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Launch, Secure, and Scale EC2 Instances

❏ Task: Launch an EC2 Instance

Step 1: Login to AWS Console

• Go to the AWS Management Console and log in.

• Navigate to EC2 Dashboard.

Step 2: Launch an EC2 Instance

• Click "Launch Instance".

  

• Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) (e.g., Amazon Linux 2, Ubuntu, or Windows).

• Select an Instance Type (e.g., t2.micro for free tier).

• Configure instance details:

  • Set the number of instances.

  • Choose a VPC and subnet (default or custom).

  • Enable Auto-Assign Public IP (if needed).

  

• Add Storage (default is 8GB for Amazon Linux, increase as needed).

• Add Tags (Key: Name, Value: MyEC2Instance).

• Configure a Security Group (firewall rules).

  • Allow SSH (port 22) for your IP (My IP option).

  • Allow HTTP (port 80) if running a web server.

• Review and click Launch.

• Select or create a Key Pair (for SSH access), download it, and launch the instance.

Step 3: Connect to the Instance

• Once the instance is running, go to Instances → Select Instance → Connect.

• Copy the SSH command and connect via terminal:

ssh -i my-key.pem ec2-user@your-ec2-public-ip

❏ Task: Secure the EC2 Instance

Step 1: Update and Install Security Patches

sudo yum update -y # For Amazon Linux

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y # For Ubuntu

Step 2: Set Up a Firewall (Using UFW on Ubuntu)

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH

sudo ufw enable

sudo ufw status

Step 3: Disable Root Login and Password Authentication

Edit the SSH config: sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

• Set PermitRootLogin no

• Set PasswordAuthentication no Restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

Step 4: Enable AWS IAM Role for Access Control

• Create an IAM Role with AmazonSSMManagedInstanceCore permissions.

• Attach it to your EC2 instance.

• Use AWS Systems Manager for remote access instead of SSH.

❏ Task : Scale EC2 Instances (Auto Scaling)

Step 1: Create a Load Balancer

• Go to EC2 → Load Balancers.

• Click Create Load Balancer (choose Application Load Balancer).

• Assign security groups, target groups, and listeners (HTTP/HTTPS).

Step 2: Create an Auto Scaling Group

• Go to EC2 → Auto Scaling Groups.

• Click Create Auto Scaling Group.

• Select the EC2 Launch Template.

  

• Set the desired, minimum, and maximum instance count.

• Attach to a Load Balancer.

• Configure Scaling Policies (CPU utilization, request count, etc.).