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Troubleshoot my instance boot issue using EC2 Serial Console

Troubleshoot my instance boot issue using EC2 Serial Console

Connect, diagnose, and fix boot issues, misconfigurations, and kernel-level errors.

aws-ec2serial-consolenetworkingtroubleshootec2-misconfiguration
Sanket Saxena
Published Jan 2, 2025
Are you struggling to manage and troubleshoot the EC2 instances, especially when network connectivity issues arise?
Are you finding a way to diagnose and fix the boot issues, misconfigurations, and kernel-level errors?
So, here is an amazing AWS feature EC2 Serial Console provides a reliable way to access and debug your instances without relying on SSH or RDP connections. However, it will only work with Nitro-based Instances.

Let's try t understand first what is the EC2 Serial Console

The EC2 Serial Console provides a console interface to your EC2 instances. It works the same as a physical serial port on a server, but you can interact with the operating system at a low level.
Suppose you use SSH or RDP access, which requires network connectivity. The EC2 serial console can be accessed by using the EC2 console or the AWS CLI.
The EC2 serial console is available at no additional cost.

Where can I find and access this option in the AWS management Console?

Go to EC2 Dashboard -> From Account attributes, choose EC2 Serial Console.
The below screen shows that the account is prevented from using the EC2 serial console.
EC2 Serial Console Prevented access
EC2 Serial Console Prevented access
EC2 Serial Console access is not permitted by default at the account level. But once you permit access in your account using service control policy (SCP) on the Organization, it applies to all instances in that account.
A combination of SCP and IAM Policies will allow you to manage the Access at different level like Organization, Account, User etc.
Before start using this feature please check the prerequisite

Let's enable the option and see how its works

First, allow console access in your account. It's just ticking a box in the EC2 settings.
Enable EC2 Serial Console Access
Then, right clicking on the Specific instance name in the EC2 console, then select Monitor and troubleshoot -> EC2 Serial Console.
Go to Monitor and Troubleshoot the instance
Click on connect will allows you to enter the login and password for your Linux machine.
Connect to Instance EC2 serial console
EC2 Serial Console Supports:
  • It enables the administrators to access the instances even when network configurations are incorrect or firewalls block access.
  • It supports Linux and Windows Server instances.
  • Access to the EC2 Serial Console is controlled through AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, ensuring secure and role-based access.
  • It helps to debug and resolve errors such as boot failures, disk corruption, misconfigured network settings, and many more.
  • We can resolve critical issues without needing to reboot the instance. The best part is, that you can access the console via the AWS Management Console or CLI even if the instance has no active network connection. There are some pre-requisites before accessing the EC2 Serial Console via AWS Management and CLI:
  • Make sure the EC2 Serial Console is enabled for your AWS account.
  • Make sure the IAM roles and policies grant access to the serial console.
     

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