Remote IoT: Access Raspberry Pi Via AWS VPC & SSH On Windows

Sep 29, 2025 by ADMIN 61 views

Hey guys! Ever wanted to access your Raspberry Pi remotely, like from anywhere in the world? Well, you're in the right place. This guide will walk you through setting up a secure connection to your Raspberry Pi using AWS VPC and SSH, all from your Windows machine, and guess what? It's totally free (or at least, mostly free, considering AWS's free tier). Let's dive in!

Setting Up Your AWS VPC

First, let's talk about why we're using a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud). Think of it as your own private network in the cloud. It's like having your own super-secure digital fort where your Raspberry Pi can hang out. This is crucial for security because you don't want to just expose your Pi directly to the internet, right? We need to create a secure tunnel. So, let's get started. — Pennsylvania Shooting: 5 Officers Injured

To begin, you'll need an AWS account. If you don't have one, head over to the AWS website and sign up. Don't worry, they have a free tier that's perfect for this project. Once you're in, navigate to the VPC service. Click on "Create VPC." Here, you'll want to select "VPC only" because we're keeping things simple. Give your VPC a name – something like "MyRaspberryPiVPC" works great. Now, the important part: the CIDR block. This is the IP address range for your VPC. A good choice is "10.0.0.0/16". This gives you a large range of private IP addresses. Next, create your VPC. — Craigslist Salem OR: Your Guide To Local Listings

Now that you have your VPC, you need to create a subnet. Subnets are like smaller rooms within your digital fort. Go to the Subnets section in the VPC dashboard and click "Create Subnet." Choose your VPC, give the subnet a name (like "MyRaspberryPiSubnet"), and pick an Availability Zone. This is just a physical location where your subnet will reside. For the CIDR block, use something like "10.0.1.0/24". Make sure this range is within the VPC's CIDR block but doesn't overlap with any other subnets you might create later. Don't forget to enable auto-assign public IPv4 address on your subnet. This is what will allow your Raspberry Pi to be able to talk to the outside world.

Next up: the Internet Gateway. This is how your VPC talks to the internet. Go to the Internet Gateways section and click "Create Internet Gateway." Give it a name (like "MyRaspberryPiIGW") and create it. Now, you need to attach it to your VPC. Select your newly created Internet Gateway and click "Attach to VPC." Choose your VPC from the dropdown. We also need to set up Route Tables. Route Tables tell your subnet where to send traffic. Find your subnet's route table. Edit the routes by adding a route that sends all traffic (0.0.0.0/0) to your Internet Gateway. This ensures that traffic from your subnet can reach the internet.

Finally, create a Security Group. Security Groups act like virtual firewalls for your instances. Go to the Security Groups section and click "Create Security Group." Give it a name (like "MyRaspberryPiSG") and choose your VPC. You'll need to add inbound rules to allow SSH traffic (port 22) from your IP address. This lets you connect to your Raspberry Pi. You might also want to allow HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443) if you plan to host a web server on your Pi. Only allow access from your IP or a specific range of IPs for security reasons.

Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi

Alright, now that our AWS fortress is ready, let's get your Raspberry Pi prepped. First things first, make sure you have the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS installed. You can download it from the official Raspberry Pi website and flash it onto an SD card using a tool like Etcher. Once you've booted up your Pi, connect it to your local network.

Now, enable SSH. You can do this through the Raspberry Pi Configuration tool (raspi-config) or by creating an empty file named "ssh" in the boot partition of your SD card. Once SSH is enabled, you'll want to update your Raspberry Pi. Open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

This will ensure that all your software is up-to-date. After updating, install the AWS CLI (Command Line Interface). This will allow your Raspberry Pi to interact with AWS services. Run the following command: — Wordle Hints: Daily Tips & Tricks For Success

sudo apt install awscli

Now, configure the AWS CLI with your AWS credentials. You'll need to create an IAM user in AWS with the necessary permissions. This user should have permissions to access EC2 and VPC services. Once you have your IAM user, run the following command:

aws configure

You'll be prompted for your AWS Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, default region name, and output format. Enter the appropriate values. We will also want to configure the raspberry pi networking to only allow incoming connections from our VPC network. You can do this with ufw and only allow connections from the CIDR block you setup for the VPC. This is how you should configure it:

sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw default deny incoming
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/16 to any port 22

This is a very basic configuration and should be tuned to fit your security needs and concerns.

Connecting via SSH from Windows

Okay, we're in the home stretch! Now we're going to configure the raspberry pi to only allow connections from the VPC. Now that you need to connect to your Raspberry Pi from your Windows machine. You'll need an SSH client. PuTTY is a popular and free option. Download it from the PuTTY website and install it.

Before connecting, you need to find the private IP address of your Raspberry Pi within the VPC. You can do this by logging into your AWS console, navigating to the EC2 service, and finding your Raspberry Pi instance. The private IP address will be listed in the instance details. Alternatively, you can find it using the command hostname -I on your Raspberry Pi.

Now, open PuTTY and enter the private IP address of your Raspberry Pi in the "Host Name (or IP address)" field. Make sure the port is set to 22 and the connection type is SSH. Click "Open" to connect. You may get a security alert the first time you connect. This is normal. Just click "Yes" to continue.

You'll be prompted for your username and password. Enter the username for your Raspberry Pi (usually "pi") and your password. If everything is set up correctly, you should now be logged into your Raspberry Pi from your Windows machine!

Downloading Files (Optional)

If you need to transfer files between your Windows machine and your Raspberry Pi, you can use a tool like WinSCP. WinSCP is a free SFTP and FTP client for Windows. Download it from the WinSCP website and install it. WinSCP is an extremely useful tool for moving files back and forth. It can be used for file management as well.

Open WinSCP and enter the private IP address of your Raspberry Pi in the "Host name" field. Enter your username and password. Make sure the file protocol is set to SFTP. Click "Login" to connect. You should now be able to browse the files on your Raspberry Pi and transfer them to your Windows machine.

Troubleshooting

Can't connect? Double-check your security group rules to make sure you're allowing SSH traffic from your IP address. Also, verify that your Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet and that the AWS CLI is configured correctly.
Connection timed out? Check your VPC route tables to make sure traffic is being routed to the Internet Gateway.
Still having trouble? Consult the AWS documentation or the Raspberry Pi forums for help. The AWS and Raspberry Pi communities are very active and helpful.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You've successfully set up a secure connection to your Raspberry Pi using AWS VPC and SSH, all from your Windows machine. This is a powerful setup that allows you to access your Raspberry Pi from anywhere in the world. Keep experimenting and make the setup even more secure. Now you can start building awesome remote IoT projects! Good luck, have fun and happy tinkering!