CourseAWS EC2 Complete Course for Beginners

1 Module 1: Foundations 7 lessons · 25 min

How to Open an AWS Account and Protect It with MFA (Step by Step) 7:20
Set up a safe AWS account 3:07
Launch your first EC2 instance 2:26
AWS Regions and Availability Zones Explained for EC2 Beginners 3:49
A Beginner's Tour of the Amazon EC2 Console 3:14
Stop, Start, Reboot or Terminate an EC2 Instance: What Each One Costs 3:13
AWS EC2 Course: Module 1 Recap and What's Next 1:59

2 Module 2: Connect and manage 6 lessons · 26 min

How to Connect to an EC2 Instance with EC2 Instance Connect (Without Opening SSH to the Internet) 3:52
How to Connect to EC2 with Session Manager (No SSH Keys, No Open Ports) 4:43
EC2 Key Pairs and SSH, the Safe Way (Allow Only Your IP) 4:44
EC2 User Data: Launch a Web Server Automatically (Amazon Linux 2023) 4:24
EC2 Instance Metadata and IMDSv2: Why You Should Require It 5:58
AWS EC2 Course: Module 2 Recap and What's Next 2:20

3 Module 3: Networking 6 lessons · 38 min

AWS VPCs, Subnets and Route Tables Explained for EC2 Beginners 5:41
AWS Security Groups in Depth: Inbound, Outbound, Stateful Rules and Group References 6:35
AWS Network ACLs vs Security Groups: Stateless vs Stateful, Explained 8:16
Public vs Private Subnets in AWS: Build and Test a NAT Gateway 9:27
AWS Elastic IPs and Network Interfaces (ENIs) Explained, with a Hands-on Lab 5:05
AWS EC2 Course: Module 3 Recap and What's Next 2:27

4 Module 4: Storage and images 6 lessons · 31 min

AWS EBS Volume Types Explained: gp3 vs gp2 vs io2 vs st1 vs sc1 (and Converting gp2 to gp3) 6:39
How to Attach, Mount and Extend an EBS Volume on EC2 (No Downtime) 7:00
EBS Snapshots: How to Back Up and Restore an EC2 Volume (Hands-on) 7:19
How to Turn On EBS Encryption by Default in AWS (Console and CLI) 3:59
How to Create Your Own AMI from an EC2 Instance (and Launch From It) 4:07
AWS EC2 Course: Module 4 Recap and What's Next 2:15

5 Module 5: Identity and security 6 lessons · 28 min

IAM Roles for EC2: Give Servers AWS Access Without Access Keys 5:53
How to Patch EC2 Instances with AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager 7:22
Find EC2 Vulnerabilities with Amazon Inspector (Step by Step) 3:59
Amazon GuardDuty for EC2: Trigger and Read a Real Finding (Safely) 4:06
How to Find Risky AWS Security Groups (Open to 0.0.0.0/0) and Fix Them 4:17
AWS EC2 Course: Module 5 Recap and What's Next 1:56

6 Module 6: Scale and availability 6 lessons · 26 min

How to Create and Use an EC2 Launch Template (Step by Step) 5:29
How to Create an AWS Application Load Balancer for EC2 (Step by Step) 5:23
How to Create an EC2 Auto Scaling Group from a Launch Template 4:20
EC2 Auto Scaling: Target Tracking Policies and Load Balancer Health Checks 4:57
Designing EC2 Applications for Multiple Availability Zones (with a Zone Outage Drill) 3:19
AWS EC2 Course: Module 6 Recap and What's Next 2:02

7 Module 7: Monitor and control cost 6 lessons · 23 min

How to Create a CloudWatch Alarm for an EC2 Instance (and Test It) 4:26
How to Install the CloudWatch Agent on EC2 and Send Logs and Memory Metrics 6:12
EC2 Pricing Explained: On-Demand vs Spot vs Savings Plans (and How to Launch a Spot Instance) 3:31
Right-Size EC2 Instances with AWS Compute Optimizer (and Change an Instance Type) 3:35
AWS Tagging Best Practices for EC2: Tag Editor and Cost Allocation Tags 3:26
AWS EC2 Course: Module 7 Recap and What's Next 1:48

8 Module 8: Automate 5 lessons · 20 min

Manage EC2 Instances with the AWS CLI: Launch, List, Wait and Terminate 3:15
Terraform EC2 Tutorial for Beginners: Launch a Web Server with init, plan and apply 4:19
EC2 Image Builder Tutorial: Build a Golden AMI with a Pipeline 7:04
AWS CloudFormation for Beginners: Deploy an EC2 Web Server from a Template 4:05
AWS EC2 Course: Module 8 Recap and What's Next 1:26

9 Module 9: Capstone 4 lessons · 18 min

Design a Production Web Stack on AWS EC2: A Capstone Walkthrough 3:44
Terraform AWS Tutorial: Build a Load-Balanced Auto Scaling Web Stack on EC2, Step by Step 7:43
EC2 Security Review Checklist: Find and Fix Common Mistakes with the AWS CLI 5:26
AWS EC2 Complete Course for Beginners: Course Recap and Next Steps 1:16

Lesson 3 of 52

Launch your first EC2 instance

What you’ll learn

Find your way around the EC2 console
Launch a virtual server with the launch wizard
Choose a free tier eligible AMI and instance type
Avoid a common mistake – SSH open to the whole internet

What you need

An AWS account you can experiment in (use a sandbox account, not production)
Permission to launch EC2 instances

The EC2 console

We start on the EC2 dashboard. It summarizes the EC2 resources in the current Region.

We start on the EC2 dashboard. It summarizes the EC2 resources in the current Region.

Check the Region selector at the top right. Instances are created in the Region you are viewing, so always confirm it before you launch.

Check the Region selector at the top right. Instances are created in the Region you are viewing, so always confirm it before you launch.

Instances list

In the navigation pane, choose Instances. This page lists every instance in the Region.

In the navigation pane, choose Instances. This page lists every instance in the Region.

Launch wizard

To create a new server, choose Launch instances.

To create a new server, choose Launch instances.

First, give the instance a name. The wizard saves it as a Name tag, which makes the instance easy to find later.

First, give the instance a name. The wizard saves it as a Name tag, which makes the instance easy to find later.

AMI and instance type

Under Application and OS Images, we keep Amazon Linux. An AMI is the template for the server's operating system, and this one is free tier eligible.

Under Application and OS Images, we keep Amazon Linux. An AMI is the template for the server's operating system, and this one is free tier eligible.

For the instance type, we keep the default, a small free tier eligible size. The type decides how much CPU and memory the server gets.

For the instance type, we keep the default, a small free tier eligible size. The type decides how much CPU and memory the server gets.

Key pair

A key pair lets you connect with SSH. We won't connect in this lesson, so we choose Proceed without a key pair.

A key pair lets you connect with SSH. We won't connect in this lesson, so we choose Proceed without a key pair.

Network settings

In Network settings, the wizard allows SSH from anywhere by default. That exposes the server to the whole internet, so we turn it off.

In Network settings, the wizard allows SSH from anywhere by default. That exposes the server to the whole internet, so we turn it off.

With no inbound rules, nothing on the internet can reach this instance. That's the safest place to start, and we can open specific ports later.

With no inbound rules, nothing on the internet can reach this instance. That's the safest place to start, and we can open specific ports later.

Launch

Review the summary panel, then choose Launch instance.

Review the summary panel, then choose Launch instance.

The launch has started. AWS is now provisioning the virtual server for us.

The launch has started. AWS is now provisioning the virtual server for us.

Check the instance

Choose View all instances to return to the list.

Choose View all instances to return to the list.

Here is our new instance. It starts in the Pending state while AWS prepares it.

Here is our new instance. It starts in the Pending state while AWS prepares it.

We refresh the list, and after a short wait the state changes to Running. Our server is up.

We refresh the list, and after a short wait the state changes to Running. Our server is up.

Summary

The EC2 dashboard and Instances list
Launching an instance with the launch wizard
Choosing an AMI, instance type, and key pair
Keeping inbound access closed by default

What’s next

You've launched your first EC2 instance with a safe default configuration. A running instance can incur charges, so terminate it when you're done. In the next lesson we'll look inside the instance details.