A.2 Don’t Have an Existing Amazon EC2 Account?

If you do not have an Amazon EC2 account, you need to sign up for one. You must provide credit card information, provide a phone number where you can enter a confirmation PIN number, and sign up for an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account. You must also create an X.509 certificate. AWS uses the private certificate and key to verify and authenticate your identity as you manage your cloud resources.

  1. In a Web browser, go to the Amazon EC2 Web Services page, then select Sign up for an Amazon EC2.

  2. Provide your identity information.

  3. Provide your credit card information.

  4. Provide your phone contact information.

  5. When you receive an automated phone call that asks you for a confirmation PIN number, enter the number that appears on the computer screen.

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to sign up for an Amazon Web Services account.

    When the sign-up is complete, you receive the following message on the screen, and you receive an email stating that you have signed up for the Service.

    Thank you for signing up for Amazon EC2.
    
    We will email you a confirmation when the web services are available for you to use. In order to begin using this service, you will need a X.509 certificate. You can Create a New X.509 Certificate or Upload Your X.509 Certificate on the Security Credentials page.
    
  7. On the Thank You page, select Create a New X.509 Certificate, then click Yes to create the new certificate and key files.

    You can access this page later by opening the Amazon EC2 Web Services page in a Web browser, logging in to your account, then selecting Account > Security Credentials > Access Credentials > X.509 Certificates > Create a New X.509 Certificate.

  8. On the Certificate page, save the certxxxxxxx.pem and pk-xxxxxxxxxxxx.pem files to a secure location on your local computer.

  9. Continue with Section A.3, Already Have an Existing Amazon EC2 Account?