Automated Deployment Using AWS CloudFormation

The AWS CloudFormation service can automate the process of creating a virtual private cloud and of creating/connecting to a master instance (steps 1 and 2 below).

Creating a Cloud Stack (Including configuring a VPC and launching an initial instance)

To create a cloud stack:

1.      From the AWS Management Console, open the CloudFormation service. 

2.      Click Create Stack and select Choose an existing template (default). 

3.      In the Amazon S3 URL field, paste the following URL: https://skylinesoft-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/photomesh/cloudformation/skyline-pm-template_server2022.yaml

4.      Click Next to continue.

5.      Under Stack name, enter PM-Master.

6.      Under Tags, set the following values: 

§  masterInstanceStorageVolume: Set the volume based on your expected need (E.g. 100 GB).

Note:    This is the EBS storage that will hold your data, projects, PM files, etc. The EBS volumes will incur additional charges. For more information, see Amazon EBS Volumes in Amazon’s AWS documentation.

§  masterInstanceType: g4dn.xlarge 

§  remoteAccess: Enter the approved IP range. If you don't know this address range, you can use 0.0.0.0/0.

Note:    For the rules above, when you use 0.0.0.0/0 for remote access, you enable all IP addresses to access your instance using RDP, SSH, or VNC. This is suitable for a short exercise, but it is unsafe for production environments. In production, you will want to authorize only a specific IP address or range of addresses to access your instance.

§  vpcCIDR: 10.0.0.0/16 

§  vpcName: PM VPC. 

7.      Scroll past the Permissions, Stack Failure Options, and Advanced Options sections. In the Capabillities section, select the check box acknowledging that AWS Cloud Formation might create IAM resources.

8.      Click Next to open the stack options configuration page. 

9.      Optional: Under Tags, add a key-value pair: 

§  Key: Customer 

§  Value: [Customer Name]

10.   Click Next to review your settings. 

11.   Before submitting, confirm by checking the box stating: "I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources with custom names." 

12.   Click Submit to initiate stack creation. Stack creation will usually take between 10-15 minutes. You can monitor progress in the Events tab, which will open automatically.

13.   Once the stack status is CREATE_COMPLETE, your CloudFormation stack is ready to use, and you can skip to Step 3.

Note:       If at any point, you need to delete a stack: navigate to the CloudFormation service, select the stack you want to delete in the CloudFormation dashboard, and click Delete. 

Connecting to an Instance

To connect to a PM_Master instance:

1.      Access the Parameter Store: From the AWS Management Console, navigate to the AWS Systems Manager service, and  click Parameter Store. 

2.      Retrieve the Key: From the Parameter Store, click the specific key name related to the PM Master. Select Show to reveal the key, and copy the entire key text displayed.

3.      Navigate to the AWS EC2 service, and from the menu select Instances. 

4.      Right-click the EC2 instance you want to access and choose Connect. The Connect To Your Instance dialog box is displayed.

5.      Select the RDP client tab, and click the Get password tab at the bottom of the screen. 

6.      Paste the copied key into the Private key contents field. 

7.      Click Decrypt password to unlock the instance password, and copy the decrypted password.

8.      Click Download remote desktop to download the RDP file, and then open the downloaded file. 

9.      When prompted, log in to the instance, using the provided username ("Administrator") along with the decrypted password you copied previously. 

10.   Open PhotoMesh using the desktop shortcut (or from the shared path:  \\10.0.0.10\d\PhotoMesh\PhotoMesh.exe) 

11.   In the dialog that is displayed, click Run license Manager. If a warning message is displayed, click OK.

12.   Enter your license token in File -> Set floating license server