Beginner

EC2 Web Server

Deploy a web application on EC2 with proper networking and security

Project Overview

Launch an EC2 instance, configure networking and security groups, and deploy a web application. This foundational project teaches you core AWS compute concepts.

Difficulty: Beginner
AWS Services: EC2, VPC, Security Groups, Elastic IP
Cost: Free Tier eligible (t2.micro/t3.micro)

Prerequisites

  • AWS account (Free Tier)
  • Basic Linux command line knowledge
  • SSH client (Terminal on Mac/Linux, PuTTY on Windows)
  • Web application to deploy (or use sample app)

Architecture

🌐
Internet
HTTP/HTTPS
→
🛡
Security Group
Ports 22, 80, 443
→
🖥
EC2 Instance
Web Server
←
🏷
Elastic IP
Static IP

VPC provides network isolation and security

Step-by-Step Instructions

1

Launch an EC2 Instance

  • Go to EC2 in the AWS Console
  • Click "Launch instance"
  • Choose Amazon Linux 2023 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • Select t2.micro (Free Tier eligible)
  • Create a new key pair and download the .pem file
  • Keep it safe - you can't download it again!
2

Configure Security Group

  • Create a new security group during launch
  • Allow SSH (port 22) from your IP only
  • Allow HTTP (port 80) from anywhere (0.0.0.0/0)
  • Allow HTTPS (port 443) from anywhere (optional)
  • Name it descriptively (e.g., "web-server-sg")
3

Connect via SSH

  • Set permissions: chmod 400 your-key.pem
  • Connect: ssh -i your-key.pem ec2-user@[public-ip]
  • For Ubuntu, use "ubuntu" instead of "ec2-user"
  • Accept the fingerprint on first connection
4

Install Web Server

  • Update packages: sudo yum update -y (or apt update)
  • Install nginx: sudo yum install nginx -y
  • Start nginx: sudo systemctl start nginx
  • Enable on boot: sudo systemctl enable nginx
  • Verify: visit http://[public-ip] in browser
5

Deploy Your Application

  • Upload files via SCP or clone from Git
  • Place files in /usr/share/nginx/html/
  • Configure nginx if needed for your app
  • Restart nginx after changes
6

Allocate Elastic IP

  • Go to EC2 > Elastic IPs
  • Allocate a new Elastic IP
  • Associate it with your instance
  • Your server now has a permanent IP
  • Note: Elastic IPs are free when associated

Tips

  • Use an IAM role instead of storing credentials - Attach a role to your instance for AWS API access
  • Enable CloudWatch monitoring - Basic monitoring is free; detailed monitoring is recommended for production
  • Set up automatic security updates - Use yum-cron or unattended-upgrades
  • Stop instances when not in use - You're billed for running instances

Code Examples

EC2 User Data Script

user-data.sh BASH 
#!/bin/bash
# Update system packages
yum update -y

# Install nginx
amazon-linux-extras install nginx1 -y

# Start and enable nginx
systemctl start nginx
systemctl enable nginx

# Create a simple index page
cat > /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html << 'EOF'
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Welcome</title></head>
<body><h1>Hello from EC2!</h1></body>
</html>
EOF

Security Group Configuration (AWS CLI)

Terminal Commands BASH 
# Create security group
aws ec2 create-security-group \
    --group-name web-server-sg \
    --description "Web server security group"

# Allow SSH (restrict to your IP in production)
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
    --group-name web-server-sg \
    --protocol tcp --port 22 \
    --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow HTTP
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
    --group-name web-server-sg \
    --protocol tcp --port 80 \
    --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

# Allow HTTPS
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \
    --group-name web-server-sg \
    --protocol tcp --port 443 \
    --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

Nginx Configuration

/etc/nginx/conf.d/myapp.conf NGINX 
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/myapp;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    # Enable gzip compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript;

    # Security headers
    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
}

What You'll Learn

  • EC2 instance launching and configuration
  • VPC and subnet fundamentals
  • Security group rules and best practices
  • SSH key management and secure access
  • Basic Linux server administration
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