21 guides on Lightsail
Create a Lightsail snapshot and restore it
Step-by-step guide to making a copy (snapshot) of a Lightsail machine, scheduling automatic copies and restoring it by creating a new machine. Includi…
⏱ 15 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Static IP and changing plan in Lightsail without losing anything
Why every Lightsail machine that serves anything needs a static IP, how to assign it, and how to move to a bigger plan (more CPU, RAM or disk) using a…
⏱ 25 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Copy a snapshot to another region, in case of disaster
Your backups in AWS live in the same region as your machines. If that region fails, both fail. Here we explain, for Lightsail and for EC2, how to copy…
⏱ 30 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Set up WordPress on Lightsail and do it properly
Create a WordPress website on Amazon Lightsail from scratch, using the blueprint Amazon provides, and do the five things almost everyone skips afterwa…
⏱ 30 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Free HTTPS padlock with Let's Encrypt on Lightsail
Get a free Let's Encrypt certificate for your website on a Lightsail machine, with automatic renewal, whether the machine is a Bitnami one (WordPress …
⏱ 20 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →What to do if you have lost the SSH key to your machine
You have lost the key file, changed computer or the person who had it has left. How to get back into a Lightsail machine with the browser terminal, se…
⏱ 25 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Add a data disk to a Lightsail machine
Your Lightsail machine's disk is full and you do not want to change plan. How to create an additional disk, attach it, prepare it from the terminal an…
⏱ 20 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Managed database in Lightsail and connecting your website
Move the database off your Lightsail machine to a managed database (MySQL or PostgreSQL) that Amazon maintains and backs up for you. Creating it, conn…
⏱ 30 minutes◎ Intermediate levelRead the guide →The Lightsail transfer allowance and what happens if you use it up
Every Lightsail plan includes a certain amount of data per month. What counts and what doesn't, how to see how much you have used, what happens when y…
⏱ 7-minute read◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Open port 22 only to your IP in Lightsail
Close SSH access to your Lightsail machine from the whole internet and allow it only from your IP address, step by step, without locking yourself out.…
⏱ 5 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →A spare key so you never get locked out of your machine
Losing the SSH key or the Administrator password of a machine in AWS is easier than it seems, and when you run machines for several clients it is only…
⏱ 20 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Minimum backup plan for a small business
An AWS backup plan that fits on one sheet: the 3-2-1 rule in plain words, what to back up for each thing (machines, databases, files), sensible freque…
⏱ 40 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Test that a backup works: restore in another region
A backup that has never been restored is not a backup, it is a hope. How to copy a Lightsail snapshot to another region, create a test machine there, …
⏱ 45 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Move a Lightsail machine to another region or account without losing anything
How to move a Lightsail machine to another region with a snapshot: copy it, create the new machine with the same plan, static IP, change the DNS in go…
⏱ 1 hour (plus the DNS wait)◎ Intermediate levelRead the guide →My website has been hacked: restore from a clean snapshot
What to do when someone has broken into your Lightsail server: isolate it without destroying evidence, choose a snapshot from before the attack, bring…
⏱ 1 hour◎ Intermediate levelRead the guide →Close the ports you do not use and open 22 only when needed
What a port is in plain words, which ports a website needs and which should never be open to the whole internet, how to review the Lightsail firewall …
⏱ 20 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →My machine is slow: reading CPU, burst and network
What the metrics of a Lightsail machine measure (CPU, burst capacity, inbound and outbound network, status checks), how to see them in the console and…
⏱ 20 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Windows on Lightsail: secure remote desktop and backups
Create a Windows Server machine on Amazon Lightsail, get the administrator password, connect by remote desktop from Windows and Mac, open port 3389 on…
⏱ 30 minutes◎ Basic levelRead the guide →Migrate a website from shared hosting to Lightsail
When it is worth moving from shared hosting to a Lightsail machine, how to choose the blueprint (LAMP or WordPress), copy files and database, test wit…
⏱ 90 minutes◎ Intermediate levelRead the guide →You have lost the Administrator password of a Windows machine in AWS: what you can do
The Windows machine works, but nobody remembers the Administrator password, or the person who changed it is no longer around. What Lightsail offers yo…
⏱ 30 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →Open a terminal for your AWS machine from the browser, on Linux and Windows
What options AWS gives you for having a console to the machine without installing an SSH client: the Lightsail web console, Session Manager in EC2 and…
⏱ 25 minutes◎ For everyoneRead the guide →See all guides · Missing a Lightsail task? Tell us and we will write it.