AWS Cloud Engineering

A complete walkthrough to create your AWS account, set up billing alerts, and secure it with best practices.

Step 1: Create Your AWS Account#

Go to AWS Sign Up Page#

1. Visit aws.amazon.com
2. Click "Create an AWS Account" (top right)

Enter Account Details#

Email address    → Use a new email (this becomes root user)
AWS account name → Your name or organization name
Password         → Strong password (12+ chars, mixed case, numbers, symbols)

🔐 Important: The email you use becomes the root user — the most powerful account. Use an email you'll always have access to.

Choose Account Type#

Enter Contact Information#

• Full name
• Phone number
• Country/Region
• Address

Add Payment Method#

• Credit or Debit card required
• AWS may charge ₹2 (or $1) to verify — refunded immediately
• No charges until you exceed Free Tier limits

Verify Identity#

• AWS will call or text a verification code
• Enter the code to proceed

Select Support Plan#

Choose Basic (Free) — you can upgrade later if needed.

Complete Sign Up#

• Click "Complete sign up"
• Wait for confirmation email (usually instant)
• Sign in to the AWS Management Console

Step 2: Sign In to AWS Console#

Root User Sign In#

1. Go to console.aws.amazon.com
2. Select "Root user"
3. Enter your email address
4. Enter your password

First Look at the Console#

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  AWS Logo    Services ▼    Search bar    Region ▼   Account │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│   Recently visited services                                 │
│   ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐                    │
│   │   EC2   │  │   S3    │  │   IAM   │                    │
│   └─────────┘  └─────────┘  └─────────┘                    │
│                                                             │
│   AWS Health Dashboard                                      │
│   Cost & Usage                                              │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Step 3: Secure Your Root Account#

The root account has unlimited access to everything. Secure it immediately.

Enable MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication)#

1. Click your account name (top right) → Security credentials
2. Under "Multi-factor authentication (MFA)" → Click Assign MFA device
3. Choose device type:
   • Authenticator app (recommended) — Google Authenticator, Authy
   • Hardware key — YubiKey
   • Virtual MFA device
4. Scan QR code with your authenticator app
5. Enter two consecutive codes from the app
6. Click Add MFA

✓ Done! Your root account now requires MFA to sign in.

Create an IAM User (Don't Use Root!)#

Never use root for daily tasks. Create an IAM user instead.

1. Search for "IAM" in the console
2. Click Users → Create user
3. Enter username (e.g., akshaya-admin)
4. Enable Provide user access to the AWS Management Console
5. Choose I want to create an IAM user
6. Set a password
7. Click Next

Attach Permissions#

For a personal admin user:

1. Select Attach policies directly
2. Search and select AdministratorAccess
3. Click Next → Create user

Download Credentials#

• Download the CSV file with sign-in URL and credentials
• Store securely — you won't see the password again

Enable MFA for IAM User Too#

1. Go to IAM → Users → Click your user
2. Security credentials tab → Assign MFA device
3. Follow same steps as root MFA

Step 4: Set Up Billing Alerts#

Avoid surprise charges by setting up billing alerts.

Enable Billing Alerts#

1. Click your account name → Billing and Cost Management
2. In left sidebar: Billing preferences
3. Enable:
   • Receive PDF Invoice By Email
   • Receive Free Tier Usage Alerts
   • Receive Billing Alerts
4. Click Save preferences

Create a Billing Alarm#

1. Search for CloudWatch in the console
2. Change region to N. Virginia (us-east-1) — billing metrics only exist here
3. Click Alarms → All alarms → Create alarm
4. Click Select metric
5. Choose Billing → Total Estimated Charge
6. Select USD → Click Select metric

Configure the Alarm#

Threshold type      → Static
Whenever...         → Greater than
Than...             → 5 (or your preferred amount in USD)

Set Up Notification#

1. Create new SNS topic
2. Topic name: billing-alerts
3. Email: Your email address
4. Click Create alarm

📩 Check your email and confirm the SNS subscription

Step 5: Understand the Free Tier#

AWS offers a Free Tier for 12 months after account creation.

Free Tier Types#

Popular Free Tier Limits#

Check Your Usage#

1. Go to Billing → Free Tier
2. See usage vs limits for each service
3. Set up alerts (Step 4) to avoid overages

Step 6: Install AWS CLI#

The AWS Command Line Interface lets you manage AWS from your terminal.

Install on Linux/Mac#

# Download and install
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install

# Verify installation
aws --version

Install on Windows#

Download the MSI installer from AWS CLI page

Configure AWS CLI#

aws configure

Enter:

AWS Access Key ID     → (your key)
AWS Secret Access Key → (your secret)
Default region name   → ap-south-1 (or your preferred region)
Default output format → json

Get Access Keys#

1. Go to IAM → Users → Your user
2. Security credentials tab
3. Access keys → Create access key
4. Choose Command Line Interface (CLI)
5. Download the CSV file

⚠ Warning: Never share or commit access keys to Git!

Test CLI#

# Check who you are
aws sts get-caller-identity

# List S3 buckets
aws s3 ls

# List EC2 instances
aws ec2 describe-instances

Summary Checklist#

• AWS account created
• Root user MFA enabled
• IAM admin user created
• IAM user MFA enabled
• Billing alerts set up
• Free Tier understood
• AWS CLI installed and configured
• Sign in with IAM user (not root) for daily use

Best Practices Recap#