Here, you can connect your Raspberry Pi to an AWS VPC in 3 different ways. Let me share with you those ways:
Site-to-Site VPN
First up is the Site-to-Site VPN. This option is perfect if you want a secure, dedicated connection between your Raspberry Pi and AWS VPC.
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Set Up the Virtual Private Gateway (VGW): In your AWS account, create a Virtual Private Gateway (VGW) in your VPC. This acts as your VPN's connection point inside AWS.
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Create a Customer Gateway (CGW): Now, add your Raspberry Pi's public IP as a Customer Gateway (CGW) in AWS. This is basically AWS's way of recognizing your Pi as a "customer" or external network.
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Establish the VPN Connection: Using AWS, create a VPN connection that links the VGW with your CGW. This step forms the secure tunnel between your Pi and your AWS VPC.
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Set Up OpenVPN on the Pi: You need to install OpenVPN on your Pi (sudo apt-get install OpenVPN). This software handles VPN connections and routes your VPC traffic securely through AWS.
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Configure OpenVPN: Once installed, configure OpenVPN with the VPN details AWS provides. You'll now be able to access your VPC securely through this VPN connection.
SSH Tunneling
Next, if you're looking for a quick setup without the full VPN, you can use SSH Tunneling with an EC2 instance inside your VPC.
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Launch an EC2 Instance: First, launch an EC2 instance inside your VPC. This instance will act as your bridge to other resources within the VPC.
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SSH into the EC2: Once you've got the EC2 up and running, SSH into it from your Raspberry Pi. You'll want to set up port forwarding to direct traffic through this instance. Use this command:
ssh -L local-port:<private-resource-IP>:remote-port ec2-user@<EC2-public-IP>
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Replace <local-port>, <private-resource-IP>, <remote-port>, and <EC2-public-IP> with your specific details.
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Access Resources: Now, you can simply access your VPC resources via the port you've forwarded on your Pi. It's quick and keeps things within a secure SSH tunnel.
AWS Systems Manager (SSM)
Finally, let's look at using AWS Systems Manager (SSM). This option is excellent if you want a managed, secure way to connect without making your VPC resources public.
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Set Up IAM Roles: First, create IAM roles with permissions for SSM. This allows you to use SSM to connect your Pi with the resources within your VPC.
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Install and Configure SSM Agent: You'll need to install and configure the SSM Agent on your Pi. The agent enables your Pi to communicate with AWS resources using SSM.
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Connect via SSM: With everything set up, you can securely access and manage your VPC resources using SSM without needing direct IP access or VPN connections. This setup gives you a managed way to access resources within your VPC.
