Checking Connection with AWS Reachability Analyzer: A Step-by-Step Guide

In the cloud environment, ensuring network connectivity is crucial for the smooth operation of applications and services. Amazon Web Services(AWS) provides a powerful tool called Reachability Analyzer that allows you to test and validate network connectivity between resources in you cloud.
In this article, you will learn step by step how to check connections using the Reachability Analyzer tool in the AWS cloud.

Step 1: In the VPC Dashboard, locate the “Reachability Analyzer” option in the navigation pane. Click on it to access the Reachability Analyzer interface.

Step 2: Within the Reachability Analyzer interface, click on the “Create and analyze path” button to set up a new analysis. Provide a Name tag to easily identify it.

Step 3: In the configuration section, select the source and destination resources for testing connectivity. You can choose to test connectivity between specific resource types like instances, internet gateways, transit gateways, network interfaces, VPN gateways and so on.

Step 4: Customize the analysis options according to your requirements. You can specify the source and destination ports for the analysis.

Step 5: Click on the “Create and analyze path” button to initiate the connectivity analysis. AWS Reachability Analyzer will simulate traffic between the selected resources and evaluate the network path and connectivity.

Step 6: Once the analysis is complete, you can view the results in the Reachability Analyzer interface. The analysis provides a detailed report indicating the status of connectivity between the selected resources, including any potential issues or restrictions identified.

Step 7: If the analysis reveals connectivity issues, you can use the provided information to troubleshoot and resolve them. The analysis report may highlight security group rules, routing configuration, or network access control list (ACL) settings that need adjustments to establish the desired connectivity.

Step 8: After making necessary adjustments, you can rerun the Reachability Analyzer to verify if the connectivity issues have been resolved. Repeat the steps mentioned above, selecting the appropriate resources and running the analysis again.

If you want to see how the tool can be used in practice, I invite you to watch my video on YouTube in which I solve the problem of overlapping IP addresses using a private NAT gateway.

Summary:
AWS Reachability Analyzer is a powerful tool that allows you to validate network connectivity in the AWS cloud. By following the step-by-step instructions in this article, you can easily check connections and troubleshoot issues that may be preventing seamless communication between resources. Leveraging the power of the Reachability Analyzer tool, you can ensure reliable and efficient network connectivity in the AWS cloud environment.