🚀 Linux Server Setup — EC2 + Security + Automation

📌 Project Overview

This project demonstrates how to set up and manage a production-like Linux server on AWS EC2 with a focus on:

• Secure access configuration
• Reproducible server setup
• Basic system monitoring
• Automation using shell scripts

The goal is not just to “run a server”, but to build a setup that is secure, repeatable, and observable.

---

🧱 What This Project Covers

• Launching and configuring an EC2 instance (Free Tier)

• Creating a non-root user with sudo privileges

• Securing SSH access (key-based authentication, disabling root login)

• Installing and configuring essential tools:

  • Nginx (web server)
  • Git
  • Docker

• Writing automation scripts for server setup

• Writing a health-check script to monitor:

  • Disk usage
  • Memory usage
  • Service status

---

⚙️ EC2 Instance Setup

Key Decisions

• AMI: Ubuntu / Amazon Linux (based on compatibility and familiarity)
• Instance Type: t2.micro (Free Tier eligible)
• Region: Chosen based on latency and availability
• Access: SSH via key pair (no password-based login)

Security Group Configuration

Port	Purpose
22	SSH access
80	HTTP (Nginx)

Only required ports are exposed to minimize attack surface.

---

🔐 Security Configuration

• Created a dedicated non-root user for daily operations
• Granted controlled sudo access
• Disabled root login via SSH
• Enforced key-based authentication (no password login)

This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and follows basic server hardening practices.

---

📦 Installed Packages

• Nginx → Used as a web server to verify deployment
• Git → For version control and repository management
• Docker → For containerization (future extensibility)

---

🧠 Automation Approach

Manual setup steps were converted into reusable shell scripts to ensure:

• Faster server provisioning
• Reduced human error
• Consistent environments

Scripts are organized based on responsibility (setup, security, monitoring).

---

📊 Health Check Script

A custom shell script is included to monitor system health.

It checks:

• Disk usage (to detect storage issues)
• Memory usage (to detect resource pressure)
• Running services (e.g., Nginx, Docker)

Purpose:

To quickly assess server health without manually running multiple commands.

---

📁 Project Structure

linux-server-setup/
│
├── README.md
├── EC2_Nginx_Setup.md            # End-to-end EC2 and Nginx setup guide
├── images/                       # Screenshots used in the project documentation
│   ├── ec2-instance-launch-success.png
│   ├── ec2-ssh-login-terminal.png
│   ├── nginx-installation-terminal.png
│   ├── nginx-service-start-enable-terminal.png
│   ├── nginx-welcome-page-browser.png
│   ├── git-docker-install-and-disk-check-terminal.png
│   └── disk-usage-df-h-terminal.png
└── scripts/
    ├── memory_usage.sh           # Reports current memory usage
    └── running_services.sh       # Checks status of running services

---

🧪 How to Reproduce

1. Launch an EC2 instance (Free Tier)

2. Configure security group (allow SSH + HTTP)

3. Connect via SSH using key pair

4. Run setup scripts (once created)

5. Verify:

   • Nginx is running
   • Health-check script outputs system status

---

📸 Proof of Work

Screenshots for this project are stored in the images/ folder and referenced in EC2_Nginx_Setup.md.

Included proof of work:

• EC2 instance launch success
• SSH login to the EC2 instance
• Nginx installation in the terminal
• Nginx service start and enable commands
• Nginx welcome page in the browser
• Git and Docker verification
• Disk usage check using df -h

---

🎯 Key Learnings

• Importance of securing servers beyond default settings
• Value of automation in reducing repetitive work
• How to structure a project for clarity and reproducibility
• Thinking in terms of systems, not just commands

---

🚧 Future Improvements

• Add cron job for automated health checks
• Introduce logging for monitoring script
• Convert setup into Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Add CI/CD pipeline for deployment

---

💡 Final Thought

This project is not just about setting up a server— it’s about building the mindset of making systems secure, repeatable, and maintainable.