Cannot access metadata and user data from EC2 instance

Question

Hello, I am doing an AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) course in Cloud Guru. Unfortunately they just removed the forum. I was wondering about the following.

In the EC2 instance provisioned by them, when I connect to it using AWS console (EC2 Instance Connect), and execute e.g. `curl http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/public-ipv4`, then the ip is printed in the terminal.

When I launch my own instance, with same OS, similar type (the type provisioned by them is no accessible in the list), with public IP, with same subnet and security group, then the same command gives me an empty string.

It is the same for meta data and user data. What could possibly be the reason of this?

Accepted Answer

Your EC2 instance is probably configured to use IMDS v2 only. This is the [default starting Nov 2023](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/amazon-ec2-instance-metadata-service-imdsv2-by-default/)

For more info, you can refer to this blog [Get the full benefits of IMDSv2 and disable IMDSv1 across your AWS infrastructure](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/get-the-full-benefits-of-imdsv2-and-disable-imdsv1-across-your-aws-infrastructure/)

Cannot access metadata and user data from EC2 instance

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