AWS - How To Access The EC2 Instance Whose Private Key Got Deleted Or Misplaced | Part-1

AWS - How To Access The EC2 Instance Whose Private Key Got Deleted Or Misplaced | Part-1

We use .pem file(private key) to access the EC2 instances.If the .pem file (private key) associated with an EC2 instance is deleted, you will lose the ability to SSH into the instance using that key pair. If you lose the .pem file (private key) associated with an EC2 instance in AWS, it can have the following impacts:

SSH access: The .pem file is required to authenticate and establish SSH connections to the EC2 instance. Losing the .pem file means you won’t be able to SSH into the instance using that key pair.

Remote administration: Without SSH access, you will lose the ability to remotely administer and manage the EC2 instance using command-line tools or SSH-based management tools.

File transfer: SSH is commonly used for secure file transfer (SCP or SFTP) to and from the EC2 instance. Losing the .pem file will prevent you from transferring files to or from the instance using SSH-based file transfer methods.

Application access: If your applications or services hosted on the EC2 instance require SSH access for administrative tasks or remote debugging, you won’t be able to access or manage them without the .pem file.

Key pair recovery: AWS does not keep a copy of the private key associated with a key pair. If you lose the .pem file, you cannot retrieve it from AWS. You will need to generate a new key pair and associate it with a new EC2 instance.

Multiple ways to login to the EC2 instance:

We can login to EC2 instances by two ways

a)Password based authentication :

Password-based authentication is a method of authentication that relies on a username and password combination to verify the identity of a user. In the context of accessing an Amazon EC2 instance, password-based authentication refers to authenticating using a username and password instead of using SSH key pairs.

b) Key based authentication:

Key-based authentication in AWS refers to the use of cryptographic key pairs to authenticate and establish secure connections with various AWS services, such as Amazon EC2 instances.

In the context of Amazon EC2, key-based authentication is primarily used for SSH (Secure Shell) connections to securely access EC2 instances. When creating an EC2 instance, you can specify a key pair, and AWS generates a key pair consisting of a public key and a private key. The public key is stored on the EC2 instance, while the private key is downloaded to your local machine in the form of a .pem file.

Key-based authentication is considered more secure than password-based authentication as it uses asymmetric cryptography. The private key is kept secure on your local machine, while the public key is stored on the EC2 instance. This method eliminates the need to send passwords over the network, reducing the risk of unauthorised access to the instance.

During the SSH connection establishment, the client presents the private key, and the EC2 instance verifies it against the public key stored in the authorized_keys file. If the private and public keys match, the authentication is successful, and a secure connection is established.

#aws
#private
#key
#privatekey
#Rescue instance
#Key Deleted