Run Scripts
If you opted for the default Amazon Linux 2 AMI, you probably need to install some additional software to be able to execute your code files. To install Python 3 and any other packages on your EC2 instance, run the following commands:
# install Python
sudo yum install python3
# install a single package
sudo python3 -m pip install <PACKAGE_NAME>
# install multiple packages from txt file
sudo python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt
Next, you can run your scripts from the command line like you’re used to with python3 <SCRIPT_NAME>.py.
TipOne of the key advantages of using a VM is that you can leave it running indefinitely (even if you shut down your laptop!). Take a look at the task scheduling building block to learn how to use crontab to schedule recurring tasks (e.g., run a Python script that scrapes a website every day at 3 AM). Keep in mind that the time at your VM may differ from your local time because the data center that hosts the VM is located in another time zone (tip: run date to find out the UTC time).
TipCheck out this building block to learn how to use Docker to launch R on the instance to run your R scripts.
