Linux EC2 Instance Challenge

Task 1: Creating the Lab VPC and Network Settings

Created a VPC:

Open the VPC Management Console.
Click on Create VPC.
Choose VPC only and enter the following details:
Name tag: Lab VPC
IPv4 CIDR block: 10.0.0.0/16
Click Create VPC.

Create a Public Subnet:

In the VPC Management Console, go to Subnets.
Click on Create subnet.
Enter the following details:
Name tag: Public Subnet
VPC: Select the Lab VPC.
Availability Zone: Choose an availability zone (e.g., us-west-2a).
IPv4 CIDR block: 10.0.1.0/24
Click Create subnet.

Enable Auto-Assign Public IP:

In the Subnets section, select the Public Subnet.
Click on Actions and choose Modify auto-assign IP settings.
Check Enable auto-assign public IPv4 address.
Click Save.

Create an Internet Gateway:

In the VPC Management Console, go to Internet Gateways.
Click on Create internet gateway and enter the following details:
Name tag: Lab Internet Gateway
Click Create internet gateway.
Select the Lab Internet Gateway and click Actions > Attach to VPC.
Select the Lab VPC and click Attach internet gateway.

Update the Route Table:

In the VPC Management Console, go to Route Tables.
Select the route table associated with your Lab VPC.
Click on the Routes tab and then Edit routes.
Add a route:
Destination: 0.0.0.0/0
Target: Select the Lab Internet Gateway (e.g., igw-xxxxxxxx).
Click Save routes.

Create a Security Group:

In the VPC Management Console, go to Security Groups.
Click on Create security group and enter the following details:
Security group name: Bastion security group
Description: Permit SSH and HTTP connections
VPC: Select the Lab VPC
Add the following inbound rules:
Rule 1:

Type: SSH
Protocol: TCP
Port range: 22
Source: 0.0.0.0/0

Rule 2:

Type: HTTP
Protocol: TCP
Port range: 80
Source: 0.0.0.0/0

Click Create security group.

Task 2: Launching an EC2 Instance

Open EC2 Management Console:

In the AWS Management Console, search for and open EC2.

Launch an Instance:

Click on Launch instance to start the instance creation process.

Name and Tags:

Named the instance "Bastion host" to easily identify it later.

Choose an AMI:

Selected the Amazon Linux 2 AMI (HVM) from the Quick Start list.

Choose an Instance Type:

Selected the t3.micro instance type, which is suitable for development and testing.

Configure a Key Pair:

Proceeded without a key pair since I used EC2 Instance Connect to log in.

Configure Network Settings:

Selected the Lab VPC:
CIDR block: 10.0.0.0/16
Selected the Public Subnet:
Subnet CIDR block: 10.0.1.0/24
Enabled auto-assign public IPv4 address.
Selected the Bastion security group with the following rules:
Inbound rule: SSH (port 22) from 0.0.0.0/0
Inbound rule: HTTP (port 80) from 0.0.0.0/0

Add Storage:

Kept the default 8 GiB Amazon EBS volume.

Configure Advanced Details:

Left the IAM instance profile blank.

Launch Instance:

Reviewed the instance configuration in the Summary section.
Launched the instance and clicked "View all instances" to see it listed.

Task 3: Connecting to the Bastion Host

Connect to Bastion Host:

Selected the bastion host instance from the list of EC2 instances.
Clicked "Connect" and used the EC2 Instance Connect tab to log in.

Task 4: Troubleshooting the Misconfigured Web Server

Update Package Index:

Ran the command to update the package index on the instance:

sudo yum update -y

Install Apache:

Installed the Apache web server using:

sudo yum install -y httpd

Start Apache Service:

Started the Apache service:

sudo systemctl start httpd

Enable Apache to Start on Boot:

Enabled the Apache service to start on boot:

sudo systemctl enable httpd

Verify Apache Installation and Status:

Checked the status of the Apache service to ensure it was running:

sudo systemctl status httpd

As you can see by active (running) it is running successfully.

Task 5: Deploying and Testing the Web Page

Create and Save HTML File:

Used nano to create and edit the projects.html file:

sudo nano /var/www/html/projects.html

Added the following HTML content:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> <h1>Alex's re/Start Project Work</h1> <p>EC2 Instance Challenge Lab</p> </body> </html>

Verify File Placement:

Checked the contents of the /var/www/html directory to ensure the file was there:

ls /var/www/html

Update Security Group Rules:

Edited the security group to allow inbound HTTP (port 80) traffic:
Inbound rule: HTTP (80) from 0.0.0.0/0.

Access Web Page:

Retrieved the public IPv4 address of the instance from the EC2 Management Console.
Opened a web browser and navigated to http://<public_ipv4_address>/projects.html.

Linux EC2 Instance Challenge/ EC2 Web Server Challenge: Complete Setup Guide

Project Overview