Login to Ec2-Instance without .pem file for Unix OS.

Vikash Sharma
2 min readSep 18, 2021

Hey Guys!! Hope you are all having a good day.

So here, I am having a new post for all of you. As we generally create an ec2-instance in AWS for our daily use or for learning purposes. But somehow we are using either using .pem file or a PPK file to connect with ec2-instance. As for the first time, it is necessary to use it but not oftenly

So, if in case if you don't need to connect with pem or a PPK file and directly login to your ec2-instance via your username then you have to follow these suggested steps.

1. While log in the first time to your EC2 instance use your .pem file

ssh -i your_pem_file.pem ec2-user@ec2-________.compute-1.amazonaws.com

2. Create a new user that will access the instance using a password:

$ sudo useradd -s /bin/bash -m -d /home/USERNAME  -g root USERNAME

where:

  • -s /bin/bash : use /bin/bash as the standard shell
  • -m -d /home/USERNAME : create a home directory at /home/USERNAME
  • -g root : add to the group root
  • USERNAME : the username of the new user

3. Create a strong password for the new user:

$ sudo passwd USERNAME
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:

4. Add user to sudoers file by using sudo vi /etc/sudoers and add the following line:

USERNAME  ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

5. Enable password authentication policy by editing sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config: change PasswordAuthentication no to PasswordAuthentication yes

6. Restart ssh:

systemctl restart sshd 

Logout of your instance (exit) and try your new login without the .pem file:

$ ssh USERNAME@ec2-________.compute-1.amazonaws.com
USERNAME@ec2-________.compute-1.amazonaws.com's password:

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