Secure VPC Setup Ansible Playbook

This Ansible playbook automates the setup of a secure VPC environment, including SSH configuration, new user creation, and firewall rules.

Prerequisites

• Ansible installed on your local machine
• Access to a VPC with root credentials
• Basic understanding of SSH key pairs

Setup Steps

1. SSH Key Generation

Generate a new SSH key pair for VPC access:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

The keys will be generated in your ~/.ssh directory:

• Private key: ~/.ssh/id_rsa
• Public key: ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

2. VPC Key Configuration

Copy your public key to the VPC's authorized keys:

1. Access your VPC using existing credentials
2. Add the content of id_rsa.pub to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the VPC

3. Inventory Setup

Create a hosts file (hosts) with your VPC details:

[vpc]
1.1.1.1  # Replace with your VPC's public IP

Note: If you modify the vpc group name, ensure you update the corresponding reference in ./personalvpc.yml under the hosts property.

4. Configuration

1. Edit ./config.yml to set your preferred VPC name
2. Create an encrypted vault file for sensitive information:

   ansible-vault create secrets.yml

3. Add the following information to your vault:

   ansible_user: <vpc_root_user>
   ansible_ssh_private_key_file: <path_to_vpc_pvt_key>
   custom_user_password: <new_user_pwd>
   custom_user: <new_user_username>

5. Execution

Run the playbook with:

ansible-playbook vpc_playbook.yml --ask-vault-pass

Enter your vault password when prompted.

What Gets Configured

The playbook will:

1. Set up SSH configuration
2. Create a new user with sudo privileges
3. Configure firewall rules
4. Generate new SSH keys for the custom user
5. Create a local directory containing the new SSH keys for future VPC access

Output

After successful execution, you'll find a new directory on your local machine containing:

• Private and public SSH keys for the new user
• Connection details for accessing the VPC with the new credentials

Security Notes

• Keep your vault password secure
• Store the generated SSH private keys safely
• Never commit sensitive information to version control
• Regularly rotate SSH keys and passwords

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

1. Verify your VPC's IP address is correct in the hosts file
2. Ensure root SSH access is working before running the playbook
3. Check that all paths in secrets.yml are absolute paths
4. Verify your vault file is properly encrypted

Additional Configuration

To customize the setup further, you can modify:

• config.yml for VPC-specific settings
• personalvpc.yml for playbook tasks and roles
• Firewall rules in the respective task files

For support or contributions, please open an issue or pull request in the repository.