Provisioning and Connecting to an EC2 Ubuntu Instance on AWS (Level 1)

As part of my journey into AWS and DevOps, today’s task was to launch an EC2 Ubuntu instance and connect to it securely using SSH. This is a basic but critical building block for deploying cloud-native systems, running automation scripts, or hosting services.

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Objective

• Provision a virtual machine using EC2

• Configure networking and key pair for secure access

• Connect via SSH

• Identify and resolve real-world issues during setup

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Step-by-Step: EC2 Instance Launch

From the AWS Management Console:

• AMI: Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (HVM)

• Instance type: t2.micro (Free tier eligible)

• Key Pair: Created new key ubuntuServer-1.pem

• Security Group: Opened port 22 (SSH) for my IP

• Storage: Default 8 GB

Launched the instance and verified that it moved into the “Running” state.

Instance Running

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SSH Connection Steps

AWS provides a one-click SSH instruction under the Connect tab. I followed these instructions:

chmod 400 ubuntuServer-1.pem
ssh -i "ubuntuServer-1.pem" ubuntu@ec2-15-207-177-77.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com

Connection Instructions

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Issue Faced: SSH Connection Timeout

Initially, I faced an error:

ssh: connect to host ec2-15-207-177-77.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com port 22: Connection timed out

Troubleshooting Process:

• ✅ Verified security group had SSH (port 22) open to my IP — confirmed ✔

• ✅ Checked key permissions using chmod 400 — confirmed ✔

• ✅ Validated Public IP in EC2 details — matched ✔

• ❌ Issue: My local firewall had outbound connections blocked on port 22.

Fix:

• Temporarily disabled firewall to test.

• Once confirmed, added a firewall rule to allow outbound SSH (port 22) connections.

• Re-ran the SSH command and successfully connected.

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Logged Into Ubuntu Server

Once connected, I verified:

• OS version: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS

• System metrics: CPU, memory, and load

• Network: Confirmed private IP, public IP, and hostname

📸 SSH Terminal

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🧠 Key Takeaways

• SSH troubleshooting is a practical skill — cloud engineers often deal with networking/firewall misconfigurations.

• Default security group and firewall configurations must be reviewed thoroughly.

• AWS’s connection tab offers reliable guidance if used carefully.

• Always verify:

  • Security Group rules

  • Key permissions

  • Correct user (ubuntu for Ubuntu AMIs)

  • Public DNS/IP match