A developer has completed the foundational steps of a DevOps journey by setting up a remote AWS EC2 Linux instance. They connected from their local machine using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), configuring secure shell (SSH) access with proper key permissions and host aliases for streamlined logins.

The setup extends across multiple environments. They configured SSH for PowerShell access on Windows and integrated the remote server into Visual Studio Code using the Remote - SSH extension. This allows the developer to edit files and run commands directly on the EC2 instance from their local editor.

These steps establish the critical foundation for all DevOps work. With full remote access configured, the developer is now positioned to begin tasks like scripting, version control with Git, and application deployment. This initial setup is the prerequisite for building automation and continuous integration pipelines.