3.3.3. Managing a RHEL VM on AWS by using the command line

Procedure

1. Use the vmimport role:

   $ aws iam create-role --role-name vmimport \
   --assume-role-policy-document file://<example_vmimport_trust_policy_file>

2. Embed an inline policy document by using the vmimport role policy file:

   $ aws iam put-role-policy --role-name vmimport \
   --policy-name vmimport-access \
   --policy-document file://<example_vmimport_role_policy_file>

   Also, you can grant VM Import/Export permissions by creating an IAM role (often named vmimport) with a trust policy for vmie.amazonaws.com and attaching the JSON policy from the AWS guide.

3. Import RHEL image as a snapshot:

   $ aws ec2 import-snapshot --disk-container file://<example_containers_json_file>

4. Confirm that the snapshot import finished successfully with the completed status:

   $ aws ec2 describe-import-snapshot-tasks --import-task-ids <example_import_task_id>

   You can import a RHEL VM image from Amazon S3 as a snapshot to Amazon EC2. Prepare a <example_containers_json_file> file that points to your S3 bucket and object key, then start the import and monitor the task ID that the command returns.

5. Register a RHEL AMI from the completed snapshot:

   $ aws ec2 register-image \
   --name <example_rhel_custom_ami_name> \
   --architecture x86_64 \
   --virtualization-type hvm \
   --root-device-name /dev/sda1 \
   --block-device-mappings "[{\"DeviceName\": \"/dev/sda1\",\"Ebs\": {\"SnapshotId\": \"<example_snapshot_id>\"}}]" \
   --ena-support

6. Create a key pair for the RHEL EC2 instance:

   $ aws ec2 create-key-pair --key-name <example_key_pair_name> \
   --query 'KeyMaterial' --output text > <example_key_file>.pem

   This key pair is per region and save a .pem file.

7. Restrict permissions on the key file:

   $ chmod 400 <example_key>.pem

8. Launch a RHEL EC2 instance from the registered AMI:

   $ aws ec2 run-instances \
   --image-id <example_registered_ami_id> \
   --instance-type <example_instance_type> \
   --key-name <example_key_pair_name>

9. Connect to the RHEL EC2 instance where the default user is ec2-user:

   $ ssh -i <example_key>.pem ec2-user@<instance_public_dns_or_ip>