Deploying a Node Application on AWS EC2

Introduction

• Objective: Take a web application running locally and host it on the internet using AWS EC2.
• Technologies used: Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS EC2, caddy for reverse proxy, and systemd for process management.

Setting Up the EC2 Instance

Launching an EC2 Instance

1. Open AWS Console:
   • Navigate to EC2 and select 'Launch Instance'.
2. Instance Configuration:
   • Name: "my web app".
   • Base Image: Ubuntu (latest version, 64-bit x86).
   • Instance Type: T2 micro (free tier eligible).
3. SSH Access:
   • Create a new key pair (e.g., "California-Sam-MacBook-Pro").
   • Download and move the key pair to ~/.ssh/ directory.
4. Network Settings:
   • Configure firewall rules to allow SSH from your IP address.
   • Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic from anywhere.
   • Name the security group "my web app Security Group".
5. Storage:
   • Default settings are usually sufficient.
6. Launch Instance.

Connecting to the EC2 Instance

SSH into the Instance

1. Access Instructions:
   • Click 'Connect' on the instance and follow the SSH instructions.
2. SSH Command:
   • Use the downloaded key pair to SSH into the instance: ssh -i "path-to-key" ubuntu@your-ec2-instance-public-ip
3. Permissions:
   • Ensure the key file has the correct permissions: chmod 400 your-key.pem.

Configuring the EC2 Instance

Update and Upgrade Packages

1. Command: sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade
2. Select All Applications to be restarted if prompted.

Installing Node.js

1. Install Node.js: sudo apt install nodejs sudo apt install npm
2. Verify Installation: node -v npm -v

Deploying Application Code

Uploading Code to EC2

1. Use rsync Command:
   • Transfer code from local machine to EC2 instance.
   rsync -avz -e "ssh -i path-to-key" --exclude 'node_modules' --exclude '.git' ./ ubuntu@your-ec2-instance-public-ip:/home/ubuntu/app

Running the Node Application

1. Navigate to App Directory: cd ~/app
2. Install Dependencies: npm install
3. Build the Project (if using TypeScript): npm run build
4. Start the Application: npm start

Configuring PostgreSQL

Installing PostgreSQL

1. Install PostgreSQL: sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
2. Start PostgreSQL: sudo systemctl start postgresql sudo systemctl enable postgresql
3. Create Database and User:
   • Access PostgreSQL shell: sudo -u postgres psql
   • Create database and user with privileges: CREATE DATABASE myapp; CREATE USER myappuser WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'password'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE myapp TO myappuser;
4. Run Migrations: npm run migrate

Running Application in Background

Using systemd

1. Create Environment File:
   • Location: /etc/environment.d/myapp.env
   • Add environment variables (e.g., DATABASE_URL).
2. Set Permissions: chmod 600 /etc/environment.d/myapp.env
3. Create systemd Service File:
   • Location: /etc/systemd/system/myapp.service
   • Content: [Unit] Description=My Web App After=network.target [Service] User=ubuntu WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/app ExecStart=/usr/bin/npm start EnvironmentFile=/etc/environment.d/myapp.env Restart=always StandardOutput=syslog StandardError=syslog SyslogIdentifier=myapp [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target
4. Start and Enable Service: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl start myapp.service sudo systemctl enable myapp.service
5. Verify Service Status: sudo systemctl status myapp.service

Adding Custom Domain and SSL

Configure Custom Domain on Route 53

1. Create Hosted Zone and add a record:
   • Record Type: A.
   • Name: Subdomain (e.g., "expenses.smw.wtf").
   • Value: EC2 instance's public IP.
   • Routing Policy: Simple.

Installing and Configuring Caddy for SSL

1. Install Caddy: sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/caddy-stable.asc curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list sudo apt update sudo apt install caddy
2. Modify Caddyfile:
   • Location: /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
   • Content: expenses.smw.wtf { reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:3000 }
3. Restart Caddy: sudo systemctl restart caddy
4. Access Application: Visit the configured domain expenses.smw.wtf in a browser.
   • Ensure https redirection works automatically.

Conclusion

• This setup is suitable for learning and small-scale apps.
• For large-scale apps, additional configurations for scaling, load balancing, and database management are required.