The tools are Java based, so you'll need to get Java installed. On Ubuntu Hardy, this command will work:

   sudo aptitude install sun-java6-bin

You can identify the location of your java home by running the following command:

   which java

The typical JAVA_HOME is "/usr" and would give output similar to this:

   /usr/bin/java

1. Download the ec2-api-tools ( http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=351 )
2. In your Amazon Web Services account, generate a certificate and private key (keep the key carefully, you'll probably need to create a brand new one if you lose it).
3. Add the tools and various EC2 specific environmental variables to your PATH

Add this to your ~/.bashrc file:

For simplicity I prefer to symlink the latest version of the tools to an "ec2-api-tools" directory in my home directory

 EC2_HOME=~/ec2-api-tools

 PATH=$PATH:$EC2_HOME/bin/

 export PATH

 export EC2_HOME

 export EC2_CERT=~/.ec2/cert-DURGNFCHJ6YATEVY2KH3WOEESMR636M6.pem

 export EC2_PRIVATE_KEY=~/.ec2/pk-DURGNFCHJ6YATEVY2KH3WOEESMR636M6.pem

 export JAVA_HOME=/usr  #note the java binary is located at /usr/bin/java

Note: On a Mac the JAVA_HOME is most likely at /usr

run:

 source ~/.bashrc

For more information:

http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSEC2/2008-05-05/DeveloperGuide/