Create EC2 Instances for Bastion Host and Backend

Initialize EC2 Instances

ℹ️ Objective

• Initialize two separate virtual servers (EC2 Instances):
  1. Bastion Host: Placed in the Public Subnet to act as a “jump box,” helping us securely connect to resources in the Private Subnet.
  2. Backend Instance: Placed in the Private Subnet to run the application, protected from direct access from the Internet.

🔒 Execution Steps

First, we will initialize the EC2 Instance for the Bastion Host.

1. Create EC2 Instance for Bastion Host (project-bastion-host-ec2)

• Step 1: Start Launching the Instance

  • In the AWS Management Console, find and select the EC2 service.
  • From the EC2 Dashboard, click on Launch instance.

  

• Step 2: Set Name and Choose AMI

  • Name: project-bastion-host-ec2
  • Application and OS Images (Amazon Machine Image): Select Amazon Linux.

  

• Step 3: Choose Instance Type

  • Instance type: Select t2.micro (part of the Free Tier).

• Step 4: Create a Key Pair for Access

  • This is a crucial step to be able to SSH into the instance.
  • Click on Create new key pair.
  • Key pair name: project-keypair
  • Key pair type: RSA
  • Private key file format: .pem
  • Click Create key pair, and the browser will automatically download the .pem file.

  **IMPORTANT:** Store this `.pem` file in a safe place. You will not be able to download it a second time. If you lose it, you will lose access to your EC2 instance.
  

  

• Step 5: Configure Network Settings

  • Click on Edit in the Network settings section.
  • VPC: Select the project-vpc you created.
  • Subnet: Select one of the two Public Subnets (e.g., ...public-subnet-ap-southeast-1a).
  • Auto-assign public IP: Enable.
  • Firewall (security groups): Select Select existing security group and choose project-bastion-host-sg.

  

• Step 6: Launch the Instance

  • Review the information in the Summary panel.
  • Click Launch instance.

2. Create EC2 Instance for Backend (project-backend-ec2)

Next, we will repeat the process to create the Backend instance, with a few important changes in the Network Settings.

• Step 1: Start Launching the Instance

  • From the EC2 Dashboard, click Launch instance again.

• Step 2: Set Name and Choose AMI

  • Name: project-backend-ec2
  • AMI: Select Amazon Linux.

• Step 3: Choose Instance Type

  • Instance type: Select t2.micro.

• Step 4: Select the Existing Key Pair

  • In the Key pair (login) section, select the project-keypair created earlier.

  

• Step 5: Configure Network Settings

  • Click on Edit in the Network settings section.
  • VPC: Select project-vpc.
  • Subnet: Select one of the two Private Subnets (e.g., ...private-subnet-ap-southeast-1b).
  • Auto-assign public IP: Disable. This is a key difference to protect the backend server.
  • Firewall (security groups): Select Select existing security group and choose project-backend-sg.

  

• Step 6: Launch the Instance

  • Review the information and click Launch instance.

After completing, you can click View all instances to see both newly created servers in the Running state.