Video Tutorial

Deploy the product

The First Boot

The boot time of our product may be slower compared to starting an instance from a clean AMI. This is because our custom code needs to be executed to prepare the product for you. As a result, this process may take a few minutes longer than usual.

Connecting to the Server

If you need to connect to the server, obtain its IP address and connect to the instance over SSH using the username ec2-user. Make sure to use the private key you selected during the deployment process. Upon successful connection, you should be greeted with a custom MOTD (Message of the Day) that provides detailed product information.

Working with PGP - Optional

How to make a PGP Key

If you are planning to deploy the product with PGP support, here are the steps to generate a PGP key and modify it to make it compatible with the deployment.

1. First, generate a new key pair.

   gpg --quick-generate-key YOUR_EMAIL

2. Next, list the keys to obtain the ID of the newly generated key.

   gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

3. Now that you have the ID of the key, you can export it.

   gpg --armor --export THE_KEY_ID

You will now see the key on the scree, and this next step is important. Since to deploy the product with the key you just made you have to paste in the CloudFormation form as a long string. This means that you have to get rid of the header and the footer. Then what you are left with is a block of text, which has two parts, the key at the top and the seed at the bottom. The see is literarily the last line, and is not part of the key. Store the seed in a text file so we can use it also at deployment time.

Regarding the key, the block that you are left with needs to be converted into one long line, and that line is what you'll have to paste at deployment time.

Generate keys for users

1. Create a subkey for the user.

   gpg --edit-key MAIN_KEY_ID

   Then "addkey" command in interactive mode. And select option 6. ((6) RSA (encrypt only))

2. List the keys/subkeys to view the new subkey ID.

   gpg --list-secret-keys --keyid-format=long

3. Export the private key for the user's GPG interface.

   gpg --armor --export-secret-key SUB_KEY_ID

Decrypt the data

You can do it with this command: gpg -o decrypted_file.extension --decrypt encrypted_file.extension

Advanced details

Key aspects

• Unlimited storage for uploaded data.
• Ability to easily browse pre-existing EFS drives.
• Optional PGP support for encrypting individual files at rest.

Example use cases

Your imagination is your limit, but here are some ideas worth considering:

• Ingest vast amounts of data at a fixed price.
• Enable secure data sharing with financial institutions.
• Seamlessly browse existing EFS drives within your account and easily access their contents.
• Provide a secure storage solution for highly sensitive data, encrypted with PGP.

Resilience

Our product incorporates built-in resilience measures to prevent data loss and ensure uninterrupted connectivity, even in the event of changing IP addresses. The CloudFormation template we provide offers a streamlined and efficient way to deploy and set up all the necessary components, allowing you to get up and running swiftly with everything you need.

Test the setup

Before going into production, it is important to thoroughly test the product. This is not because we lack confidence in its functionality, but rather to ensure that you become familiar with how it works and can address any potential challenges or issues beforehand. Testing will help you gain confidence in the product's performance and make necessary adjustments, if needed, before deploying it in a live production environment.

Security Concerns

Below we give you a list of potential ideas to consider regarding security, but this list is not exhaustive – it is just a good starting point.

• Limit access to the server to a specific fixed IP.
• Restrict root access to only yourself.

How To

How to change the instance type

Make sure you regularly back up your drive(s). One simple solution would be to use:

1. Go to the CloudFormation console
2. Click on the stack that you want to update.
3. Click the Update button.
4. Keep the default selection and click Next
5. On the new Parameters page, change the instance type from the drop down.
6. Click Next till the end.

Please wait for the stack to finish updating.

F.A.Q

These are some of the common solutions to problems you may encounter:

Not authorized for images

My CloudFormation stack encountered a failure with the following error: API: ec2:RunInstances Not authorized for images:... in the Event tab.

The product is misbehaving

I followed all the instructions from the documentation.

sudo cat /var/lib/cloud/instance/user-data.txt

UserData seams ok

The UserData reached the instance, but the product is not behaving as expected.

sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep 0x4447

Issue with EFS backup restoration

I launched the product using an EFS drive restored from a backup, but unfortunately, the product is not functioning as expected..