Linux

Amazonlinux Playground

Amazon Linux 2023 is AWS's latest Linux distribution, optimized for cloud workloads with long-term support..

Get access to the Amazonlinux playground with one click

Welcome to the Amazon Linux 2023 Playground!

Amazon Linux 2023 — AWS’s purpose-built Linux distribution with long-term security patching, Fedora-based tooling, and tight AWS CLI integration.

Tip: Amazon Linux 2023 uses dnf (like RHEL 9). The amazon-linux-extras tool is gone — use dnf module streams instead.

What’s Pre-installed

Shell: Bash, GNU coreutils
Package manager: dnf
Cloud-ready: AWS-optimised kernel, SELinux, IMDSv2 support
Extras: vim, nano, curl, wget, jq (installed on first connect)

Quick Start

uname -a
cat /etc/os-release
dnf install -y git curl wget

Common Workflows

# Package management
dnf search <name>
dnf install -y <package>
dnf info <package>
dnf update

# Module streams (similar to RHEL 9)
dnf module list
dnf module enable nginx:mainline
dnf install -y nginx

# Check security advisories
dnf updateinfo list security

Advanced Tips

# Install AWS CLI v2
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o awscliv2.zip
unzip awscliv2.zip && ./aws/install
aws --version

# Check Amazon Linux release info
cat /etc/amazon-linux-release

# Python3 is pre-installed
python3 --version
python3 -m pip install boto3

Session Notes

Session lasts 1 hour.
AL2023 is the successor to Amazon Linux 2 — use this for AWS Lambda, ECS, and EC2 workloads.