diff --git a/.github/workflows/github_vars.tfvars b/.github/workflows/github_vars.tfvars
index 4d40f72..1bf4f3e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/github_vars.tfvars
+++ b/.github/workflows/github_vars.tfvars
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ namespace = "github_actions"
 
 // Matching pair name found in AWS for keypairs PEM key
 ami_key_pair_name = "github_actions"
+private_key       = ".ssh/github_actions.pem"
 main_vpc_cidr     = "172.22.0.0/24"
 public_subnets    = "172.22.0.128/26"
 private_subnets   = "172.22.0.192/26"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.tf b/.github/workflows/main.tf
index 29fd6f3..3019f1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.tf
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.tf
@@ -59,6 +59,20 @@ resource "aws_instance" "testing_vm" {
   root_block_device {
     delete_on_termination = true
   }
+  # SSH into instance - will ensure server is up before next step in workflows
+  connection {
+    # Host name
+    host = self.public_ip
+    # The default username for our AMI
+    user = var.ami_username
+    # Private key for connection
+    private_key = "${file(var.private_key)}"
+    # Type of connection
+    type = "ssh"
+  }
+  provisioner "remote-exec" {
+    inline = [ "echo hello_world"]
+  }
 }
 
 // generate inventory file