EC2 Misc.

Question 1

What do you need to do in order to be able to access the AWS CLI?

Answer 1

Set up access in IAM

Question 2

Does the CLI allow you to access AWS from anywhere in the world?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Why is using Roles better than storing your access key and secret access key on individual EC2 instances?

Answer 3

• ​Security: if any instance gets hacked, then the hacker gets your access key ID and secret access key
• Easier to Manage: If you lose or have to change your access key ID and secret access key and have them stored across many instances, you have to change them in all of your instances.

Question 4

Are Roles universal? That is, can you use them in any namespace?

Answer 4

Yes

Question 5

Can you assign a role to an EC2 instance after it is created?

Answer 5

Yes, and you can use either the console or the command line to do so.

Question 6

What is a boot strap script?

Answer 6

Boot Strap scripts run when an EC2 instance first boots

Question 7

What is instance metadata?

Answer 7

Information about an instance (like public IP)

Question 8

What is the command you run on an instance to get the latest metadata?

Answer 8

curl http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data

Question 9

How can I view, in the AWS command line, the boot strap script that I ran?

Answer 9

curl http://169.254.169.254/latest/user-data

Question 10

Why are boot strap scripts useful?

Answer 10

They Can be a powerful way of automating software installs and updates

Question 11

At what time can you attach an IAM role to an EC2 instance?

Answer 11

You can do it at any time (no restrictions)