cloud-aws-ec2

Overview

This skill provides guidance for creating and configuring AWS EC2 instances, managing security groups, and handling EC2 lifecycle tasks. It helps users deploy reliable compute resources on AWS and optimize configurations for performance and cost.

How This Skill Works

You select an AMI, instance type, and storage, then configure security groups and key pairs. The guidance covers launching, connecting to instances, and ongoing management like start/stop/terminate, while recommending IAM roles and proper networking practices for secure operation.

When to Use It

• When you need to create a new EC2 instance for a web or application workload.
• When configuring EC2 security groups, keys, and network access.
• When selecting an AMI, instance type, storage, and tagging for cost and compliance.
• When managing EC2 lifecycle: start, stop, terminate, or automate via CLI/SDK.
• When scripting or using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to deploy EC2 environments.

Quick Start

1. Step 1: Choose an appropriate AMI and select an instance type that fits your workload.
2. Step 2: Create or select a security group with required inbound rules and generate a key pair for SSH/RDP access.
3. Step 3: Launch the instance, connect securely, and verify your application is reachable.

Best Practices

• Plan security groups with least privilege and use separate SGs for different tiers.
• Use IAM roles for EC2 instead of embedding credentials in applications.
• Keep AMIs updated and automate patching for consistent, secure deployments.
• Tag resources consistently for cost allocation, ownership, and auditing.
• Leverage Auto Scaling and appropriate EC2 sizing to balance performance and cost.

Example Use Cases

• Launch an Ubuntu web server on a t3.medium with ports 80 and 443 open in the security group, and attach an additional EBS volume for data.
• Create an EC2 instance with a predefined IAM role for S3 access and a custom key pair for SSH/RDP access.
• Set up a Bastion host in a public subnet to securely access private EC2 instances in a private subnet.
• Configure an Auto Scaling group to maintain desired capacity during traffic spikes while using a mixed instance policy for cost efficiency.
• Migrate a test workload by provisioning EC2, deploying the app, and then stopping the instance to reduce costs when idle.

Frequently Asked Questions