Javier M.
Sample Cleanup lessons are a great idea
I have been burned by a forgotten NAT gateway before. The cleanup habit at the end of every section is excellent.
AWS fundamentals: IAM, EC2, S3 and VPC explained clearly
A calm, hands on introduction to the core AWS services, with safe account setup, cost alarms and a cleanup lesson at the end of every section
Created by David Okafor
- Updated September 2026
- English
- Beginner
What you will learn
- Set up an AWS account safely with MFA, budgets and a non root admin
- Read and write IAM policies and explain users, groups and roles
- Launch, connect to and secure an EC2 instance
- Store and share files in S3 with correct permissions
- Explain VPC building blocks and design a simple public and private network
- Use the AWS CLI for everyday tasks and clean up resources reliably
Course content
Starting safely on AWS
EC2: virtual servers
- Video: Instance types, AMIs and pricing models 10 min
- Video: Launching your first instance 12 min
- Article: Connecting without exposing SSH 10 min
- Video: Storage with EBS volumes and snapshots 9 min
- Video: Cleanup: stopping, terminating and checking 6 min
S3: storage for everything
- Article: Buckets, objects and keys 9 min
- Video: Permissions: Block Public Access, policies and ownership 12 min
- Video: Versioning and lifecycle rules 9 min
- Article: Hosting a static website 10 min
- Video: Cleanup: emptying and deleting buckets 6 min
VPC: networking you can reason about
- Video: CIDR blocks, subnets and route tables 12 min
- Article: Internet gateways and NAT gateways 10 min
- Video: Security groups versus network ACLs 10 min
- Video: Cleanup: deleting a VPC without leftovers 6 min
Putting it together
- Article: A simple web application architecture 12 min
- Video: Logging and monitoring basics 9 min
- Video: Where to go next 7 min
- Article: Final cleanup and account review 6 min
- Quiz: Final check 6 min
Requirements
- No cloud experience needed
- Basic comfort with a terminal is helpful
- An email address and a payment card to create an AWS account
Description
AWS has hundreds of services, but most real systems are built on a handful of them. This free course teaches the four you will meet first in any job that touches the cloud: IAM for identity and permissions, EC2 for virtual servers, S3 for storage and VPC for networking.
How the course works
Every concept is shown in the AWS console first, so you can see it, and then repeated with the AWS CLI, so you understand what the console did for you. We start by setting up your account safely, because the most expensive AWS mistakes happen in the first week: an unprotected root user, leaked access keys or a forgotten resource that keeps running.
- Secure account setup with MFA, a budget and a daily admin user
- IAM users, groups, roles and policies, read line by line
- Launching, connecting to and stopping EC2 instances
- S3 buckets, objects, permissions and static website hosting
- VPCs, subnets, route tables, security groups and why NAT costs money
Costs
AWS changed its Free Tier for new accounts in 2025 to a credit based model. Check the current terms on the official Free Tier page before you start. Every section ends with a cleanup lesson so practice resources do not keep running, and we set up a budget alert in the very first section.
Who this course is for
- Developers and IT staff starting with AWS
- Students preparing for an entry level cloud role or certification
- Anyone who has been given an AWS account at work and feels lost
Instructor
David Okafor
Cloud engineer teaching AWS foundations and IAM with a security first, hands on approach
- 4.4 instructor rating
- 15 reviews
- 6,130 students
- 2 courses
- Sample
I design and run AWS accounts for small and mid sized engineering teams. Much of that work is unglamorous: tidy IAM policies, sensible networking, budgets and alarms that warn people before the bill does.
My teaching style is to build each concept in the console once so you can see it, then repeat it with the AWS CLI so you understand what the console did for you. I explain the why behind defaults, because most cloud incidents I have seen started with a default nobody questioned.
My courses stay inside the AWS Free Tier where possible and always end with a cleanup lesson, so you never get a surprise charge from practice resources.
Student reviews
Aisha B.
Sample Exactly the right starting point
The account security lesson alone was worth it. I set up MFA, a budget and Identity Center before touching anything else.
Priyanka D.
Sample Got me through my first week at work
I joined a team using AWS with no cloud background. This course gave me the vocabulary and confidence I needed.
Lukas H.
Sample Console then CLI works well
Seeing each step in the console and then repeating it with the CLI helped me understand what the console actually does.
Oliver F.
Sample Solid architecture lesson
The final load balancer, private subnet and IAM role example tied everything together nicely.
Mei W.
Sample IAM finally readable
Reading a policy line by line made IAM less scary. The VPC section was harder, but the diagrams helped.
Tamar G.
Sample Clear and free
Very good free course. A few screens in the console looked slightly different from the videos, but the steps still worked.
Samuel E.
Sample Good basics, slow start
Section one was slower than I needed, but the EC2 and S3 sections were clear and practical.
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