Creating and using an SSH key pair to use on AWS

Now we have our AWS provider configured in Terraform, let's add a SSH key pair to use on a default account of the virtual machines we intend to launch soon.

Getting ready

To step through this recipe, you will need the following:

• A working Terraform installation

• An AWS provider configured in Terraform

• Generate a pair of SSH keys somewhere you remember, for example, in the keys folder at the root of your repo:

  $ mkdir keys
  $ ssh-keygen -q -f keys/aws_terraform -C aws_terraform_ssh_key -N ''
  

• An Internet connection

How to do it…

The resource we want for this is named aws_key_pair. Let's use it inside a keys.tf file, and paste the public key content:

resource "aws_key_pair" "admin_key" {
  key_name   = "admin_key"
  public_key = "ssh-rsa AAAAB3[…]"
}

This will simply upload your public key to your AWS account under the name admin_key:

$ terraform apply
aws_key_pair.admin_key: Creating...
  fingerprint: "" => "<computed>"
  key_name:    "" =&gt...