# aws-ssm-tools - AWS System Manager Tools
[![CircleCI](https://circleci.com/gh/mludvig/aws-ssm-tools.svg?style=shield)](https://circleci.com/gh/mludvig/aws-ssm-tools)
[![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/aws-ssm-tools.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/aws-ssm-tools/)
[![Python Versions](https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/aws-ssm-tools.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/aws-ssm-tools/)
Helper tools for AWS Systems Manager: `ssm-session`, `ssm-ssh` and `ssm-tunnel`,
and for ECS Docker Exec: `ecs-session`
## Scripts included
* **ssm-session**
Wrapper around `aws ssm start-session` that can open
SSM Session to an instance specified by *Name* or *IP Address*.
It doesn't need user credentials or even `sshd` running on the instance.
Check out *[SSM Sessions the easy
way](https://aws.nz/projects/ssm-session/)* for an example use.
Works with any Linux or Windows EC2 instance registered in SSM.
* **ecs-session**
Wrapper around `aws ecs execute-command` that can run a command
or open an interactive session to an Exec-enabled ECS container
specified by the service, name, IP address, etc.
It doesn't need user credentials or `sshd` running on the container,
however the containers must be configured to allow this access.
Check out *[Interactive shell in ECS Containers](https://aws.nz/projects/ecs-session/)*
for an example use.
* **ssm-tunnel**
Open *IP tunnel* to the SSM instance and to enable *network access*
to the instance VPC. This requires [ssm-tunnel-agent](README-agent.md)
installed on the instance.
Works with *Amazon Linux 2* instances and probably other recent Linux
EC2 instances. Requires *Linux* on the client side - if you are on Mac
or Windows you can install a Linux VM in a [VirtualBox](https://virtualbox.org).
Requires `ssm-tunnel-agent` installed on the instance - see below for
instructions.
* **ssm-ssh**
Open an SSH connection to the remote server through *Systems Manager*
without the need for open firewall or direct internet access. SSH can
then be used to forward ports, copy files, etc.
Unlike `ssm-tunnel` it doesn't create a full VPN link, however it's in
some aspects more versatile as it can be used with `rsync`, `scp`,
`sftp`, etc.
It works with any client that can run SSH (including Mac OS-X) and
doesn't require a special agent on the instance, other than the standard
AWS SSM agent.
* **ssm-copy**
**DEPRECATED and REMOVED** - use `rsync` with `ssm-ssh` instead.
## Usage
1. **List instances** available for connection
```
~ $ ssm-session --list
i-07c189021bc56e042 test1.aws.nz test1 192.168.45.158
i-094df06d3633f3267 tunnel-test.aws.nz tunnel-test 192.168.44.95
i-02689d593e17f2b75 winbox.aws.nz winbox 192.168.45.5 13.11.22.33
```
If you're like me and have access to many different AWS accounts you
can select the right one with `--profile` and / or change the `--region`:
```
~ $ ssm-session --profile aws-sandpit --region us-west-2 --list
i-0beb42b1e6b60ac10 uswest2.aws.nz uswest2 172.31.0.92
```
Alternatively use the standard AWS *environment variables*:
```
~ $ export AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE=aws-sandpit
~ $ export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-west-2
~ $ ssm-session --list
i-0beb42b1e6b60ac10 uswest2.aws.nz uswest2 172.31.0.92
```
2. **Open SSM session** to an instance:
This opens an interactive shell session over SSM without the need for
a password or SSH key. Note that by default the login user is `ssm-user`.
You can specify most a different user with e.g. `--user ec2-user` or
even `--user root`.
```
~ $ ssm-session -v test1 --user ec2-user
Starting session with SessionId: botocore-session-0d381a3ef740153ac
[ec2-user@ip-192-168-45-158] ~ $ hostname
test1.aws.nz
[ec2-user@ip-192-168-45-158] ~ $ id
uid=1000(ec2-user) gid=1000(ec2-user) groups=1000(ec2-user),...
[ec2-user@ip-192-168-45-158] ~ $ ^D
Exiting session with sessionId: botocore-session-0d381a3ef740153ac.
~ $
```
You can specify other SSM documents to run with `--document-name AWS-...`
to customise your session. Refer to AWS docs for details.
3. **Open SSH session** over SSM with *port forwarding*.
The `ssm-ssh` tool provides a connection and authentication mechanism
for running SSH over Systems Manager.
The target instance *does not need* a public IP address, it also does
*not* need an open SSH port in the Security Group. All it needs is to be
registered in the Systems Manager.
All `ssh` options are supported, go wild. In this example we will
forward port 3306 to our MySQL RDS database using the standard
`-L 3306:mysql-rds.aws.nz:3306` SSH port forwarding method.
```
~ $ ssm-ssh ec2-user@test1 -L 3306:mysql-rds.aws.nz:3306 -i ~/.ssh/aws-nz.pem
[ssm-ssh] INFO: Resolved instance name 'test1' to 'i-07c189021bc56e042'
[ssm-ssh] INFO: Running: ssh -o ProxyCommand='aws ssm start-session --target %h --document-name AWS-StartSSHSession --parameters portNumber=%p' i-07c189021bc56e042 -l ec2-user -L 3306:mysql-rds.aws.nz:3306 -i ~/.ssh/aws-nz.pem
OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.3, OpenSSL 1.0.2n 7 Dec 2017
...
Last login: Sun Apr 12 20:05:09 2020 from localhost
__| __|_ )
_| ( / Amazon Linux 2 AMI
___|\___|___|
[ec2-user@ip-192-168-45-158] ~ $
```
From another terminal we can now connect to the MySQL RDS. Since the
port 3306 is forwarded from *localhost* through the tunnel we will
instruct `mysql` client to connect to `127.0.0.1` (localhost).
```
~ $ mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -u {RdsMasterUser} -p
Enter password: {RdsMasterPassword}
Welcome to the MariaDB monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Server version: 5.6.10 MySQL Community Server (GPL)
MySQL [(none)]> show processlist;
+-----+------------+-----------------------+
| Id | User | Host |
+-----+------------+-----------------------+
| 52 | rdsadmin | localhost |
| 289 | masteruser | 192.168.45.158:52182 | <<< Connection from test1 IP
+-----+------------+-----------------------+
2 rows in set (0.04 sec)
```
4. **Use `rsync` with `ssm-ssh`** to copy files to/from EC2 instance.
Since in the end we run a standard `ssh` client we can use it with
[rsync](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync) to copy files to/from the
EC2 instance.
```
~ $ rsync -e ssm-ssh -Prv ec2-user@test1:some-file.tar.gz .
some-file.tar.gz
31,337,841 100% 889.58kB/s 0:00:34 (xfr#1, to-chk=0/1)
sent 43 bytes received 31,345,607 bytes 814,172.73 bytes/sec
total size is 31,337,841 speedup is 1.00
```
We can also select a different AWS profile and/or region:
```
~ $ rsync -e "ssm-ssh --profile aws-sandpit --region us-west-2" -Prv ...
```
Alternatively set the profile and region through standard AWS
*environment variables* `AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE` and
`AWS_DEFAULT_REGION`.`
5. **Create IP tunnel** and SSH to another instance in the VPC through it.
We will use `--route 192.168.44.0/23` that gives us access to the VPC CIDR.
```
~ $ ssm-tunnel -v tunnel-test --route 192.168.44.0/23
[ssm-tunnel] INFO: Local IP: 100.64.160.100 / Remote IP: 100.64.160.101
00:00:15 | In: 156.0 B @ 5.2 B/s | Out: 509.0 B @ 40.4 B/s
```
Leave it running and from another shell `ssh` to one of the instances listed
with `--list` above. For example to `test1` that's got VPC IP `192.168.45.158`:
```
~ $ ssh ec2-user@192.168.45.158
Last login: Tue Jun 18 20:50:59 2019 from 100.64.142.232
...
[ec2-user@test1 ~]$ w -i
21:20:43 up 1:43, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
ec2-user pts/0 192.168.44.95 21:20 3.00s 0.02s 0.00s w -i
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[ec2-user@test1 ~]$ exit
Connection to 192.168.45.158 closed.
~ $
```
Note the source IP `192.168.44.95` that belongs to the `tunnel-test`
instance - our connections will *appear* as if they come from this instance.
Obviously the **Security Groups** of your other instances must allow SSH
access from the IP or SG of your tunnelling instance.
All these tools support `--help` and a set of common parameters:
--profile PROFILE, -p PROFILE
Configuration profile from ~/.aws/{credentials,config}
--region REGION, -g REGION
Set / override AWS region.
--verbose, -v Increase log level.
--debug, -d Increase log level even more.
`ssm-ssh` only supports the long options to prevent conflict with `ssh`'s
own short options that are being passed through.
Standard AWS environment variables like `AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE`,
`AWS_DEFAULT_REGION`, etc, are also supported.
## Installation
All the tools use **AWS CLI** to open **SSM Session** and then use that
session to run commands on the target instance. The target instances **must be
registered in SSM**, which means they need:
- **connectivity to SSM endpoint**, e.g. through public IP, NAT Gateway, or
SSM VPC endpoint.
- **EC2 instance IAM Role** with permissions to connect to Systems Manager.
Follow the detailed instructions at [**Using SSM Session Manager for
interactive instance access**](https://aws.nz/best-practice/ssm-session-manager/)
for more informations.
### Install *AWS CLI* and `session-manager-plugin`
Make sure you've got `aws` and `session-manager-plugin` installed locally
on your laptop.
```
~ $ aws --version
aws-cli/1.18.31 Python/3.6.9 Linux/5.3.0-42-generic botocore/1.15.31
~ $ session-manager-plugin --version
1.1.56.0
```
Follow [AWS CLI installation
guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-install.html)
and [session-manager-plugin
installation guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/session-manager-working-with-install-plugin.html) to install them if needed.
Note that `ssm-ssh` needs `session-manager-plugin` version *1.1.23* or
newer. Upgrade if your version is older.
### Register your instances with Systems Manager
*Amazon Linux 2* instances already have the `amazon-ssm-agent` installed and
running. All they need to register with *Systems Manager* is
**AmazonEC2RoleforSSM** managed role in their *IAM Instance Role* and network
access to `ssm.{region}.amazonaws.com` either directly or through a *https proxy*.
Check out the [detailed instructions](https://aws.nz/best-practice/ssm-session-manager/) for more info.
### Install SSM-Tools *(finally! :)*
The easiest way is to install the ssm-tools from *[PyPI](https://pypi.org/)* repository:
```
sudo pip3 install aws-ssm-tools
```
**NOTE:** SSM Tools require **Python 3.6 or newer**. Only the `ssm-tunnel-agent`
requires **Python 2.7 or newer** as that's what's available by default
on *Amazon Linux 2* instances.
### Standalone *ssm-tunnel-agent* installation
Refer to *[README-agent.md](README-agent.md)* for `ssm-tunnel-agent`
installation details.
Alternatively it's also bundled with this package, you can take it from here and
copy to `/usr/local/bin/ssm-tunnel-agent` on the instance. Make it executable
and it should just work.
## Other AWS Utilities
Check out **[AWS Utils](https://github.com/mludvig/aws-utils)**
repository for more useful AWS tools.
## Author and License
All these scripts were written by [Michael Ludvig](https://aws.nz/)
and are released under [Apache License 2.0](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0).