Rocky Linux from CIQ on AWS¶

This guide covers deploying Rocky Linux from CIQ (RLC) on Amazon Web Services.

AWS Marketplace¶

RLC is available through the AWS Marketplace, providing easy deployment and billing integration.

Finding RLC in AWS Marketplace¶

Navigate to AWS Marketplace
Search for "Rocky Linux from CIQ"
Select the appropriate RLC offering
Review pricing and terms
Click "Continue to Subscribe"

Launching from Marketplace¶

# Launch RLC instance from AWS CLI
aws ec2 run-instances \
  --image-id ami-rlc-marketplace-id \
  --instance-type t3.medium \
  --key-name my-key-pair \
  --security-group-ids sg-12345678 \
  --subnet-id subnet-12345678 \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=RLC-Server}]'

Instance Types¶

Recommended Instance Types¶

Development/Testing: - t3.micro - 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM - t3.small - 1 vCPU, 2GB RAM - t3.medium - 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM

Production: - m5.large - 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM - m5.xlarge - 4 vCPU, 16GB RAM - m5.2xlarge - 8 vCPU, 32GB RAM

High Performance: - c5.xlarge - 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM (compute optimized) - r5.xlarge - 4 vCPU, 32GB RAM (memory optimized)

Storage Configuration¶

EBS Volume Types¶

# Create high-performance EBS volume
aws ec2 create-volume \
  --size 100 \
  --volume-type gp3 \
  --iops 3000 \
  --throughput 125 \
  --availability-zone us-west-2a \
  --encrypted \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=volume,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=RLC-Data}]'

Recommended Storage Layout¶

Root Volume: 20GB gp3 (encrypted)
Data Volume: 100GB+ gp3 (encrypted)
Backup Volume: S3 storage for backups

Networking¶

Security Groups¶

# Create security group for RLC
aws ec2 create-security-group \
  --group-name rlc-sg \
  --description "RLC Security Group"

# Allow SSH access
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
  --group-id sg-12345678 \
  --protocol tcp \
  --port 22 \
  --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow HTTP/HTTPS
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
  --group-id sg-12345678 \
  --protocol tcp \
  --port 80 \
  --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
  --group-id sg-12345678 \
  --protocol tcp \
  --port 443 \
  --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

VPC Configuration¶

Public Subnet: For internet-facing instances
Private Subnet: For internal services
NAT Gateway: For private subnet internet access
Internet Gateway: For public subnet access

Auto Scaling¶

Launch Template¶

{
  "LaunchTemplateName": "rlc-template",
  "LaunchTemplateData": {
    "ImageId": "ami-rlc-latest",
    "InstanceType": "t3.medium",
    "KeyName": "my-key-pair",
    "SecurityGroupIds": ["sg-12345678"],
    "IamInstanceProfile": {
      "Name": "RLC-InstanceProfile"
    },
    "UserData": "IyEvYmluL2Jhc2gKeXVtIHVwZGF0ZSAteQ=="
  }
}

Auto Scaling Group¶

# Create Auto Scaling Group
aws autoscaling create-auto-scaling-group \
  --auto-scaling-group-name rlc-asg \
  --launch-template LaunchTemplateName=rlc-template,Version=1 \
  --min-size 1 \
  --max-size 5 \
  --desired-capacity 2 \
  --vpc-zone-identifier "subnet-12345678,subnet-87654321"

Load Balancing¶

Application Load Balancer¶

# Create Application Load Balancer
aws elbv2 create-load-balancer \
  --name rlc-alb \
  --subnets subnet-12345678 subnet-87654321 \
  --security-groups sg-12345678 \
  --scheme internet-facing \
  --type application \
  --ip-address-type ipv4

Monitoring¶

CloudWatch Integration¶

# Install CloudWatch agent
sudo dnf install amazon-cloudwatch-agent

# Configure CloudWatch agent
sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-config-wizard

Custom Metrics¶

# Send custom metric
aws cloudwatch put-metric-data \
  --namespace "RLC/Application" \
  --metric-name "CustomMetric" \
  --value 123 \
  --unit Count

Backup and Recovery¶

EBS Snapshots¶

# Create snapshot
aws ec2 create-snapshot \
  --volume-id vol-12345678 \
  --description "RLC data backup $(date +%Y%m%d)"

# Automated backup with lifecycle
aws dlm create-lifecycle-policy \
  --execution-role-arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/AWSDataLifecycleManagerDefaultRole \
  --description "RLC daily backups" \
  --state ENABLED \
  --policy-details file://backup-policy.json

S3 Backup¶

# Sync data to S3
aws s3 sync /data s3://my-rlc-backup/data/

# Configure lifecycle policy for cost optimization
aws s3api put-bucket-lifecycle-configuration \
  --bucket my-rlc-backup \
  --lifecycle-configuration file://lifecycle.json

Cost Optimization¶

Reserved Instances¶

Purchase Reserved Instances for predictable workloads
Use Savings Plans for flexible compute usage
Consider Spot Instances for non-critical workloads

Storage Optimization¶

Use gp3 volumes instead of gp2 for better cost/performance
Implement S3 lifecycle policies for data archiving
Regular cleanup of unused EBS snapshots

Troubleshooting¶

Common Issues¶

Instance Launch Failures:

# Check instance status
aws ec2 describe-instances --instance-ids i-12345678

# Review system log
aws ec2 get-console-output --instance-id i-12345678

Connectivity Issues:

# Check security group rules
aws ec2 describe-security-groups --group-ids sg-12345678

# Verify route table
aws ec2 describe-route-tables --filters "Name=association.subnet-id,Values=subnet-12345678"

Performance Issues:

# Check CloudWatch metrics
aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics \
  --namespace AWS/EC2 \
  --metric-name CPUUtilization \
  --dimensions Name=InstanceId,Value=i-12345678 \
  --start-time 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z \
  --end-time 2024-01-01T23:59:59Z \
  --period 3600 \
  --statistics Average

Best Practices¶

Security¶

Use IAM roles instead of access keys
Enable VPC Flow Logs for network monitoring
Implement least privilege access
Enable CloudTrail for audit logging

Performance¶

Use Placement Groups for HPC workloads
Enable Enhanced Networking for better performance
Use appropriate instance types for workload

Cost Management¶

Tag all resources for cost allocation
Use AWS Cost Explorer for usage analysis
Implement automated start/stop for dev environments
Regular review of unused resources

For additional AWS-specific configurations and troubleshooting, see the main RLC documentation