Blog
Drawing from extensive Cloud Engineering expertise, I distill complex concepts into actionable, practical blog posts designed to accelerate your cloud journey. My content focuses on DevOps best practices, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) implementations, and strategic guidance for security on AWS.
Case Study: Building Enterprise-Grade AWS Infrastructure for Accolade
4 min read--- views--- likesApril 18th, 2025
Case study detailing how Towards the Cloud partnered with Accolade to build a secure, scalable, and SOC 2 compliant AWS landing zone.
Amazon ECS vs Amazon EC2: What's Best for Modern Cloud?
14 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Compare Amazon ECS and EC2 to understand their strengths, differences in compute, management, scaling, and best-fit scenarios for modern cloud architecture.
Amazon ECS vs AWS Fargate: 5 Most Important Differences Explained
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Compare Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate based on control, pricing, complexity, scalability, and security to choose the best container service for your needs.
How to switch profiles using AWS CLI
4 min read--- views--- likesAugust 23rd, 2023
Learn how to configure and switch between AWS CLI profiles using IAM user credentials or AWS SSO. Use the `--profile` flag for quick switching in your commands.
Check if a key exists in an S3 Bucket using Boto3 Python
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
You'll learn how to check if a key exists in an s3 bucket using boto3 and python. The code can be copied from this blog post, so you can use it right away!
Use AWS Session Manager to Securely connect to an EC2 instance
4 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
In this article, you'll learn how you can quickly and securely connect to your Amazon EC2 instance using AWS Session Manager in the AWS Console and AWS CLI.
Easily install Python 3 and Pip on an EC2 Instance
3 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn how to install Python 3 and Pip on an Amazon EC2 instance running Amazon Linux 2 or Ubuntu with this step-by-step guide.
How to Configure Absolute Import Paths in JavaScript
3 min read--- views--- likesAugust 10th, 2023
Learn how to set up absolute import paths in your JavaScript project using Webpack or Create React App's jsconfig.json for cleaner and more maintainable code.
How to write a file or data to S3 using Python Boto3
6 min read--- views--- likesAugust 10th, 2023
In this guide, we'll explore 3 ways on how to write files or data to an Amazon S3 Bucket using Python's Boto3 library.
Check AWS CLI Credentials and Permissions
4 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 10th, 2023
Learn how to identify your active IAM user or role and list its granted permissions using the AWS CLI with `sts get-caller-identity` and `iam get-account-authorization-details`.
How to Upgrade the AWS CLI to the Latest Version
4 min read--- views--- likesAugust 4th, 2023
This guide walks you through upgrading AWS CLI v2 to the latest version on Linux, macOS (using Homebrew), and Windows, ensuring optimal performance and security.
How to Assume an IAM Role in AWS via CLI & Console
10 min read--- views--- likesAugust 23rd, 2023
Learn the simplest method to assume an AWS IAM role using the AWS CLI and open sessions in the AWS Console with temporary credentials, featuring the 'Granted' tool.
Designing a Multi-Principal IAM Role using AWS CDK
7 min read--- views--- likesAugust 4th, 2023
Learn how to create an AWS IAM role assumable by multiple principals (e.g., services like EC2 and DynamoDB) using AWS CDK's CompositePrincipal or addPrincipals method.
Create a DependsOn relation between resources in AWS CDK
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to create an explicit 'DependsOn' relationship between AWS resources like RDS and EC2 instances using AWS CDK in TypeScript to control deployment order.
Assign a Custom Role to a Lambda Function with AWS CDK
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to create a custom IAM role and assign it to an AWS Lambda function using AWS CDK in TypeScript, including adding extra permissions.
Managing AWS Credentials with Boto3 in Python: A Complete Guide
8 min read--- views--- likesAugust 10th, 2023
In this guide, we will walk you through four methods of specifying credentials in Boto3, starting from the basic approaches of using environment variables and…
AWS CDK Bootstrap: The Why and the How
6 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn about the AWS CDK bootstrap command, its purpose in provisioning resources like S3 and IAM roles, usage, security, and how to manage its version.
List AWS Accounts by Organizational Unit (OU) Name
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
In this how-to guide, we will show you how to find AWS accounts by their Organization Unit (OU) name. This can be particularly useful as it allows you to locate…
Optimize your AWS CDK Project Structure for Growth
8 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Discover an optimized AWS CDK project structure for scalability and maintainability, understanding the design choices for organizing stacks and resources effectively.
How to execute Boto3 methods on Multiple AWS Accounts
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
In this guide, we'll show you how to execute Boto3 methods on multiple AWS accounts at once using Python.
Clean up inactive task definitions in Amazon ECS across all AWS Regions
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn how to use a Python script with Boto3 to automate the deletion of inactive Amazon ECS task definitions across all AWS regions, keeping your environment tidy.
Clean up unused Elastic IP addresses across all AWS Regions
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn how to create a Python script using AWS Boto3 to find and delete all unused Elastic IP (EIP) addresses across all AWS regions to save costs.
Set CloudWatch Logs Retention Policy for All Log Groups using Python
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to set a CloudWatch Logs Retention Policy for all log groups in an AWS region using Python and Boto3 to manage log data effectively.
Clean up unused EC2 keypairs in all AWS Regions
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Use a Python Boto3 script to find and delete all unused Amazon EC2 keypairs across all AWS Regions, reducing clutter and improving security.
Clean up Unattached EBS Volumes across All AWS Regions
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn how to automate the deletion of unattached AWS EBS volumes across all regions using Python and Boto3 to optimize costs and manage resources effectively.
How to find unused security groups in AWS
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Use a Python Boto3 script to find unused Amazon EC2 security groups in a single AWS region, helping manage security effectively.
Clean up unused AWS security groups in a specific region with Python
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to use a Python Boto3 script to find and delete unused AWS security groups within a single region, improving account hygiene and security.
Free exam guide: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate
19 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 5th, 2023
Prepare for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02) exam with this comprehensive guide. Includes technical notes, study material, and tips.
Free Exam Guide: AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C02)
17 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 5th, 2023
Pass the AWS Certified Developer Associate (DVA-C02) exam with this guide covering domains like Deployment, Security, Development, Refactoring, and Monitoring.
Free exam guide: AWS Certified Security Specialty
22 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 5th, 2023
Prepare for the AWS Certified Security Specialty (SCS-C01) exam with this comprehensive guide. Includes technical notes, study material, and tips to pass.
Distributed Load Testing on AWS with JMeter Simplified
9 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to deploy and use the AWS Distributed Load Testing solution with Apache JMeter to test your applications, analyze results, and identify bottlenecks.
Task role vs task execution role in Amazon ECS
3 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Understand the key differences between the Amazon ECS task role and the task execution role and their specific permissions and use cases.
Trigger a CloudWatch Alarm using AWS CLI
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to trigger or test an Amazon CloudWatch alarm using the AWS CLI `set-alarm-state` command to verify alarm actions like SNS notifications.
How to get the metadata on an EC2 instance
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn different methods to retrieve metadata like instance type, ID, or AWS region from a running Amazon EC2 instance using the metadata URL or ec2-metadata tool.
How to list all active AWS resources in a VPC
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to list all active AWS resources within a specific Amazon VPC using AWS Config Advanced Queries in the AWS Console and AWS CLI.
How to Attach or Change an AWS EC2 Instance Security Group
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to attach or change a security group on a running AWS EC2 instance using the AWS Console and AWS CLI with detailed steps.
How to Configure Absolute Import Paths in TypeScript
3 min read--- views--- likesAugust 10th, 2023
Learn how to set up absolute import paths in TypeScript using tsconfig.json baseUrl and paths for cleaner code and improved maintainability.
What is the AWS CDK? (A Beginner's Guide)
14 min read--- views--- likesAugust 24th, 2023
A beginner's guide to the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK). Learn what AWS CDK is, its core concepts (App, Stack, Construct), benefits, and how to get started.
How to Create an Amazon S3 Bucket with AWS CDK
8 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn the steps to set up and securely configure an Amazon S3 bucket using AWS CDK in TypeScript, including encryption and access control.
What are AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs) – 2022 guide
9 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
This guide explains what AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs) are and shows you how to create, activate and test an AWS SCP.
What is an AWS Landing Zone? (Explained)
7 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn what an AWS landing zone is and how it helps you move applications faster and more securely to the AWS cloud. Understand the benefits and setup.
3 AWS Service Control Policy (SCP) examples to secure your accounts
4 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
In this article, I'll be sharing 3 AWS SCP examples that you can immediately apply to your own organization to improve the security of your AWS accounts.
Use AWS ECS execute command to access a container on AWS Fargate and EC2
7 min read--- views--- likesApril 25th, 2025
Learn the steps to access an Amazon ECS container running on AWS Fargate or EC2 using the 'aws ecs execute-command' in the AWS CLI.
How to get a relative path in Python
4 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Here are the steps on how to get the relative path in Python including an explanation of what a relative path is.
How to get an absolute path in Python
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Here are the steps on how to get the absolute path in Python including an explanation of what an absolute path is.
Find your AWS Account ID in 2 simple ways
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
In this article, you'll learn how you can find your AWS account ID in the AWS Console and AWS CLI.
How to Empty and Delete an S3 Bucket with AWS CLI
4 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn the AWS CLI commands to empty an S3 bucket (both versioned and non-versioned) and then delete it, including handling potential errors.
How to deploy a CloudFormation template
13 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Here are the steps on how to deploy an AWS CloudFormation template via the AWS Console.
10 Best VS Code extensions for TypeScript
8 min read--- views--- likesApril 21st, 2025
This list contains the 10 best VS Code extensions for TypeScript including Eslint, Prettier, DotEnv, and more.
10 Must-Have VS Code extensions for JavaScript developers
9 min read--- views--- likesApril 21st, 2025
Boost your JavaScript web development with these 10 must-have VS Code extensions. Includes ESLint, Prettier, GitLens, and more.
10 Best VS Code Extensions for Cloud Engineers
8 min read--- views--- likesApril 21st, 2025
Discover the top 10 VS Code extensions for Cloud Engineers, including Docker, AWS Toolkit, Hashicorp Terraform, GitLens, and more to boost productivity.
AWS Organizations – A Complete Guide
11 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
This guide explains what is AWS Organizations and how to set it up yourself using best practices…
How to Create an AWS CDK Stack
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn the basics of creating an AWS CDK Stack in TypeScript with a code example and explanation of the core concepts.
How to create an AWS CDK Construct
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to create a reusable AWS CDK construct in TypeScript with a code example and explanation of scope, id, and props.
How to Migrate from AWS CDK v1 to v2
4 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
A step-by-step guide on upgrading your existing AWS CDK v1 application to v2, covering package changes and import updates.
Configure OpenID Connect for Bitbucket in AWS CDK
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to set up a Bitbucket OpenID Connect (OIDC) provider and IAM role using AWS CDK, enabling secure authentication from Bitbucket Pipelines.
Configure OpenID Connect for GitHub in AWS CDK
6 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to configure a GitHub OpenID Connect (OIDC) provider and IAM role using AWS CDK, enabling secure authentication from GitHub Actions.
Create a Scheduled Fargate Task with AWS CDK
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to build and deploy a scheduled AWS Fargate task using AWS CDK, including VPC and ECS Cluster setup.
AWS Toolbox – A Collection of Tools and Scripts for Cloud Engineers
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
This open-source repository contains a collection of useful Shell & Python scripts that make your DevOps life easier in AWS…
Application Load Balanced Fargate Service example in AWS CDK
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Learn how to create an Application Load Balanced Fargate Service using the AWS CDK, including setting up VPC, ECS Cluster, and configuring the Fargate service.
Free Exam Guide: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional (DOP-C02)
20 min read--- views--- likesJune 17th, 2024
This comprehensive guide helps you prepare for the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional (DOP-C02) exam, covering all domains like SDLC, IaC, Resilience, Monitoring, Incident Response, and Security.
How to Share Resources Across Stacks in AWS CDK
5 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
A complete example demonstrating how to share resources, like a VPC, between different AWS CDK stacks within the same CDK application.
Create an AWS Cross-Account Assume Role Script
6 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to create IAM roles and a reusable shell script using AWS STS to assume roles cross-account, useful for CI/CD pipelines like AWS CodeBuild.
7 best tips for passing any AWS Certification exam
7 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
This blog post provides an effective strategy with examples on how to improve your success rate on any AWS Certification exam…
10 Must-Have VS Code extensions for Python developers
8 min read--- views--- likesApril 21st, 2025
This list contains 10 must have VS Code extensions for Python developers including Pylance, Sourcery, Python by Microsoft, and more.
How to install AWS CDK (step-by-step guide)
12 min read--- views--- likesAugust 27th, 2023
Install AWS CDK by running the following command in your terminal: npm install -g aws-cdk. Then you can continue to initialize your first project…
How to Set Up AWS CLI with AWS IAM Identity Center (SSO)
6 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 5th, 2023
Follow this 5-step guide to configure the AWS CLI for use with AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) for secure and easy access.
Autocomplete AWS CDK Constructs in VS Code
3 min read--- views--- likesApril 22nd, 2025
Use the CDK Construct Snippets VS Code extension to autocomplete AWS CDK L1 constructs and their properties, speeding up development.
Deploy Containers on Existing Infrastructure with AWS Copilot CLI
11 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
A tutorial showing how to easily deploy containerized applications (e.g., Django) on your existing VPC using AWS Copilot CLI, integrating with RDS and ElastiCache.
11 Best Free AWS Learning Resources for Beginners
7 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
This blogpost provides free resources for beginners to get started with AWS through videos, whitepapers, labs, and certification guides.
Deploy Stacks in Parallel with AWS CDK Pipelines
3 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to configure AWS CDK Pipelines to deploy multiple CloudFormation stacks in parallel within a single stage for faster deployments.
Automatically generate AWS CloudFormation templates with VS Code
3 min read--- views--- likesApril 17th, 2025
Speed up AWS CloudFormation template creation with the CloudFormation Snippets VS Code extension for autocompleting resources and properties.
How to Automatically Set up Your MacOs for Web Development
7 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to automate your macOS web development setup using Ansible playbooks and dotfiles for consistent and repeatable environments.
Update macOS Packages with a Single Command (Homebrew & Pip)
4 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Simplify macOS package management. Learn how to update Homebrew, Cask, and Pip packages with a single terminal command alias.
Validating CloudFormation Templates in AWS CodePipeline with cfn-lint
5 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Learn how to integrate cfn-lint into your AWS CodePipeline using AWS CodeBuild to automatically validate CloudFormation templates and enforce standards.
Free exam guide: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
14 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 5th, 2023
Prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C02) exam with this comprehensive guide. Includes technical notes, study material, and tips.
Break out of your Comfort Zone as an Engineer
8 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Break out of your comfort zone and explore new concepts. This will help your personal growth tremendously and elevate your career!
Free Exam Guide: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01)
10 min read--- views--- likesSeptember 4th, 2023
Prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam (CLF-C01) with this comprehensive guide covering domains, key concepts, study materials, and FAQs.
Hardening a WordPress website on Amazon Lightsail
12 min read--- views--- likesApril 27th, 2024
This article provides practical solutions on how to securely harden your WordPress website on Amazon Lightsail.
Level Up Your AWS CloudFormation Workflow with VS Code Extensions
5 min read--- views--- likesJuly 29th, 2023
Boost your AWS CloudFormation productivity with these essential VS Code extensions and CLI tools. Speed up development and validation.
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