Hey everyone,
I'm dealing with a frustrating issue: my t3.micro EC2 instance that has been running a node server and MySQL database for the past eight months suddenly stopped allowing SSH connections. I hadn't accessed it in about a month and a half, and now when I attempt to connect using the SSH command (ssh -i "something.pem" [email protected]), I get the message "WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE!". I managed to fix that by changing the key's permissions to be accessible only to SYSTEM and Administrators.
However, things took a turn when I faced a new error: "Load key 'something.pem': Permission denied" followed by "[email protected]: Permission denied (publickey)." I haven't modified any files outside the /app folder, and the node server seems to be running just fine.
Trying to connect via EC2 Instance Connect results in "Error establishing SSH connection to your instance. Try again later." It's really puzzling to me why this happened all of a sudden. I might go through AWS documentation on replacing lost key pairs, but I'd love to understand the root cause of this issue. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
4 Answers
It sounds like you might have accidentally changed the permissions on your .pem file to something that your user account can’t access. Double-check that your account is part of the SYSTEM or Administrators group. If not, change the permissions back so that only you can read it. Try using the command `sudo chmod 440 something.pem` and see if that helps!
You should make sure you're using the correct .pem file for this instance. The initial warning about permissions usually points to a local file access issue, but the second error could mean you're trying to use the wrong key. If you're sure it’s the right key, maybe try a reboot from the AWS console. Just let it sit for two minutes and check back!
This seems more related to your local setup rather than AWS itself. If you're on a Mac, check permissions on your .pem file again. Sometimes, a simple permissions mix-up can throw things off. Just keep an eye on those local settings! If you resolve that, you should be good to go.
It’s probably related to how the .pem file is set up on your machine. Sometimes toggling the permissions can result in access issues. Tell your problem to something like ChatGPT—it'll probably point out the same permissions problem. My issue got resolved in seconds using permissions adjustments.
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