Below we are going to write a Github Action that turns on an AWS EC2 server

Create a GitHub account

• Create a new repository

• Setup file for workflow

  • Folder named .github
  • Folder in .github called workflows
  • Create a file called turnOnAWSEC2.yml
  • See Link for more info

Add code to workflow (turnOnAWSEC2.yml) file

• Please see comments starting with '#' explaining what each bit of the file does
• This code is set up only to run when you click action in the repository
• Github workflows servers that are used to run the workflows have AWS CLI commands built-in, so all you need to do is run the AWS CLI command See this link for more information

name: startMagent2DevEC2

# Controls when the action will run. 
# This code is set up only to run when you click action in the repository, If you require to run on a push or cron edit below
on:
  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the main branch
  # push:
  #  branches: [ main ]
  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

# A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
jobs:
  # This workflow contains a single job called "build"
  build:

    # The type of runner that the job will run on
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    # Below this are each of the steps that are run
    steps:

     # Name of step
      - name: Start AWS EC2
        # Run AWS Command on the GitHub Hosted runner which starts the instance using AWS authentication stored in GitHub Secrets (see below how to add)
        run: |
          aws ec2 start-instances --instance-ids ${{secrets.AWS_EC2_INSTANCE_ID }}
        env:
          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
          AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ secrets.AWS_REGION }}

Add GitHub Repository Secrets

• In the above workflow, we have many secrets to add eg. ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}

  • Secrets are secret values stored so that GitHub workflow can use them without exposing them in your workflow file

• Create AWS Keys

  • Log into your AWS portal that has high privileges to create accounts
  • Create a new IAM user as its AWS best practice to keep your logins separate from your root account See this link
  • Logout and login as your new IAM user
  • Click your cloud name
  • Click 'My Security Credentials'
  • Click create
  • Here you will have 2 keys that you will need to add to your repository. Keep this page open or copy these to add to below

• To add these AWS keys to your GitHub Repository

  • Click settings in your repository
  • Then secrets
  • Add repository secret named AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and add the key from the AWS portal you generated above
  • Create another secret named AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY and add relevant keys from your keys created in your AWS Account

• Create a secret for your instance id ie. ${{secrets.AWS_EC2_INSTANCE_ID }}

  • Go to your AWS Console
  • Select Services > EC2
  • Instance ID is the identifier of what EC2 VM as below screenshot
  • Copy this ID and add it to your GitHub Secrets
  • Click settings in your repository
  • Then secrets
  • Add repository secret named AWS_EC2_INSTANCE_ID and add instance id

• Create a secret for your AWS region where your AWS EC2 is running id ie. ${{ secrets.AWS_REGION }}
• Go to your AWS Console
  • Select Services > EC2
  • Region is in the right-hand corner as below screenshot
  • Make sure you match your region with code in this link
  • Add to your GitHub Secrets
  • Click settings in your repository
  • Then secrets
  • Add repository secret named AWS_REGION and add AWS region

Commit and push code if you haven't already

Run your GitHub action

• In your repo
• Click Actions
• Select Action to run
• Click run the workflow

If successful you should have a complete success workflow and your EC2 should be switched on in AWS.

Don't forget to turn off your EC2 if you don't want it to run.

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Credits

• AWS CLI commands
• GitHub Actions
• Amazon Web Services

Feel free to comment if you get stuck or have questions or feedback✌️

Happy Coding 🙂

Az 👨🏾‍💻