# Deploy on AWS EC2

This tutorial shows you how to deploy `code-server` on an AWS EC2 instance.

If you're just starting out, we recommend
[installing code-server locally](self-hosted-docs). It takes only a few minutes
and lets you try out all of the features locally.

If you get stuck or need help at anytime, [file an issue](create-issue),
[tweet (@coderhq)](twitter-coderhq) or [email](email-coder).

[self-hosted-docs]: ../../self-hosted/index.md
[create-issue]: https://github.com/cdr/code-server/issues/new?title=Improve+AWS+quickstart+guide
[twitter-coderhq]: https://twitter.com/coderhq
[email-coder]: mailto:support@coder.com?subject=AWS%20quickstart%20guide

---

### Creating an Instance using the AWS Launch Wizard

1. Click **Launch Instance** from your [EC2 dashboard](ec2-home).
2. Select the "Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS (HVM), SSD Volume Type" AMI..
3. Select an appropriate instance size (we recommend t2.medium/large, depending
   on team size and number of repositories/languages enabled), then **Next:
   Configure Instance Details**.
4. Select **Next: ...** until you get to the **Configure Security Group** page,
   then add a **Custom TCP Rule** rule with port range set to `8443` and source
   set to "Anywhere".
   > Rules with source of 0.0.0.0/0 allow all IP addresses to access your
   > instance. We recommend setting [security group rules](ec2-sg-docs) to allow
   > access from known IP addresses only.
5. Click **Launch**.
6. You will be prompted to create a keypair.
   > A key pair consists of a public key that AWS stores, and a private key file
   > that you store. For Linux AMIs, the private key file allows you to
   > securely SSH into your instance.
7. From the dropdown choose "create a new pair", give the key pair a name.
8. Click **Download Key Pair**. This is necessary before you proceed. A `.pem`
   file will be downloaded. make sure you store is in a safe location because it
   can't be retrieved once we move on.
9. Finally, click **Launch Instances**.

[ec2-home]: https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/v2/home
[ec2-sg-docs]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/using-network-security.html?icmpid=docs_ec2_console

---

### Installing code-server onto an AWS Instance

1. First head to your [EC2 dashboard](ec2-home) and choose **Instances** on the
   left sidebar.
2. Select the instance you just created, and in the description tab at the
   bottom of the screen copy the **Public DNS (IPv4)** address using the copy to
   clipboard button.
3. Open a terminal on your computer and use the following command to SSH into
   your EC2 instance. If you're using Windows, you can use [PuTTY](putty-guide)
   to open an SSH connection.
   ```
   ssh -i "path/to/your/keypair.pem" ubuntu@(paste the public DNS here)
   ```
   > For example: `ssh -i "/Users/John/Downloads/TestInstance.pem" ubuntu@ec2-3-45-678-910.compute-1.amazonaws.co`
4. If you get a warning about an unknown server key fingerprint, type "yes" to
   approve the remote host.
5. You should see a prompt for your EC2 instance like so:
   <img src="../../assets/aws_ubuntu.png">
6. At this point it is time to download the `code-server` binary. We will, of
   course, want the linux version. Find the latest code-server release from the
   [GitHub releases](code-server-latest) page.
7. Right click the Linux x64 `.tar.gz` release asset and copy the URL. In the
   SSH terminal, run the following command:
   ```
   wget (paste the URL here)
   ```
8. Extract the downloaded file with the following command:
   ```
   tar -xvzf code-server*.tar.gz
   ```
9. Navigate to extracted directory with this command:
   ```
   cd code-server*/
   ```
10. Ensure the code-server binary is executable with the following command:
    ```
    chmod +x code-server
    ```
11. Finally, to start code-server run this command:
    ```
    ./code-server
    ```
12. code-server will start up, and the password will be printed in the output.
    Make sure to copy the password for the next step.
13. Open your browser and visit `https://$public_ip:8443/` (where `$public_ip`
    is your AWS instance's public IP address). You will be greeted with a page
    similar to the following screenshot. code-server is using a self-signed SSL
    certificate for easy setup. In Chrome/Chromium, click **Advanced** then
    click **proceed anyway**. In Firefox, click **Advanced**, then **Add
    Exception**, then finally **Confirm Security Exception**.
    <img src="../../assets/chrome_warning.png">

[putty-guide]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/putty.html
[code-server-latest]: https://github.com/cdr/code-server/releases/latest

---

### Post Installation Steps

To ensure the connection between you and your server is encrypted, view our
guides on [securing your setup](security-guide).

For instructions on how to keep the server running after you end your SSH
session please checkout [how to use systemd](systemd-guide). systemd will run
code-server for you in the background as a service and restart it for you if it
crashes.

[security-guide]: ../../security/index.md
[systemd-guide]: https://www.linode.com/docs/quick-answers/linux/start-service-at-boot/