az2aws

If your organization uses Azure Active Directory to provide SSO login to the AWS console, then there is no easy way to log in on the command line or to use the AWS CLI. This tool fixes that. It lets you use the normal Azure AD login (including MFA) from a command line to create a federated AWS session and places the temporary credentials in the proper place for the AWS CLI and SDKs.

Installation

Installation can be done in any of the following platform - Windows, Linux, Docker, Snap

Windows

Install Node.js v24 or higher. Then install az2aws with npm:

npm install -g az2aws

You may need to install puppeteer dependency, if you're getting missing chrome or chromium message

node <node_modules_dir>/az2aws/node_modules/puppeteer/install.js

Linux

In Linux you can either install for all users or just the current user. In either case, you must first install Node.js v24 or higher and any puppeteer dependencies. Then follow the appropriate instructions.

Option A: Install for All Users

Install az2aws globally with npm:

sudo npm install -g az2aws --unsafe-perm

Puppeteer doesn't install globally with execution permissions for all users so you'll need to modify them:

sudo chmod -R go+rx $(npm root -g)

Option B: Install Only for Current User

First configure npm to install global packages in your home directory:

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH
source ~/.profile
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

Then install az2aws:

npm install -g az2aws

Docker

A Docker image has been built with az2aws preinstalled. You simply need to run the command with a volume mounted to your AWS configuration directory.

docker run --rm -it -v ~/.aws:/root/.aws az2aws/az2aws

The Docker image is configured with an entrypoint so you can just feed any arguments in at the end.

You can also put the docker-launch.sh script into your bin directory for the az2aws command to function as usual:

# Download the script (replace VERSION with a specific release tag, e.g., v1.0.0)
curl -o /tmp/az2aws https://raw.githubusercontent.com/az2aws/az2aws/VERSION/docker-launch.sh -L

# IMPORTANT: Review the script before installing
cat /tmp/az2aws

# Install after verification
sudo mv /tmp/az2aws /usr/local/bin/az2aws
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/az2aws

Security Note: Always download from a specific release tag (not main) and review the script contents before installing. Downloading and executing scripts directly from mutable branch heads poses a supply chain risk.

Now just run az2aws.

Snap

https://snapcraft.io/az2aws

Command Options

Usage

Configuration

AWS

To configure the az2aws client run:

az2aws --configure

You'll need your Azure Tenant ID and the App ID URI. To configure a named profile, use the --profile flag.

az2aws --configure --profile foo

GovCloud Support

To use az2aws with AWS GovCloud, set the region profile property in your ~/.aws/config to the one of the GovCloud regions:

• us-gov-west-1
• us-gov-east-1

China Region Support

To use az2aws with AWS China Cloud, set the region profile property in your ~/.aws/config to the China region:

• cn-north-1

Stay Logged In

During configuration, you can enable "Stay logged in" to skip username/password/MFA on subsequent logins. Session cookies will remember your identity, allowing you to use --no-prompt without storing passwords:

az2aws --no-prompt
az2aws --profile foo --no-prompt

Environment Variables

You can set defaults via environment variables (use with --no-prompt):

• AZURE_TENANT_ID / AZURE_APP_ID_URI - Azure AD settings
• AZURE_DEFAULT_USERNAME / AZURE_DEFAULT_PASSWORD - Credentials
• AZURE_DEFAULT_ROLE_ARN / AZURE_DEFAULT_DURATION_HOURS - AWS role settings

To avoid storing passwords in bash history, use a leading space:

HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth
 export AZURE_DEFAULT_PASSWORD=mypassword

Use an Existing Chrome Install and Profile

Instead of using the bundled Chromium, you can use an existing Chrome installation with your own user profile by setting the following environment variables:

• BROWSER_CHROME_BIN - Path to Chrome executable
• BROWSER_USER_DATA_DIR - Chrome user data directory
• BROWSER_PROFILE_DIR - Chrome profile name (e.g., "Default")

Example (macOS):

export BROWSER_CHROME_BIN="/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome"
export BROWSER_USER_DATA_DIR="/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome"
export BROWSER_PROFILE_DIR="Default"
az2aws --mode gui --no-disable-extensions --no-sandbox

Example (Linux):

export BROWSER_CHROME_BIN="/usr/bin/google-chrome"
export BROWSER_USER_DATA_DIR="/home/<user>/.config/google-chrome"
export BROWSER_PROFILE_DIR="Default"
az2aws --mode gui --no-disable-extensions --no-sandbox

Using Chrome instead of Chromium allows you to use browser extensions such as password managers.

Logging In

az2aws                    # Default profile
az2aws --profile foo      # Named profile
az2aws --mode gui         # Use browser UI (more reliable)

You'll be prompted for username, password, and MFA if required. After login, use AWS CLI/SDKs as usual.

Tips:

• Set AWS_PROFILE env var instead of using --profile
• Use --mode gui --disable-gpu on VMs or if rendering fails
• Use --no-sandbox on Linux
• Set https_proxy env var for corporate proxy

Automation

Renew all profiles at once (useful for short session limits):

az2aws --all-profiles
az2aws --all-profiles --no-prompt    # With "Stay logged in" enabled

Credentials are only refreshed if expiring within 11 minutes - safe to run as a cron job.

Getting Your Tenant ID and App ID URI

Your Azure AD system admin should be able to provide you with your Tenant ID and App ID URI. If you can't get it from them, you can scrape it from a login page from the myapps.microsoft.com page.

1. Load the myapps.microsoft.com page.
2. Click the chicklet for the login you want.
3. In the window the pops open quickly copy the login.microsoftonline.com URL. (If you miss it just try again. You can also open the developer console with nagivation preservation to capture the URL.)
4. The GUID right after login.microsoftonline.com/ is the tenant ID.
5. Copy the SAMLRequest URL param.
6. Paste it into a URL decoder (like this one) and decode.
7. Paste the decoded output into the a SAML deflated and encoded XML decoder (like this one).
8. In the decoded XML output the value of the Audience tag is the App ID URI.
9. You may double-check tenant ID using Attribute tag named tenantid provided in XML.

How It Works

The Azure login page uses JavaScript, which requires a real web browser. To automate this from a command line, az2aws uses Puppeteer, which automates a real Chromium browser. It loads the Azure login page behind the scenes, populates your username and password (and MFA token), parses the SAML assertion, uses the AWS STS AssumeRoleWithSAML API to get temporary credentials, and saves these in the CLI credentials file.

Troubleshooting

If login fails, try these in order:

1. GUI mode: az2aws --mode gui - most reliable
2. Debug mode: az2aws --mode debug - see browser while CLI runs
3. Verbose logging: DEBUG=az2aws az2aws (Windows: set DEBUG=az2aws && az2aws)

Support for Other Authentication Providers

Obviously, this tool only supports Azure AD as an identity provider. However, there is a lot of similarity with how other logins with other providers would work (especially if they are SAML providers). If you are interested in building support for a different provider let me know. It would be great to build a more generic AWS CLI login tool with plugins for the various providers.

Acknowledgements

This project is forked from aws-azure-login. Thanks to the original authors and contributors.