SRJahirTech

AWS Linux Tutorial -- Part 2: Launch Your First EC2 Instance

By Suraj Ahir 2025-10-05 11 min read

Your first EC2 instance is a milestone. Going from zero to a real Linux server running in the cloud, accessible from anywhere in the world, is both simple and empowering. AWS has made the process straightforward enough to complete in 10 minutes. This part walks through every step.

Create an AWS Account

# 1. Go to aws.amazon.com/free
# 2. Click "Create a Free Account"
# 3. Enter email and account name
# 4. Add payment method (credit card -- free tier stays free)
# 5. Verify phone number
# 6. Choose Support Plan: Basic (Free)

# CRITICAL: Set up billing alerts immediately
# Billing > Budgets > Create Budget
# Budget amount: $5
# Alert at 80% ($4) and 100% ($5)

Launch an EC2 Instance

# 1. Go to EC2 > Instances > Launch Instances

# 2. Name: my-first-server

# 3. AMI: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (Free tier eligible)

# 4. Instance type: t2.micro or t3.micro (Free tier eligible)
#    - 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM -- enough for learning

# 5. Key pair: Create new
#    - Name: my-key
#    - Type: RSA, Format: .pem
#    - DOWNLOAD and save securely -- you cannot regenerate it!

# 6. Network settings:
#    - Allow SSH traffic from: My IP (not Anywhere!)
#    - Allow HTTP traffic (optional)
#    - Allow HTTPS traffic (optional)

# 7. Storage: 8 GiB gp3 (free tier: 30 GB max)

# 8. Launch instance!

Instance Types Explained

# Naming convention: [family][generation].[size]
# t3.micro = General purpose, gen 3, micro size

# Common families:
t3  -- General purpose, burstable CPU (most learning/small apps)
m6i -- General purpose, consistent CPU (production apps)
c6i -- Compute optimized (CPU-intensive workloads)
r6i -- Memory optimized (databases, caches)
g4dn-- GPU instances (ML inference, graphics)

# Sizes: nano, micro, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge...

# For learning: t2.micro or t3.micro (free tier)
# For small production apps: t3.small or t3.medium
# For web servers with 100+ users: t3.medium or m6i.large

Security Groups

# Security group rules
# Inbound rules control what traffic can REACH your instance

# SSH from your IP only (NEVER allow 0.0.0.0/0 for SSH)
Type: SSH, Port: 22, Source: My IP (203.x.x.x/32)

# HTTP for web server
Type: HTTP, Port: 80, Source: Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0)

# HTTPS for web server
Type: HTTPS, Port: 443, Source: Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0)

# Custom application port
Type: Custom TCP, Port: 8080, Source: Anywhere

# Outbound rules: Allow all by default
# Your instance can reach the internet freely

Elastic IPs

# Public IPs change every time you stop/start an instance
# Elastic IP = static IP that stays the same

# Allocate an Elastic IP:
# EC2 > Elastic IPs > Allocate Elastic IP address
# Associate with your instance

# IMPORTANT: Elastic IPs are FREE when associated with a running instance
# But cost ~$0.005/hr when NOT associated (to discourage hoarding)
# Always release Elastic IPs you are not using

Frequently Asked Questions

In Part 3, we SSH into your new EC2 instance and start working with Linux in the cloud.

Written by

Suraj Ahir

Cloud & DevOps engineer running four live production services on my own AWS infrastructure. I write everything on this site myself — no ghostwriters, no AI filler.

More about me → GitHub LinkedIn

EC2 User Data: Bootstrap on First Boot

#!/bin/bash
# Add this as "User data" when launching EC2
# Runs automatically as root on first boot

set -e
LOG="/var/log/user-data.log"
exec > >(tee -a $LOG) 2>&1
echo "User data script started at $(date)"

# Update and install software
apt-get update -y
apt-get install -y nginx python3-pip git htop

# Configure application
pip3 install flask gunicorn

# Download and setup application
cd /opt
git clone https://github.com/myorg/myapp.git
cd myapp
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

# Create systemd service
cat > /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service << EOF
[Unit]
Description=My Flask Application
After=network.target

[Service]
User=ubuntu
WorkingDirectory=/opt/myapp
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/gunicorn app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:8000
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable myapp
systemctl start myapp
systemctl start nginx

echo "User data script completed at $(date)"

Launch Templates: Reusable Instance Configuration

aws ec2 create-launch-template   --launch-template-name myapp-template   --version-description "v1.0 -- base configuration"   --launch-template-data '{
    "ImageId": "ami-0287a05f0ef0e9d9a",
    "InstanceType": "t3.micro",
    "KeyName": "my-key",
    "SecurityGroupIds": ["sg-0123456789abcdef"],
    "IamInstanceProfile": {"Name": "MyAppInstanceProfile"},
    "TagSpecifications": [{
      "ResourceType": "instance",
      "Tags": [{"Key": "Project", "Value": "myapp"}]
    }],
    "UserData": "IyEvYmluL2Jhc2gKYXB0IHVwZGF0ZSA..."
  }'

# Launch from template
aws ec2 run-instances   --launch-template LaunchTemplateName=myapp-template,Version='$Latest'