning from the AWS documentation at https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_root-user.html:

We strongly recommend that you do not use the root user for your everyday tasks, even the administrative ones. Instead, adhere to the best practice of using the root user only to create your first IAM user. Then securely lock away the root user credentials and use them to perform only a few account and service management tasks. To view the tasks that require you to sign in as the root user, see AWS Tasks That Require Root User. For a tutorial on how to set up an administrator for daily use, see Creating your first IAM admin user and user group.

You can give the IAM user the privileges that you need for your learning purposes.

Beginner cannot get root access to the AWS Command Line Interface

Relevant content