Overview

Start here to understand the current state of the console and the main work areas.

Administration and account

Administrative controls, account context, spend visibility, and internal tooling.

AWS backend setup

The core AWS credentials and supporting infrastructure needed before launch and server work.

AWS Secrets

Enter Your AWS Credentials

Provide your AWS Access Key and Secret Key here. This information is required to authenticate your AWS account with ndexr. Access IAM Console

Your AWS Access Key ID identifies your AWS account and is used with your Secret Key.
Your AWS Secret Access Key is used to authenticate requests to AWS services.

Actions

Once you've entered your AWS credentials, use the actions below to inspect or remove them.

Note: You can only have one set of AWS credentials at a time.

New Key Pair

Provide a name for your new key pair. This key pair will be used to securely access your EC2 instances.

A key pair is how you prove your identity when connecting to your server over SSH. Instead of a password (which can be guessed or brute-forced), AWS generates a cryptographic key pair -- a public half stored on the server and a private half you download as a .pem file. Keep the .pem file safe; anyone who has it can log in, and AWS cannot recover it if lost.

Tip: Use a meaningful name to easily identify your key pair.

Key Pairs

Use this section to manage your existing key pairs. You can retrieve, delete, or update your key pairs as needed.

Launch environment

Prepare and start a new server workflow.

Launch
Credentials
Key Pairs
Security Groups
Hosted Zones
If any value is zero, go to the Workspace tab to set up AWS credentials, key pairs, and security groups before launching.

Configure the basics for your EC2 instance. Pick the key pair you will SSH with, the security group that controls network access, an AMI to boot from, and a machine size.

A friendly name to identify this server in your list.
The SSH key pair used to log in to this server. Create one under Workspace if none exist.
The firewall rules controlling which ports are open. Create one under Workspace if none exist.
The machine image (operating system) to boot from. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is recommended for most use cases.
T series (t3.*) -- burstable, cheapest for intermittent workloads. M series (m5.*) -- balanced CPU/RAM for general use. C series (c5.*) -- extra CPU for compute-heavy tasks. R series (r5.*) -- extra RAM for memory-heavy tasks.
EBS disk size in GB. 50 GB is enough for a basic server; 300 GB suits heavier data work. You are billed for provisioned storage whether used or not.
Open Common Ports
22 / SSH -- required to log in and manage your server from the terminal.
80 / HTTP -- unencrypted web traffic. In most setups you should redirect to HTTPS instead of serving on port 80 directly. Leave unchecked unless you have a specific reason.
443 / HTTPS -- encrypted web traffic. This is the standard for any public-facing site or API.
Notes
Each port you open is a door into your server visible to the entire internet. Only open what you actually need. You can always add more rules later under Workspace .

The user-data script runs once when the instance first boots. Pick a template or write your own. The script executes as root.

General -- installs common tools and runs apt update/upgrade. Bare -- empty script, boots with no changes. Docker -- installs Docker and enables the service. Custom -- write your own from scratch. Gentoo Prefix -- Gentoo package manager on RHEL.

AMI library

Available images and launch foundations.

Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)

Create an image from an instance and manage images you already own.

An AMI is a complete snapshot of your server's disk -- the OS, installed software, and your configuration. Once captured, you can launch a new instance from it in minutes instead of rebuilding from scratch. Use AMIs for disaster recovery, cloning identical environments, or sharing a pre-built setup with others.

Create from Instance

Pick a running or stopped instance and create an image with NoReboot=TRUE.

My Images

Elastic IPs

Network addresses available for assignment and routing.

Elastic IPs

Allocate, associate, and manage public IP addresses.

An Elastic IP is a static public address that stays the same even when you stop and restart your server. Without one, your server gets a new random IP every time it boots, which breaks DNS records and bookmarks. AWS charges a small hourly fee (~$0.005/hr) for Elastic IPs that are not associated with a running instance -- this discourages hoarding unused addresses. Associate it with your server and the fee goes away.

Current servers

Inspect and manage the servers already under control.

Domains and routing

Attach domains and handle addressable public entry points.

Purchase a Domain

A domain name is the human-readable address (e.g. example.com) that points to your server's IP. Once registered, you create DNS records that map the domain to your Elastic IP so visitors reach your server by name instead of memorizing a number. Registration is annual and pricing varies by TLD (.com, .io, etc.).

Choose Person for individual registrations. Use Company or Organization if registering on behalf of a business.
Address Information
Enter the full domain including TLD (e.g. mysite.com). Availability and price will appear below.

Billing and subscription

Manage subscription and payment-related settings.