Key pairs for SSH access in AWS - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Key pairs for SSH access

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a secure connection to a cloud server. To do this, you need to create a key pair that will allow you to log in safely using SSH without a password.

🎯 Goal: Create an AWS EC2 key pair resource using Infrastructure as Code. This key pair will be used to securely access your cloud server.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a key pair resource with a specific name

Add a public key material to the key pair

Output the key pair name as a reference

Use valid AWS resource configuration syntax

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Key pairs are essential for securely accessing cloud servers without passwords. This project shows how to automate key pair creation for safe SSH access.

💼 Career

Cloud engineers and DevOps professionals often create and manage key pairs to secure server access in AWS environments.

1

Create the key pair resource

Create an AWS EC2 key pair resource named my_key_pair with the key pair name set to my-ssh-key.

AWS

# Your code here to create the key pair resource

Need a hint?

Use the aws_key_pair resource with the name my_key_pair. Set key_name to my-ssh-key and provide a public key string for public_key.

2

Add a variable for the public key

Create a variable named public_key_value to hold the public SSH key string. Assign it the value ssh-rsa [e-mail].

AWS

resource "aws_key_pair" "my_key_pair" {
  key_name   = "my-ssh-key"
  public_key = public_key_value
}

# Your code here to create the variable public_key_value

Need a hint?

Define a variable block named public_key_value with the public key string as its default value. Reference it in the public_key attribute of the key pair resource.

3

Output the key pair name

Create an output named key_pair_name that outputs the key_name attribute of the aws_key_pair.my_key_pair resource.

AWS

variable "public_key_value" {
  type    = string
  default = "ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC7... [e-mail]"
}

resource "aws_key_pair" "my_key_pair" {
  key_name   = "my-ssh-key"
  public_key = var.public_key_value
}

# Your code here to create the output key_pair_name

Need a hint?

Use an output block named key_pair_name to expose the key_name from the key pair resource.

4

Add a tag to the key pair resource

Add a tags block to the aws_key_pair.my_key_pair resource with a tag Environment set to Development.

AWS

variable "public_key_value" {
  type    = string
  default = "ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQC7... [e-mail]"
}

resource "aws_key_pair" "my_key_pair" {
  key_name   = "my-ssh-key"
  public_key = var.public_key_value
  # Add tags block here
}

output "key_pair_name" {
  value = aws_key_pair.my_key_pair.key_name
}

Need a hint?

Add a tags map inside the key pair resource with the key Environment and value Development.