# AWS CLI Credentials & Config chain

If you use the AWS CLI tool for your operations and application implementation, it's important to note that the CLI searches for credentials and configuration data in a specific hierarchical order.

### Command Line Options

For example: using options like "--profile", "--region", "--output" etc...

If the necessary data is not found through command line options, the CLI will check for environmental variables.

### Environmental Variables

AWS\_ACCESS\_KEY\_ID

AWS\_SECRET\_ACCESS\_KEY

AWS\_SESSION\_TOKEN

AWS\_DEFAULT\_REGION

... and so on. If the data is still not found, the CLI will look for it in the CLI credentials file, which can be found at the following locations:

1. For Linux: **\~/.aws/credentials**
2. For Windows: **C:\Users\\\<user-name>\\.aws\credentials**

Finally, if the data is still not found, the CLI will search for it in the CLI configuration file, which can be found at the following locations:

1. For Linux: **\~/.aws/config**
2. For Windows: **C:\Users\<user-name>.aws\config**


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