Step-by-Step Guide to Launching an EC2 Instance

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will:

1. Understand the process of launching an EC2 instance on AWS.
2. Learn how to configure instance settings such as AMI, instance type, storage, and security groups.
3. Connect to your EC2 instance and verify its setup.

Introduction: Launching Your First Virtual Server

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is a powerful service that allows you to launch virtual servers (instances) on-demand. In this hands-on guide, you’ll walk through the process of launching and connecting to an EC2 instance. Whether you’re hosting a website, running a database, or testing a new application, EC2 provides the flexibility to start quickly and scale as needed.

Step-by-Step Guide to Launching an EC2 Instance

Step 1: Log in to AWS Management Console

1. Go to the AWS Management Console and log in with your credentials.
2. Use the Search Bar at the top to search for EC2. Click on the EC2 service.

Step 2: Launch an EC2 Instance

1. Click on “Launch Instance”:
   • This option is located on the EC2 dashboard.
2. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):
   • Select an AMI, which is a template that contains the operating system and pre-installed software.
   • For this guide, choose Amazon Linux 2 AMI (Free Tier Eligible).
3. Select an Instance Type:
   • Choose t2.micro, which is Free Tier eligible.
   • This instance type is suitable for lightweight workloads like hosting a small website.
4. Configure Instance Details:
   • Use the default settings:
     • Number of Instances: 1.
     • Network: Default VPC.
     • Auto-assign Public IP: Enabled.
   • Click Next to continue.
5. Add Storage:
   • The default size is 8 GiB for Amazon Linux 2. This is sufficient for this guide.
   • Click Next.
6. Add Tags:
   • Tags are key-value pairs that help you identify resources.
   • Add a tag with Key: Name and Value: MyFirstInstance.
7. Configure Security Group:
   • Security groups act as a firewall to control traffic to your instance.
   • Create a new security group and add the following rules:
     • SSH (Port 22): Allow from My IP (this restricts SSH access to your IP address).
     • HTTP (Port 80): Allow from Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0, ::/0) to make your instance accessible via a browser.
   • Click Review and Launch.
8. Review and Launch:
   • Review your configuration settings.
   • Click Launch.
9. Create or Select a Key Pair:
   • A key pair is used to securely connect to your instance.
   • If you don’t have a key pair:
     • Choose Create a New Key Pair.
     • Name the key pair (e.g., MyKeyPair) and download the .pem file. Keep this file safe, as you’ll need it to connect to your instance.
   • If you already have a key pair, select it from the dropdown.
10. Launch Instance:
    • Click Launch Instances and wait for the instance to initialize.

Step 3: Connect to Your Instance

1. Find the Public IP Address:
   • Go to the Instances tab on the EC2 dashboard.
   • Select your instance and note the Public IPv4 Address.
2. Connect via SSH:
   • Open a terminal (Linux/Mac) or use an SSH client like PuTTY (Windows).
   • Navigate to the directory where your key pair file (.pem) is stored.
   • Use the following command to connect:
     ssh -i "path-to-key.pem" ec2-user@public-ip


     Replace path-to-key.pem with the path to your key file and public-ip with your instance’s public IP address.

3. Verify the Connection:
   • Once connected, you’ll see a terminal prompt indicating you’re logged into the EC2 instance.

Step 4: Verify Your Instance is Running

1. Test SSH Connection:
   • Use basic Linux commands like ls, pwd, or top to explore the environment.
2. Test HTTP Access (Optional):
   • Install a web server (e.g., Apache) to verify HTTP connectivity:
     sudo yum install httpd -y
sudo systemctl start httpd

   • Open a browser and visit your instance’s public IP address. You should see the default Apache test page.

Reflection: Why Launching EC2 is Essential

Launching an EC2 instance is the foundation of working with AWS compute resources. It gives you complete control over your virtual servers, enabling you to:

• Host websites and applications.
• Run software in isolated environments.
• Experiment with operating systems and development tools.

This hands-on experience prepares you to configure more advanced workloads and integrate EC2 with other AWS services.

What’s Next?

In the next chapter, we’ll dive into AWS Lambda, exploring serverless computing and how to execute code without managing servers.

Your cloud journey continues—let’s keep building!