- In this tutorial, I have added the configurations required for ec2 user password authentication for AWS ec2 Linux instances.
- As by default ec2 instance don't have any password .Follow these simple steps to configure password in your linux instance .
Note:- It is not recommended to configure password in cloud instances unless required .Private key-based authentication is always the safest way to access cloud instances.
Step 1: Log in to the linux machine using ssh client of your choice using the private key.
- For Windows machines, you can use putty for connecting to the instance. Click here to know how to use putty on Windows . 
- If you are using Mac or Linux, you can use the following command to connect to the instance. 
 
ssh -i your-key.pem username@(public-ip-address)
Step 2:  Enter the following command to open sshd_config file
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Step 3: Find the line containing “PasswordAuthentication” parameter and change its value from “no” to “yes“
Step 4: Now press ctrl + x button and then click on Y button to save the changes
Step 5: Setup ec2 user password using the “passwd” command along with the username.
You need to enter the password twice. For example, if you want to set up a password for “centos” user, use the following command.
sudo passwd centos
In AWS, different ec2 instances have different usernames. Following are the default usernames of some popular ec2 instances.
| Instance | Username | 
|---|---|
| Ubuntu | ubuntu | 
| Redhat Linux | ec2-user | 
| Amazon Linux | ec2-user | 
| CentOS | centos | 
| Debian | admin or root | 
Step 6: Now, restart the “sshd” service using the following command.
sudo service sshd restart
Step 7: Once the "sshd" service is restarted successfully , you can log out and log in using the password you set for the user. 
For example,
ssh ubuntu@34.10.100.1
I hope this "How to configure password in Amazon ec2 instance" article helps. Let me know in the comment section if you face any errors.
 
 
              


 
    
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