How I Attached and Mounted an EBS Volume to My Ubuntu EC2 Instance

[MyrinNew]

Introduction: What Is Amazon EBS and Why Does It Matter?


Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) is AWS’s scalable, high-performance block storage service designed for use with EC2 instances. Think of it as a virtual hard drive in the cloud—one that you can attach, detach, resize, and persist independently of your compute resources.


Unlike the ephemeral storage that comes with EC2 instances (which vanishes when the instance is stopped or terminated), EBS volumes are durable and persistent. This makes them ideal for storing critical data like:

• Databases and transaction logs
• Application files and binaries
• Backups and snapshots
• Media assets or user uploads

EBS volumes are also highly configurable. You can choose between SSD-backed volumes for fast IOPS or HDD-backed volumes for throughput-heavy workloads. And with features like encryption, snapshots, and multi-attach, EBS becomes a powerful tool for building resilient, secure, and scalable cloud architectures.


In short: if your EC2 instance needs reliable storage that survives reboots, scales with your needs, and integrates seamlessly with AWS services—EBS is your go-to solution.


Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have:

• An EC2 instance running Ubuntu

Appropriate IAM permissions to create and manage EBS volumes


Access to the AWS Management Console or CLI

Step 1: Create an EBS Volume

1. Go to the EC2 Dashboard → Elastic Block Store → Volumes

1. Click Create Volume

1. Choose:

• Volume type: gp2 or gp3
• Size: e.g., 5 GiB
  
  

4.Availability Zone: must match your EC2 instance’s AZ


Click Create Volume




Tip: You can find your EC2 instance’s AZ under Instance Details.

Step 2: Attach the Volume to Your EC2 Instance

1. Select the newly created volume

1. Click Actions → Attach Volume
2. 

Choose your EC2 instance

1. Set the device name (e.g., /dev/xvdf)

1. Click Attach
   
   Step 3: Connect to Your EC2 Instance
   Use SSH to connect:

bash

ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-public-ip




Step 4: Verify the Volume Is Attached

Run:


bash

lsblk




Step 5: Format the Volume

If the volume is new, format it:


bash

sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/xvdf




Step 6: Create a Mount Point

bash

sudo mkdir /mnt/myvolume




Step 6: Create a Mount Point

bash

sudo mkdir /mnt/myvolume

Step 7: Mount the Volume

bash

sudo mount /dev/xvdf /data




E

• Create a new file,like writting something into it

bash

echo "Hello from EBS!" | sudo tee /data/hello.txt

• Verify the file was created
  bash

cat /data/hello.txt




Step 8: Stop and Start the EC2

• Go back to EC2 console→stop the instance
• 

Wait→start it again

• 

SSH back in




check your data:

bash

copy Edit

sudo mount /dev/xvdf /data

cat /data/hello.txt




Data is still there.because EBS is persistent

So to know the number of gig used

df -h





Conclusion

And that’s it! You’ve successfully attached and mounted an EBS volume to your Ubuntu EC2 instance. This setup is perfect for storing logs, databases, or any data that needs to persist beyond instance termination.




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