The purpose of this guide is demonstrate how to use AWS Session Manager to gain access EC2 instances, instead of using SSH.
- You will need an AWS account and your user must be part of the relevant developer group/s.
- You must either have access to the AWS console, or have installed the AWS CLI and Session Manager plugin. You will then need to configure the AWS CLI.
If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to contact the CCoE AWS WebOps team.
When initiating a session, you will be logging into the server as the developer user. This user has limited permissions and is intended for basic investigative work only. You won't be able to:
- Run
sudo,pm2,dockeramong other administrative commands. - Switch to other users.
- Copy files onto or off the server.
If there is anything that you can't do, but that you need to do, please contact the CCoE AWS WebOps team to discuss further.
Find which instances are available for you to connect to:
aws ec2 describe-instances --query "Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Instance:InstanceId,Name:Tags[?Key=='Name']|[0].Value,Status:State.Name}" --output table
Copy the instance ID and then start a session into the instance:
aws ssm start-session --target <instance-id>
You can find other examples of starting sessions here, which includes port forwarding.
If you are having difficulty connecting, please see the troubleshooting guide here. If you're still having issues, please contact ddts-aws-webops@defra.gov.uk for support.
Typically you will be connecting to an Ubuntu server, you can just execute the exit command to come out of the session.
However, if your session is stuck, you first need to find your session ID:
aws ssm describe-sessions --state Active
Copy the session ID and then terminate your session with this:
aws ssm terminate-session --session-id <session-id>
- Login to the AWS Console
- Navigate to EC2 dashboard -> instances
- Select a single instance that you want to connect to
- Select Connect and then Session Manager
- If you are presented with
We weren't able to connect to your instance, please contact the CCoE AWS WebOps team.
- If you are presented with