🚀 AWS EC2 Automation Using Shell Script

This project demonstrates automated EC2 instance provisioning on AWS using Bash and AWS CLI.
It is designed for DevOps beginners / freshers to understand real-world AWS automation, IAM usage, and region-aware infrastructure provisioning.

The script validates inputs, installs dependencies, checks authentication, and safely launches an EC2 instance with proper logging.

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📌 What This Project Does

• Installs required dependencies (awscli, jq) automatically
• Verifies AWS CLI authentication
• Validates mandatory inputs before execution
• Launches an EC2 instance using AWS CLI
• Waits until the instance reaches running state
• Adds meaningful tags (Name, Project, Owner, Environment)
• Uses region-safe, idempotent, and production-style scripting practices
• Logs execution steps to a log file

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🛠️ Technologies Used

• Bash / Shell Scripting
• AWS EC2
• AWS CLI v2
• IAM (Users, Policies, Access Keys)
• Linux (Ubuntu)

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📂 Project Structure

.
├── ec2_provision.sh      # Main automation script
├── ec2.env               # Environment variables (NOT committed)
├── ec2_provision.log     # Execution logs
└── README.md

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⚠️ Security & Best Practices

• ❌ No AWS credentials are hardcoded
• ❌ No passwords or secrets are committed
• ✅ Uses environment variables for sensitive data
• ✅ .env file should be added to .gitignore

NEVER commit the following:

• AWS Access Key
• AWS Secret Key
• .pem private key files
• ec2.env

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🔐 Prerequisites

Before running the script, ensure:

1. You have an AWS account
2. An IAM user with EC2 permissions (e.g. AmazonEC2FullAccess)
3. AWS CLI installed or allow the script to install it
4. AWS CLI configured:

   aws configure

5. A key pair created in the same AWS region
6. Basic knowledge of Linux terminal

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🌍 Region Used

This project was tested with:

ap-south-1 (Asia Pacific - Mumbai)

⚠️ All AWS resources (AMI, subnet, security group, key pair) must belong to the SAME region.

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⚙️ Configuration (Required)

Create an environment file:

nano ec2.env

Add the following (example):

AMI_ID=ami-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
KEY_NAME=devops-key
SUBNET_ID=subnet-xxxxxxxxxxxx
SECURITY_GROUP_IDS=sg-xxxxxxxxxxxx
INSTANCE_TYPE=t3.micro

Replace values with real IDs from your AWS account.

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▶️ How to Run

Load variables and execute:

set -a
source ec2.env
set +a

./ec2_provision.sh

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📜 Sample Output

Launching EC2 instance...
EC2 instance created: i-0xxxxxxxxxxxx
Waiting for EC2 instance to reach running state...
Instance i-0xxxxxxxxxxxx is running
EC2 provisioning completed successfully

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🧾 Logging

All execution logs are saved to:

ec2_provision.log

Useful for debugging and audit trails.

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💸 Cost Warning (IMPORTANT)

• EC2 instances cost money
• Free Tier has limits
• Always stop or terminate instances after testing

Recommended:

EC2 → Instances → Stop / Terminate

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🧠 What You Learn From This Project

• IAM authentication vs authorization
• AWS region-specific resources
• EC2 automation using CLI
• Handling real AWS errors
• Writing safe shell scripts with set -euo pipefail
• Environment-based configuration
• Production-style validation and logging

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📈 Improvements You Can Add

• Auto-terminate instance after X hours
• Dry-run mode
• Support for multiple regions
• Terraform version of the same logic
• CI/CD integration (GitHub Actions)

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👨‍💻 Author

Dhanush D Prabhu
DevOps & Cloud Enthusiast
GitHub: https://github.com/iamdevdhanush

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⭐ Final Note

This project focuses on real DevOps behavior, not click-ops.
If you understand and can explain this script, you are already ahead of many beginners.

Feel free to fork, improve, and contribute.