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Amazon SSM install on Debian

The SSM application runs on EC2 instances and enables you to easily execute remote commands or scripts against one or more instances. The agent uses SSM documents when you execute a command moreover the agent on the instance processes the document and composes the instance as specified.

The SSM Agent enables you to run Shell scripts on an instance using the AWS-RunShellScript SSM document.

Installation for SSM Agent on Debian Server

• Connect Debian Server instance using the preferred method, such as SSH.

• Create a temporary directory on the instance.

mkdir /tmp/ssm

Run the command to change the temporary directory:

cd /tmp/ssm

Copy the command for the instance’s architecture and run it on the instance.

x86_64 instances

wget https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-downloads-windows/SSMAgent/latest/debian_amd64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

ARM64 instances

wget https://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-downloads-windows/SSMAgent/latest/debian_arm64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

Run the following command.

sudo dpkg -i amazon-ssm-agent.deb

Now run the below command to verify that the agent is running.

sudo systemctl status amazon-ssm-agent

The command reports will show as the agent is running, as shown below:

● amazon-ssm-agent.service - amazon-ssm-agent
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/amazon-ssm-agent.service; enabled; vendor
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2022-09-03 12:30:03 UTC; 3s ago
 Main PID: 628 (amazon-ssm-agen)
   CGroup: /system.slice/amazon-ssm-agent.service
           ├─628 /usr/bin/amazon-ssm-agent
           └─650 /usr/bin/ssm-agent-worker
            --truncated--

In a few cases, the command reports that the agent installed might not be running:

● amazon-ssm-agent.service - amazon-ssm-agent
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/amazon-ssm-agent.service; enabled; vendor
   Active: inactive (dead) since Tue 2022-09-03 12:30:03 UTC; 4s ago
 Main PID: 628 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
            --truncated--

In such cases found then, you can activate the agent:

sudo systemctl enable amazon-ssm-agent

sudo systemctl start amazon-ssm-agent

Create custom agent installation commands for Debian Server

On multiple instances When you install SSM Agent using a script or template, we do recommend using installation files that are stored in the AWS Region that you’re working in.

Here we have given examples that use a publicly accessible Amazon S3 bucket in the US East (Ohio) Region (us-east-2).

In the following command, you just need to replace "region" with your own information. For a list of supported region values, see the Region column in the Systems Manager service endpoints in the Amazon Web Services General Reference.

wget https://s3.region.amazonaws.com/amazon-ssm-region/latest/debian_amd64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

sudo dpkg -i amazon-ssm-agent.deb

See the following example:

wget https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-ssm-us-east-2/latest/debian_amd64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

sudo dpkg -i amazon-ssm-agent.deb

ARM64

wget https://s3.region.amazonaws.com/amazon-ssm-region/latest/debian_arm64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

sudo dpkg -i amazon-ssm-agent.deb

See the following example:

wget https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-ssm-us-east-2/latest/debian_arm64/amazon-ssm-agent.deb

sudo dpkg -i amazon-ssm-agent.deb

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Conclusion

The AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store (SSM) provides you with better features and a secure way to store config variables for your applications. You can simply access SSM through AWS API directly within the app or just use by AWS CLI.