Wrapping Up EC2 – From Confused to Comfortable

I had planned to publish this a bit earlier, but life happened — I missed writing for a couple of days (last blog was on May 8).
But hey, breaks are part of the journey too. Now I'm back, picking things up right where I left off.

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Six days ago, EC2 was just a scary term I heard in AWS tutorials.
Today, it feels... familiar. Not perfect yet, but I can spin up an instance, secure it, host a basic server, and even automate the setup — all on my own.

So I thought I’d pause here and reflect on what I’ve learned before I dive into other AWS services.

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What I Learned in 6 Days

1. Launching EC2

I started with the absolute basics — launching a Linux instance using a free-tier AMI and understanding instance types.

2. SSH Access & Key Pairs

Struggled a bit with key permissions and terminals (especially on Windows), but got the hang of connecting via SSH.

3. Installing Web Servers

Tried both NGINX and Apache. Both worked, but Apache felt more beginner-friendly for me. Even hosted a basic HTML page!

4. Security Groups & Elastic IP

Learned how to open only the ports I need and assign a static IP to avoid losing access every time I reboot.

5. User Setup & Permissions

Created new users, set up SSH keys for them, and gave sudo access carefully. It felt like learning Linux admin 101.

6. Automation with User Data

This blew my mind — launching an EC2 and having Apache + HTML ready with zero manual setup. Chef’s kiss.

7. Creating a Custom AMI

Saved time by creating my own image. Now I don’t have to redo the setup every time.

Organizing with Tags

A small but mighty habit — tagging instances with names and environments helped me stay organized.

✅ Bonus: iptables & Firewalls

Dipped my toes into Linux firewalls. It was optional but useful for understanding how deeper security works.

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What Tripped Me Up

• Forgetting to open ports in security groups

• Key permissions issues (chmod 400)

• Locking myself out while testing iptables

• Getting overwhelmed at first by the EC2 dashboard

But each mistake taught me something, and that's exactly the point of this journey.

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What’s Next? 🔜

Now that EC2 doesn’t scare me anymore, I’m excited to explore:

• IAM Roles – So I can give EC2 secure access to other AWS services (like S3)

• Learn how IAM users, groups, and policies work

• Play around with least privilege setups and test access boundaries

• Maybe even try assigning temporary roles using STS

IAM feels like the glue that connects everything in AWS, and I want to get it right.

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Final Thoughts

This EC2 mini-series was me, learning in public.
Not perfect. Not polished. Just progress.

If you’re also just starting with AWS — take it one day at a time.
It’s a lot. But it gets clearer with every click.

On to IAM next...