Step 1: Sign in to the AWS Management Console

Open the AWS Management Console.

Sign in with your AWS account credentials.

Step 2: Navigate to the EC2 Dashboard

From the AWS Management Console, find and click on "EC2" under the "Compute" section or use the search bar at the top.

Step 3: Launch an Instance

In the EC2 Dashboard, click on the "Launch Instance" button.

Step 4: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

Select an AMI that suits your needs. Common choices are Amazon Linux 2, Ubuntu Server, or other Linux distributions.

Click "Select" next to the desired AMI.

Step 5: Choose an Instance Type

Select an instance type based on your requirements. The t2.micro instance type is eligible for the free tier and is a good starting point.

Click "Next: Configure Instance Details."

Step 6: Configure Instance Details

Number of instances: Choose the number of instances to launch (usually 1).

Network: Select the default VPC or a custom VPC if you have one.

Subnet: Select a subnet within the VPC.

Auto-assign Public IP: Choose "Enable" to automatically assign a public IP address.

Other settings can be left as default or configured as needed.

Click "Next: Add Storage."

Step 7: Add Storage

Configure the storage for your instance. By default, you get an 8 GB General Purpose (GP2) root volume.

Add additional volumes if necessary.

Click "Next: Add Tags."

Step 8: Add Tags

Add tags to your instance. Tags are key-value pairs that help you manage and identify your instances.

Click "Next: Configure Security Group."

Step 9: Configure Security Group

Create a new security group or select an existing one.

Add rules to allow SSH access (port 22) from your IP address. You can also add HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443) access if you are setting up a web server.

Click "Review and Launch."

Step 10: Review and Launch

Review your instance configuration.

Click "Launch."

Step 11: Select a Key Pair

In the pop-up, choose an existing key pair or create a new one. This key pair will be used to SSH into your instance.

If creating a new key pair, download the key pair file (.pem) and keep it secure.

Acknowledge that you have access to the selected key pair.

Click "Launch Instances."

Step 12: Access Your Instance

Wait for the instance to launch. This can take a few minutes.

Once the instance state changes to "running," select the instance and note the public IP address or public DNS.

Connect to your instance using SSH:

ssh -i /path/to/your-key-pair.pem ec2-user@your-public-ip

Replace /path/to/your-key-pair.pem with the path to your key pair file and your-public-ip with the public IP address of your instance. The username (ec2-user) may vary based on the AMI you selected (e.g., ubuntu for Ubuntu instances).

Summary of Steps

Sign in to AWS Management Console

Navigate to EC2 Dashboard

Launch Instance

Choose AMI

Choose Instance Type

Configure Instance Details

Add Storage

Add Tags

Configure Security Group

Review and Launch

Select a Key Pair

Access Your Instance

1. Check the Public IP Address

When you restart an EC2 instance, the public IP address might change if you are not using an Elastic IP. Check the new public IP address assigned to your instance:

Go to the AWS Management Console.

Navigate to EC2 > Instances.

Select your instance and check the "Public IPv4 address" field.

If the IP address has changed, update your DNS records to point to the new IP address.

2. Check Security Groups

Ensure that the security group attached to your instance allows inbound traffic on the necessary ports (usually port 80 for HTTP and port 443 for HTTPS):

Go to the AWS Management Console.

Navigate to EC2 > Instances.

Select your instance and click on the "Security" tab.

Click on the security group and check the inbound rules. Ensure that rules for ports 80 and 443 are present and allow traffic from all sources (0.0.0.0/0).

3. Check Network ACLs

Ensure that Network ACLs allow inbound and outbound traffic on the necessary ports.

Go to the AWS Management Console.

Navigate to VPC > Network ACLs.

Select the ACL associated with your instance’s subnet and ensure that it allows traffic on ports 80 and 443.

4. Check Apache/Nginx Service Status

Ensure that your web server (Apache or Nginx) is running:

sudo systemctl status apache2  # For Apache

# or

sudo systemctl status nginx    # For Nginx

If the service is not running, start it:

sudo systemctl start apache2  # For Apache

# or

sudo systemctl start nginx    # For Nginx

5. Check Web Server Configuration

Verify that your web server is correctly configured to serve your website.

For Apache:

Check Virtual Host Configuration:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf

Ensure DocumentRoot and Directory Permissions:

Ensure that the DocumentRoot is pointing to the correct directory and the <Directory> block has the correct permissions.

Restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

For Nginx:

Check Server Block Configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Ensure Root Directive:

Ensure that the root directive is pointing to the correct directory.

Restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

6. Check File and Directory Permissions

Ensure that the web server user (usually www-data for Apache/Nginx) has the necessary permissions to read the files and directories of your web application.

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html

7. Check Application Logs

Check the logs for any errors:

For Apache:

sudo tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

For Nginx:

sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log

For Laravel (if applicable):

sudo tail -f /var/www/html/storage/logs/laravel.log

8. Check Firewall Rules

Ensure that the firewall on your instance (if any, such as ufw on Ubuntu) is not blocking traffic:

sudo ufw status

Allow necessary ports if needed:

sudo ufw allow 80/tcp

sudo ufw allow 443/tcp

Steps to Install MySQLi Extension for PHP

Identify Installed PHP Version:

First, identify the PHP version currently installed on your system. You can do this by running:

php -v

This command will display the installed PHP version. Note down the version number (e.g., PHP 7.4, PHP 8.0, etc.).

Install MySQLi Extension for the PHP Version:

Based on your PHP version, install the corresponding MySQLi package. Replace phpX.X with your PHP version (e.g., php7.4-mysql for PHP 7.4):

sudo apt-get install php7.4-mysql  # Replace with your PHP version

Ensure that you use the correct package name that matches your PHP version installed on your system.

Restart Apache:

After installing the MySQLi extension, restart Apache to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Verify Installation:

Create a PHP info file to verify that the MySQLi extension is now enabled:

echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/phpinfo.php

Access phpinfo.php via your web browser (http://your-ec2-instance-public-dns/phpinfo.php) and search for "mysqli" to confirm that the extension is enabled.