Launch an instance on your Outposts server - AWS Outposts
Step 1: Create a subnetStep 2: Launch an instance on the OutpostStep 3: Configure connectivityStep 4: Test the connectivity

Launch an instance on your Outposts server

After your Outpost is installed and the compute and storage capacity is available for use, you can get started by creating resources. For example, you can launch Amazon EC2 instances.

Prerequisite

You must have an Outpost installed at your site. For more information, see Create an Outpost and order Outpost capacity.

Step 1: Create a subnet

You can add Outpost subnets to any VPC in the AWS Region for the Outpost. When you do so, the VPC also spans the Outpost. For more information, see Network components.

Note

If you are launching an instance in an Outpost subnet that has been shared with you by another AWS account, skip to Step 2: Launch an instance on the Outpost.

To create an outpost subnet

  1. Open the AWS Outposts console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/outposts/.

  2. On the navigation pane, choose Outposts.

  3. Select the Outpost, and then choose Actions, Create subnet. You are redirected to create a subnet in the Amazon VPC console. We select the Outpost for you and the Availability Zone that the Outpost is homed to.

  4. Select a VPC and specify an IP address range for the subnet.

  5. Choose Create.

  6. After the subnet is created, you must enable the subnet for local network interfaces. Use the modify-subnet-attribute command from the AWS CLI. You must specify the position of the network interface on the device index. All instances launched in an enabled Outpost subnet use this device position for local network interfaces. The following example uses a value of 1 to specify a secondary network interface.

    aws ec2 modify-subnet-attribute \
    --subnet-id subnet-1a2b3c4d \
    --enable-lni-at-device-index 1

Step 2: Launch an instance on the Outpost

You can launch EC2 instances in the Outpost subnet that you created, or in an Outpost subnet that has been shared with you. Security groups control inbound and outbound VPC traffic for instances in an Outpost subnet, just as they do for instances in an Availability Zone subnet. To connect to an EC2 instance in an Outpost subnet, you can specify a key pair when you launch the instance, just as you do for instances in an Availability Zone subnet.

Considerations

  • If you are attaching block data volumes backed by compatible third-party block storage systems during the instance-launch process on Outpost, see this blog post Simplifying the use of third-party block storage with AWS Outposts.

  • Instances on Outposts servers include instance store volumes but not EBS volumes. Choose an instance size with enough instance storage to meet the needs of your application. For more information, see Instance store volumes and Create an instance store-backed AMI in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

  • You must use an Amazon EBS-backed AMI with only a single EBS snapshot. AMIs with more than one EBS snapshot are not supported.

  • The data on instance store volumes persists after an instance reboot but does not persist after instance termination. To retain the long-term data on your instance store volumes beyond the lifetime of the instance, be sure to back up the data to persistent storage, such as an Amazon S3 bucket or a network storage device in your on-premises network.

  • To connect an instance in an Outpost subnet to your on-premises network, you must add a local network interface, as described in the following procedure.

To launch instances in your Outpost subnet

  1. Open the AWS Outposts console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/outposts/.

  2. On the navigation pane, choose Outposts.

  3. Select the Outpost, and then choose Actions, View details.

  4. On the Outpost summary page, choose Launch instance. You are redirected to the instance launch wizard in the Amazon EC2 console. We select the Outpost subnet for you, and show you only the instance types that are supported by your Outposts servers.

  5. Choose an instance type that is supported by your Outposts servers.

  6. (Optional) You can add a local network interface now or after you create the instance. To add it now, expand Advanced network configuration and choose Add network interface. Choose the Outpost subnet. This creates a network interface for the instance using device index 1. If you specified 1 as the local network interface device index for the Outpost subnet, this network interface is the local network interface for the instance. Alternatively, to add it later, see Add a local network interface.

  7. Complete the wizard to launch the instance in your Outpost subnet. For more information, see Launch an EC2 instance in the Amazon EC2 User Guide:

Step 3: Configure connectivity

If you did not add a local network interface to your instance during instance launch, you must do so now. For more information, see Add a local network interface.

You must configure the local network interface for the instance with an IP address from your local network. Typically, you do this by using DHCP. For information, see the documentation for the operating system running on the instance. Search for information about configuring additional network interfaces and secondary IP addresses.

Step 4: Test the connectivity

You can test connectivity by using the appropriate use cases.

Test connectivity from your local network to the Outpost

From a computer in your local network, run the ping command to the Outpost instance's local network interface IP address.

ping 10.0.3.128

The following is example output.

Pinging 10.0.3.128

Reply from 10.0.3.128:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.3.128:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.3.128:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
    
Ping statistics for 10.0.3.128
Packets:  Sent = 3,  Received = 3,  Lost = 0 (0% lost)

Approximate round trip time in milliseconds
Minimum = 0ms,  Maximum = 0ms,  Average = 0ms
Test the connectivity from an Outpost instance to your local network

Depending on your operating system, use ssh or rdp to connect to the private IP address of your Outpost instance. For information about connecting to an EC2 instance, see Connect to your EC2 instance in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

After the instance is running, run the ping command to an IP address of a computer in your local network. In the following example, the IP address is 172.16.0.130.

ping 172.16.0.130

The following is example output.

Pinging 172.16.0.130

Reply from 172.16.0.130:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 172.16.0.130:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 172.16.0.130:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 172.16.0.130
Packets:  Sent = 3,  Received = 3,  Lost = 0 (0% lost)

Approximate round trip time in milliseconds
Minimum = 0ms,  Maximum = 0ms,  Average = 0ms
Test connectivity between the AWS Region and the Outpost

Launch an instance in the subnet in the AWS Region. For example, use the run-instances command.

aws ec2 run-instances \
    --image-id ami-abcdefghi1234567898 \
    --instance-type c5.large \
    --key-name MyKeyPair \
    --security-group-ids sg-1a2b3c4d123456787 \
    --subnet-id subnet-6e7f829e123445678

After the instance is running, perform the following operations:

  1. Get the private IP address of the instance in the AWS Region. This information is available in the Amazon EC2 console on the instance detail page.

  2. Depending on your operating system, use ssh or rdp to connect to the private IP address of your Outpost instance.

  3. Run the ping command from your Outpost instance, specifying the IP address of the instance in the AWS Region.

    ping 10.0.1.5

    The following is example output.

    Pinging 10.0.1.5

Reply from 10.0.1.5:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.1.5:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 10.0.1.5:  bytes=32 time=<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 10.0.1.5
Packets:  Sent = 3,  Received = 3,  Lost = 0 (0% lost)

Approximate round trip time in milliseconds
Minimum = 0ms,  Maximum = 0ms,  Average = 0ms