Access Amazon EC2 Instance from Ubuntu terminal and fileZilla

A simple tutorial on working with Amazon EC2 Instance and FTP Client FileZilla for transferring files from your Local Machine.

Before beginning this tutorial I hope you have already Launched your Amazon EC2 Instance and downloaded your .pem Key Pair file.

Steps to connect Amazon EC2 Instance from Ubuntu terminal

1. Open terminal and Navigate to the location where you have saved your .pem key pair file.
2. Secure your Key pair file.
3. Connect to your instance using its Public DNS or IP address.

How to Secure your Key pair file in Ubuntu

chmod 400 xxx-key-pair.pem

If you do not set these permissions, then you cannot connect to your instance using this key pair.

Connecting to your instance using its Public DNS or IP address

Example:

ssh -i "xxx-key-pair.pem" ubuntu@ec2-xx-xx-xx-xxx.xx-xx-1.compute.amazonaws.com

Steps to access Amazon EC2 Instance from FileZilla

1. Open your FTP Client - FileZilla .
2. Go to File, Site manager and select New Site.
3. Select General Tab and Fill out the required parameters as follows:
   

Host: your Amazon ec2 instance Public DNS or IP address

Protocol: SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol

Logon Type: Key File

User: ubuntu

Key File: link your downloaded .pem Key Pair file.

That's it. Enjoy File Sharing with FileZilla. Peace :)

Also see:
How to connect MySQL Database Engine On Amazon EC2 Instance From MySQL Workbench

FAQ's

What is FTP?

As its name suggests, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standardized network protocol used to transfer files between a client and a server over the internet or any other TCP/IP network. FTP has been designed to promote sharing of files, across all types of computers. A strength of FTP is the reliable and efficient bulk transfer of files. FTP is popular with website owners and web designers to upload files to the servers of their web hosting company. Another common use case is the exchange of files between companies; FTP is in many organizations the de facto method for transferring large volumes of data.

What is an FTP Client?

An FTP Client is a program designed to transfer files between two computers. While most web browsers support FTP file downloads, to upload files and to perform other FTP tasks a dedicated FTP Client is needed. By using an FTP Client users can upload, download, delete, rename, move and copy files on a remote server. While FTP could be accessed via terminal, programs with a graphical user interface are preferred, and Filezilla Client represents an easy to use multiplatform solution. Filezilla is the most popular and easy to use FTP Client, it is feature rich and available for Windows, Mac and Linux.