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Day 10 of My 100-Day DevOps Challenge

Day 10 of My 100-Day DevOps Challenge

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Thay
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Deploying a Node.js Application on AWS EC2 - A Simplified Guide

Welcome to Day 10 of the 100 Days of DevOps Challenge! Today, we'll walk through a step-by-step process of deploying a Node.js application directly on an Amazon EC2 instance.

Local Project Preparation

Start by preparing your Node.js application locally:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/verma-kunal/AWS-Session.git
cd AWS-Session

# Install project dependencies
npm install

Create a .env file for environment configurations:

touch .env

Add necessary environment variables:

PORT=3000
NODE_ENV=production
DATABASE_URL=your_database_connection_string
SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key

AWS Deployment Preparation

Creating an IAM User

  1. Log into AWS Management Console

  2. Navigate to IAM service

  3. Create a new IAM user with the following permissions:

    • AmazonEC2FullAccess

When creating the user, download the access key credentials securely.

Configuring AWS CLI

Install AWS CLI on your local machine:

# For macOS/Linux
brew install awscli

# For Windows
# Download installer from AWS official website

Configure AWS CLI with your credentials:

aws configure
AWS Access Key ID [None]: YOUR_ACCESS_KEY
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: YOUR_SECRET_KEY
Default region name [None]: us-east-1
Default output format [None]: json

EC2 Instance Deployment Steps

1. Launch EC2 Instance

  1. Open AWS EC2 Console

  2. Click "Launch Instance"

  3. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):

    • Select "Amazon Linux 2" or "Ubuntu Server"

  4. Choose Instance Type:

    • t2.micro is suitable for a small Node.js application

  5. Configure Security Group:

    • Allow SSH (Port 22)

    • Allow your application port (e.g., Port 3000)

2. Connect to EC2 Instance

Use SSH to connect to your instance:

# Use the .pem key file downloaded during instance creation
ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ec2-user@your-instance-public-ip

3. Prepare the EC2 Instance

Update the system and install necessary tools:

# For Amazon Linux
sudo yum update -y
sudo yum install -y nodejs npm git curl

# For Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nodejs npm git curl

Install process manager PM2 for keeping the application running:

sudo npm install -g pm2

4. Deploy Application

Clone your repository on the EC2 instance:

git clone https://github.com/verma-kunal/AWS-Session.git
cd AWS-Session

Install project dependencies:

npm install

Create and configure .env file:

touch .env
nano .env
# Add your environment variables

5. Run the Application

Use PM2 to manage the Node.js application:

# Start the application
pm2 start npm --name "nodejs-app" -- start

# Ensure app starts on system reboot
pm2 startup
pm2 save

# Check application status
pm2 status

6. Accessing Your Application

To access your application, use the EC2 instance's public IP address followed by the port number:

http://YOUR_EC2_PUBLIC_IP:3000

Security Considerations

  1. Configure Security Groups to restrict access

  2. Use the principle of least privilege

  3. Keep your EC2 instance and dependencies updated

  4. Use environment variables for sensitive information

  5. Regularly rotate your SSH keys and access credentials

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

  • Check PM2 logs: pm2 logs

  • Verify application port is open

  • Ensure all dependencies are installed

  • Check environment variables

Monitoring

Use basic monitoring tools:

  • PM2 monit for application monitoring

  • AWS CloudWatch for instance metrics

Conclusion

You've successfully deployed a Node.js application directly on an EC2 instance! This approach provides a straightforward method to get your application running in the cloud.

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