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Connecting to Your Amazon EC2 Instance via SSH

A comprehensive guide to establishing secure remote access to your Amazon EC2 instances.

This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough of connecting to your Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance using Secure Shell (SSH). We will cover the essential steps, security considerations, and common troubleshooting techniques.

Connecting to Your Amazon EC2 Instance via SSH

How to Connect to an EC2 Instance via SSH

Connecting to your EC2 instance via SSH (Secure Shell) allows you to securely access and manage your instance from your local machine. Here's how to do it:

  1. Obtain your instance's Public DNS or Public IP address: This can be found in the EC2 console under the instances tab.
  2. Obtain your key pair file (.pem): You'll need the private key file (.pem) that you created when launching your instance. Keep this file secure!
  3. Open your terminal or SSH client: On Linux/macOS, use the terminal. On Windows, use Putty or similar.
  4. Connect to your instance using the following command:
ssh -i "path/to/your/keypair.pem" ec2-user@your_public_dns_or_ip

Replace the following:

  • path/to/your/keypair.pem with the actual path to your private key file.
  • ec2-user with the username (often ec2-user or ubuntu). Check your EC2 instance details to confirm.
  • your_public_dns_or_ip with your instance's public DNS or IP address.
Do You Know? You can also use SSH config files to simplify connecting to your EC2 instances frequently.

Security groups act as a virtual firewall for your EC2 instance. To connect via SSH, you must allow inbound SSH traffic (port 22) in your security group settings.

  1. Navigate to your EC2 console's Security Groups section.
  2. Select the security group associated with your instance.
  3. Add an inbound rule. Select type SSH, specify port 22, and choose the source IP range (e.g., your IP address or a CIDR range).
Important Note: Restricting the source IP range is crucial for security. Only allow access from trusted IP addresses or networks.
{"IpProtocol": "tcp", "FromPort": 22, "ToPort": 22, "IpRanges": [{"CidrIp":"your_ip_address/32"}]}

If you're having trouble connecting, here are some common issues and solutions:

  • Permission denied (publickey): Check the path to your private key file and ensure its permissions are correct (usually 400).
  • Connection timed out: Ensure your instance is running and that the security group allows inbound SSH traffic on port 22 from your IP address.
  • Incorrect username: Double-check the username you're using.
Avoid This: Do not use a weak or easily guessable password. Always use SSH keys for secure authentication.

Summary

  • Obtain your instance's public DNS/IP and key pair file.
  • Use the ssh command to connect.
  • Configure security groups to allow inbound SSH traffic.
  • Troubleshoot common connection issues like permission errors and timeouts.

Discussion