This outlines the steps needed to set up windows machines in AWS, and install the bare minimum requirements for development machines (notepad++, OpenSSH, gdb). I used windows server 2008R2 SP1 64-bit, procedure for other version should be very similar.
Important: If you just want to use a machine already set up, like the windows 2008R2 dev machine, scroll down to "Spawning a new machine".
Instances/Images are stored per country, so make sure you have selected the appropriate country. If unsure, use Ireland.
https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/v2/home "Launch Instance"
Windows Server 2008 R2 Base (64-bit - free tier eligible) from "Advanced wizard".
Use security group win-dev-security-group if it exists, or create it: ssh option for port 22, and TCP port 3389 for RDP(Warning will tell you to do this), "Any IP" for both ports.
Click Connect button, this will show you how to connect with Remote Desktop. It will need the .pem file you downloaded while launching the instance to decrypt the password. Download the RDP file, add it to your remote desktop client, edit the settings to add the password. (I also changed resolution to 1920x1080, and disabled the full screen by default options - full screen still works)
Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View -> Files and Folders:
- "Hidden files and folder": Check "Show hidden files"
- Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
Control Panel -> Windows Firewall -> Turn Windows Firewall on or off
- "Home or work...": Check "Turn off Windows Firewall"
- "Public network": Check "Turn off Windows Firewall"
Use Recommended security and compatibility settings when prompted.
notepad doesn't recognize unix style line endings, it's recommended to use something else. I installed notepad++: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v7.3.1.html Add website to trusted websites when prompted.
Download: https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH/releases/tag/v0.0.7.0
Right click the 32 bit download, "Save target as...", add the site to trusted sites. If download fails because of the security pop-up or settings, just click retry or the link again. 32 bit programs should work fine with 64 bit windows.
Install Win32 OpenSSH, following these instructions worked for me:
https://github.com/PowerShell/Win32-OpenSSH/wiki/Install-Win32-OpenSSH
Important: follow the instructions closely.
It is very hard to debug if you skip something.
Make sure you are running the commands in powershell administrator mode and in the correct folder.
Note that there are 2 installers, one for sshd and one for key based auth.
The auth installer install-sshlsa.ps1 worked for me on windows 2008 R2, I did not follow the special steps.
Skip the steps regarding firewall, and secure host key.
Download: ftp://ftp.equation.com/gdb/64/gdb.exe
Move the exe to C:\bin\
Control Panel -> System -> Environment Variables -> Path -> Edit.
Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C to copy the contents, paste into a text editor to edit.
Add openssh(C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\) and gdb(C:\bin\) to path.
Copy paste back to text Environment Variable menu.
%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%systemroot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;%systemroot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files\Amazon\cfn-bootstrap\;C:\Program Files\OpenSSH;C:\bin
Restart the machine, and connect using RDP again.
Powershell:
ssh localhost
Paste or type password from AWS EC2 Management console (same as user and RDP password).
ssh-copy-id doesn't work, windows machine doesn't have exec
Manually create and edit:
C:\Users\Administrator\.ssh\authorized_keys
Add the contents of your .pub key file.
Add 3 lines to C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\sshd_config:
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
UsePAM no
Example file (removed commented lines):
AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys
PasswordAuthentication no
ChallengeResponseAuthentication no
UsePAM no
Subsystem sftp sftp-server.exe
PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes ssh-ed25519*,ssh-rsa*,ssh-dss*,ecdsa-sha2*
Powershell:
net stop sshd
net start ssh
Warning: I've had some issues with key based ssh localhost on the vm, so don't do this to test.
You are now done with everything needed in Remote Desktop. Restart the machine one last time. Log in from ssh remotely, try to run gdb.
Right click the instance -> Instance State -> Stop. Don't terminate, this will delete everything.
Right click the instance -> Create Image. Follow the wizard. Important: Save the password for the machine somewhere, this will not be retrievable from the image/copies. After you are done terminate the instance. Billing for the instance will only stop once you terminate, not on stop. The associated instance volume should be deleted automatically on termination.
The images are located in AWS EC2 Ireland, or whichever country you used in the previous step. Go to Images -> AMIs in the AWS EC2 Console. Click the image (win2008R2-dev) and click Launch. Most defaults are correct, change security group to win-dev-security-group.
The IP Address can be found in the AWS EC2 management console. Click the Instance to see the IP.
To log in to the windows development vm
ssh Administrator@IP_Address
Password login is disabled for ssh, but available via Remote Desktop. Ask someone to add your ssh key to authorized_keys if you cannot log in.
Ask someone to give you the password. You cannot retrieve the password from the AMI. If your ssh key is added to authorized_keys you should not normally need the password.
Right click the instance -> Instance State -> Terminate. The associated volume should delete automatically (when you terminate the instance). We are billed by the hour until you terminate the machine. If you need to save the machine for later, create an Image from the instance before terminating.