Chapter 3. Deploying a Red Hat Enterprise Linux image as an EC2 instance on Amazon Web Services

Procedure

1. Download the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux ISO image from the Red Hat Customer Portal.
2. Move the image to the /var/lib/libvirt/images directory.

Procedure

1. Ensure that you have enabled your host machine for virtualization. For information and procedures to install virutalization packages, see Installing virtualization packages on an existing Red Hat Enterprise Linux system

2. Create and start a basic Red Hat Enterprise Linux VM. For instructions to create VM, refer to Creating a virtual machine.

   1. If you use the command line to create your VM, ensure that you set the default memory and CPUs to the capacity you want for the VM. Set your virtual network interface to virtio.

      A basic command line sample follows.

      virt-install --name _vmname_ --memory 2048 --vcpus 2 --disk size=8,bus=virtio --location rhel-7.0-x86_64-dvd.iso --os-variant=rhel7.0

   2. If you use the virt-manager application to create your VM, follow the procedure in Creating guests with virt-manager, with these caveats:

      • Do not check Immediately Start VM.
      • Change your Memory and Storage Size to your preferred settings.
      • Before you start the installation, ensure that you have changed Model under Virtual Network Interface Settings to virtio and change your vCPUs to the capacity settings you want for the VM.

Procedure

1. Choose the language you want to use during the installation process.

2. On the Installation Summary view:

   1. Click Software Selection and check Minimal Install.
   2. Click Done.

   3. Click Installation Destination and check Custom under Storage Configuration.

      • Verify at least 500 MB for /boot. You can use the remaining space for root /.
      • Standard partitions are recommended, but you can use Logical Volume Management (LVM).
      • You can use xfs, ext4, or ext3 for the file system.
      • Click Done when you are finished with changes.
3. Click Begin Installation.
4. Set a Root Password.
5. Reboot the VM and log in as root once the installation completes.

6. Configure the image.

   Note

   Ensure that the cloud-init package is installed and enabled.

7. Power down the VM.

Procedure

1. Launch the Amazon S3 Console.
2. Click Create Bucket. The Create Bucket dialog appears.

3. In the Name and region view:

   1. Enter a Bucket name.
   2. Select Region. Enter your region into the field, or click the drop-down and select your region from all available regions.
   3. Click Next.
4. In the Configure options view, select desired options and click Next.
5. In the Set permissions view, change or accept the default options and click Next.
6. Review your bucket configuration.

7. Click Create bucket.

   Note

   Alternatively, you can use the AWS CLI to create a bucket. For example, aws s3 mb s3://my-new-bucket creates an S3 bucket named my-new-bucket. See the AWS CLI Command Reference for information on the mb command.

Procedure

1. Create a file named trust-policy.json and include the following policy. Save the file on your system and note its location.

   {
      "Version": "2012-10-17",
      "Statement": [
         {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": { "Service": "vmie.amazonaws.com" },
            "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
            "Condition": {
               "StringEquals":{
                  "sts:Externalid": "vmimport"
               }
            }
         }
      ]
   }

2. Use the create role command to create the vmimport role. Specify the full path to the location of the trust-policy.json file. Prefix file:// to the path. A sample follows.

   aws iam create-role --role-name vmimport --assume-role-policy-document file:///home/sample/ImportService/trust-policy.json

3. Create a file named role-policy.json and include the following policy. Replace s3-bucket-name with the name of your S3 bucket.

   {
      "Version":"2012-10-17",
      "Statement":[
         {
            "Effect":"Allow",
            "Action":[
               "s3:GetBucketLocation",
               "s3:GetObject",
               "s3:ListBucket"
            ],
            "Resource":[
               "arn:aws:s3:::s3-bucket-name",
               "arn:aws:s3:::s3-bucket-name/*"
            ]
         },
         {
            "Effect":"Allow",
            "Action":[
               "ec2:ModifySnapshotAttribute",
               "ec2:CopySnapshot",
               "ec2:RegisterImage",
               "ec2:Describe*"
            ],
            "Resource":"*"
         }
      ]
   }

4. Use the put-role-policy command to attach the policy to the role you created. Specify the full path of the role-policy.json file. A sample follows.

   aws iam put-role-policy --role-name vmimport --policy-name vmimport --policy-document file:///home/sample/ImportService/role-policy.json

Procedure

1. Run the qemu-img command to convert your image. A sample follows.

   qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O raw rhel-server-7.7-1-x86_64-kvm.qcow2 rhel-server-7.7-1-x86_64-kvm.raw

2. Push the image to S3.

   aws s3 cp rhel-server-7.7.1-x86_64-kvm.raw s3://s3-_bucket-name_

   Note

   This procedure could take a few minutes. After completion, you can check that your image uploaded successfully to your S3 bucket using the AWS S3 Console.

Procedure

1. From the AWS EC2 Dashboard, select Images and then AMIs.
2. Right-click on your image and select Launch.

3. Choose an Instance Type that meets or exceeds the requirements of your workload.

   See Amazon EC2 Instance Types for information on instance types.

4. Click Next: Configure Instance Details.

   1. Enter the Number of instances you want to create.
   2. For Network, select the VPC you created when setting up your AWS environment. Select a subnet for the instance or create a new subnet.

   3. Select Enable for Auto-assign Public IP.

      Note

      These are the minimum configuration options necessary to create a basic instance. Review additional options based on your application requirements.

5. Click Next: Add Storage. Verify that the default storage is sufficient.

6. Click Next: Add Tags.

   Note

   Tags can help you manage your AWS resources. See Tagging Your Amazon EC2 Resources for information on tagging.

7. Click Next: Configure Security Group. Select the security group you created when setting up your AWS environment.
8. Click Review and Launch. Verify your selections.

9. Click Launch. You are prompted to select an existing key pair or create a new key pair. Select the key pair you created when setting up your AWS environment.

   Note

   Verify that the permissions for your private key are correct. Use the command options chmod 400 <keyname>.pem to change the permissions, if necessary.

10. Click Launch Instances.

11. Click View Instances. You can name the instance(s).

    You can now launch an SSH session to your instance(s) by selecting an instance and clicking Connect. Use the example command provided for A standalone SSH client.

    Note

    Alternatively, you can launch an instance using the AWS CLI. See Launching, Listing, and Terminating Amazon EC2 Instances in the Amazon documentation for more information.

Procedure

1. Register your system.

   subscription-manager register --auto-attach

2. Attach your subscriptions.

   • You can use an activation key to attach subscriptions. Refer to Creating Red Hat Customer Portal Activation Keys.
   • Alternatively, you can manually attach a subscription using the ID of the subscription pool (Pool ID). Refer to Attaching and Removing Subscriptions Through the Command Line.