Cloud playground FAQ

Things sometimes don’t work how we’d like them to. When that happens, it’s nice to have a place to turn with quick and easy answers. Welcome to the Cloud Playground Troubleshooting FAQ!

What ports are open on the Cloud Servers?

If you are using the public IP address, only certain ports are open to external traffic. However, all ports are open to internal traffic to your servers if you are using the internal IP addresses.

The following are the current ports that are allowlisted and available to use across the public internet on the Cloud Servers.

NOTE: These ports are allowed for INCOMING traffic only. The rules are stateful, so once a connection is established, the connection is allowed to return on the same port. Outbound traffic originating from the Cloud Servers are ONLY allowed on ports 22, 80 and 443 to the public internet. All other outbound traffic is restricted to within the security group of the Cloud Servers.

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What happens to the data?

We love security and are glad you're thinking about that as well! Data is removed entirely when the relating items are deleted by you, or automatically in the timeframes below:

Servers: Shut down after 4 hours and fully deleted after 14 days of non-usage

Sandboxes: 4 hours

Hands on Labs: Different on each specific Lab but always under 4 hours

And don't worry, although A Cloud Guru Playground admins have full access, we only use the data to troubleshoot issues and for flagging account abuse (examples on each platform's Sandbox article).

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How do I reset my password for my Cloud Server?

With ease!

1. Ensure you’re on your Cloud Servers Page
2. Select ‘Quick Actions’
3. Select ‘Reset Password’

And you’ve reset the password to the “temporary password” provided with the cloud server.

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What is ‘authorization token manipulation’ error?

This error occurs when attempting to change your “cloud_user” password without inputting the current password. You’ll notice that when you are first accessing the root account using “su-” command or when first connecting to a server using the provided “cloud_user” credentials that you will be prompted to change the password.In order to change the password, you will need to enter the “current’ temporary password one more time.

Input the following information in this order:

1. Login credentials provided on the Servers Page.
2. The temporary password.
3. “Y” to continue
4. The temporary password again.
5. Your new password.

You’re in!

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Why can’t I SSH as root user?

By default, you will not be able to SSH into any of your cloud servers as the `root` user. This is to maintain best practices and security.Once you’ve successfully logged in and changed the `root` user's password, you can decide whether you want to connect directly and make the appropriate configuration change to your SSH setup.

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Why can’t I connect to a server?

There are a lot of reasons that you may not be able to connect. Please check for the following to ensure you’re set up for success.

1. If this is a new server or you’re restarting a server, make sure to give it a few minutes before connecting.
2. If getting “Connection Timed Out,” make sure that your router or firewall/network security policy allows for SSH, port 22/TCP, outgoing connections.
3. If you can connect using Public Hostname but not Public IP address for your server, try running dig on the public hostname of your server in a terminal application. Check to verify that the IP address it returns matches the public IP address listed in your Cloud Server tab. If it does not match, stop and restart the server, and then run `dig` on the public hostname again. If the IP addresses now match, attempt to connect again.
4. If all else fails, submit a support request and we’ll get you learning as soon as possible.

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How do I install the AWS CLI?

Please note, with the many different SDKs and operating systems supported by the AWS CLI, this guide will not cover all options.

Windows with “Setup File”

1. Download the AWS CLI setup file.
2. Run the setup program and follow the prompts.
3. Open a command window and enteraws --version to verify the installation succeeded. It should look similar to the below example, although your version number may be different.

C:\>aws --version

aws-cli/1.16.116 Python/3.6.8 Windows/10 botocore/1.12.106

Linux or Mac with “Bundled Installer”

MacOS requires Python 2.6.5+ or Python 3.3+ to be installed prior to the AWS CLI. Be sure you have that installed by running python --version in a terminal window.

1. Download the AWS CLI Bundled Installer.
2. For Mac, you do not need to extract package. Files are already unzipped.
3. Open a terminal window and navigate to inside the folder.
4. Run the Installer with the following command:

sudo ./awscli-bundle/install -i /usr/local/aws -b /usr/local/bin/aws

Install with Pip- Cross Platform

Pip requires Python so be sure Python is available first. Python is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux from the python.org website (opens in new tab). Python is also available through most Linux package managers or installed by default.

Steps:

1. Download the get-pip.py (opens in new tab) script from `pypa.io`.
2. Use python to run the script.
3. Use pip to install the AWS CLI.

Code:

Install pip

python get-pip.py --user

Alternatively, install with Python3 instead

python3 get-pip.py --user

Install AWS CLI

pip install awscli --upgrade --user

Alternatively, install with pip3 to use the Python3 version instead

pip3 install awscli --upgrade --user

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How do I launch Azure Cloud Shell?

Cloud Shell will be found in the top right corner of the page as illustrated below:

To launch the cloud shell, you have to use the show advanced settings option and:

• leave the region as East US
• leave the sandbox-provided resource group and subscription
• create a storage account/file share

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Am I able to connect to a Cloud Playground Server using a graphical interface?

Not yet! Currently, you will be unable to connect to Cloud Playground Servers using graphical interfaces. Keep an eye out for any updates!

This FAQ is constantly updating based on your feedback. Let us know if your question hasn’t been answered and we’ll be happy to help!

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If you need help, please contact Pluralsight Support.