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AMAZON WEB SERVICES

AWS
Account Creation & Initial Setup

A signup guide for AWS, the world's largest cloud. Covers root-account hardening, IAM user creation, billing alerts, and region selection so you start without mistakes.

Start AWS signupView steps

Signup fee

Free

Free Tier

12 months on key services

Requirements

Email · card · phone

Overview

Before you begin

For Korean workloads on AWS, default to the 'ap-northeast-2 (Seoul)' region. Never use the root account for daily work — protect it with an IAM user and MFA. Always set budget alerts so charges don't spike when Free Tier ends.

Organization email

Avoid personal inboxes.

International-capable card

Billed in USD, VAT extra.

MFA (2FA) app

Required on the root account.

Seoul as baseline

ap-northeast-2 recommended.

Step by Step

Step-by-step Guide

01

SIGNUP

Create an AWS account

Sign up at aws.amazon.com.

  • Enter email, password, and account name
  • Account type: Personal or Business
  • Address and phone in English (e.g., 123, Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul)
  • Complete SMS verification
02

BILLING

Register payment method

AWS validates the card with a $1 pre-auth.

  • Visa / Mastercard / Amex with international use enabled
  • Most Korean cards work (debit cards too)
  • The $1 auth is auto-voided in 2–7 days
  • KRW invoicing is available (Settings > Billing preferences)
03

SUPPORT

Pick a support plan

Start with the free Basic plan.

  • Basic: free, account and billing questions only
  • Developer: from $29/mo, technical Q&A
  • Business / Enterprise: recommended for production
  • Upgrade to Developer or higher before production launch
04

SECURITY

Enable MFA on root

Mandatory step to prevent root account takeover.

  • IAM Console > Security credentials > Assign MFA device
  • Virtual MFA device (Google Authenticator / Authy / 1Password)
  • Scan the QR code, enter two consecutive 6-digit codes
  • Store recovery codes offline in a safe place
  • Never sign in to root without MFA
05

IAM

Create IAM admin user

Perform daily work as an IAM user.

  • IAM > Users > Add user
  • Username (e.g., admin-$name)
  • Access type: AWS Management Console + programmatic (optional)
  • Permissions: attach AdministratorAccess directly (or via group)
  • Sign-in URL: https://${accountId}.signin.aws.amazon.com/console
  • Afterwards, do not sign in as root — use the IAM user
06

KEYS

Access keys / programmatic access

Issue access keys for CLI and SDK usage.

  • IAM > Users > Security credentials > Create access key
  • Access Key ID + Secret Access Key (shown once)
  • Never commit Secret to Git — use .env or Secret Manager
  • Save to CLI with `aws configure`
  • Rotate regularly (every 90 days recommended)
  • For EC2/Lambda use IAM Roles — no keys stored
07

BUDGET

Set budget alerts

Prevent bill shock after Free Tier ends.

  • Billing > Budgets > Create budget
  • Tiered monthly alerts ($10 / $50 / $100, etc.)
  • Email alerts for forecasted and actual usage
  • Use Cost Explorer to track monthly trends
  • Clean up unused resources regularly
08

REGION

Region selection & default services

Resources are scoped per region.

  • Korea: default to ap-northeast-2 (Seoul)
  • Global: us-east-1 (N. Virginia) — IAM and CloudFront live there
  • Prices, latency, and availability differ by region
  • Cross-region data transfer is billable
  • Check default VPC/subnet and configure security groups

Pitfalls

Common blockers

Daily use of the root account

Use root only for tasks like account creation, deletion, and billing. If compromised, you lose everything. This is the #1 security risk.

Access keys leaked on GitHub

Secret Access Keys pushed to public repos are mined within seconds by bots — often used for crypto mining. Expect runaway charges.

Misreading Free Tier

"Free for 12 months" is scoped to select services and usage caps (EBS 30GB, EC2 t2.micro 750h, etc.). Overages bill immediately.

Wrong region

Launching EC2 in us-east-1 instead of Seoul adds 150ms+ for Korean users. Always verify the region when creating resources.

Forgotten NAT Gateway / EBS

NAT Gateway bills hourly, and orphaned EBS volumes from deleted EC2s keep charging. Audit with Cost Explorer each month.

Resources

Official links

AWS signup

Create an account

AWS Management Console

Admin console

IAM best practices

Permissions, MFA, keys

Budgets guide

Set up Billing Budgets

Free Tier details

Free usage limits

AWS CLI setup

aws configure

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