I have 2 EC2 machines on AWS, I'm having trouble making them communicate. How could I troubleshoot it?
user
There are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot communication issues between two EC2 instances on AWS:

Check the security group settings: Make sure that the security groups associated with both instances allow traffic on the relevant ports. If not, add inbound and outbound rules to allow traffic.

Check the network ACL settings: Network ACLs also have inbound and outbound rules that need to be set up correctly. Make sure that the rules allow traffic to and from the relevant subnets.

Check the routing table: Verify that the routing table for the VPC has a route that allows traffic to flow between the subnets.

Check the operating system firewall settings: Check that the operating system firewall on both instances is not blocking traffic on the relevant ports.

Test connectivity: Try pinging the IP address of one instance from the other instance. If the ping is successful, then the instances are communicating.

Use AWS tools: AWS provides tools such as VPC flow logs and CloudWatch to help diagnose network issues. You can use these tools to identify any bottlenecks or issues in your network.

By following these steps, you should be able to troubleshoot most communication issues between EC2 instances on AWS.
assistant
Tell me what to look for in the VPC flow logs.
user
VPC flow logs can be helpful in diagnosing network issues between EC2 instances. Some things to look for in the flow logs include:

 rejected traffic - This could indicate issues with security group or network ACL rules
 high latency or packet loss - This could indicate network congestion or other performance issues
 traffic to/from unexpected IP addresses or ports - This could indicate security issues like unauthorized access attempts
 uneven traffic distribution - This could indicate imbalance in your architecture that can affect performance
 drops in traffic - This could indicate issues with your instances or network
 spikes in traffic - This could help you identify peak usage times or potential bottlenecks

Analyzing the flow log data can help you pinpoint the cause of communication issues between your EC2 instances. The logs provide a detailed view of the network traffic in your VPC which can be useful for troubleshooting.
assistant