Notes on a new EC2 server with an Amazon AMI

gistfile1.md

Notes on Setting up a New EC2 Node

• Install fail2ban. Info can be found here: http://amazonlinuxami.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/fail2ban/. In particular, this is slightly trickier than usual, since it's not the usual yum software set.

sudo yum --enablerepo=epel install fail2ban

• Some standard yum packages to install:
  • gcc
  • gcc-c++
  • make
  • git
  • mysql-server
• Easiest way to format and partition a new EBS volume
  • fdisk -u -c /dev/xvdf ---- then, make a giant primary partition on the whole volume (using the n command), using defaults. Remember to write out with the w command.
  • mkfs.ext4 -Lmylabel /dev/xvdf1 --- then use that label in /etc/fstab to identify the disk.
• There are a few notes here; in general the firewall stuff is taken care of at the AWS level, but the suggestions for SSH lock-down are good: http://plusbryan.com/my-first-5-minutes-on-a-server-or-essential-security-for-linux-servers
• When making new authorized_keys files, be sure to set it chmod 0600, otherwise logging in with pubkey authorization will be disallowed by sshd.