Building a CI/CD Pipeline on AWS Using GitHub Actions
Introduction
In this project, I built a CI/CD pipeline that automatically deploys a simple web application to an AWS EC2 instance using GitHub Actions. The goal of this project was to gain hands-on DevOps experience by connecting Git, Docker, AWS, and CI/CD automation into a real-world workflow.
This project is suitable for beginners and is a strong portfolio project for anyone aspiring to become a DevOps or Cloud Engineer.
Project Overview
What this project does:
Hosts a simple HTML web application
Dockerizes the application using NGINX
Pushes the code to GitHub
Uses GitHub Actions to automatically deploy the app to AWS EC2 whenever code is pushed
Tools & Technologies Used:
Git & GitHub
Docker
GitHub Actions
AWS EC2
Ubuntu Linux
SSH (key-based authentication)
Architecture Flow
Developer pushes code to GitHub
GitHub Actions workflow is triggered
Workflow connects securely to EC2 via SSH
EC2 pulls latest code
Docker image is built
Container is restarted with the new version
Application becomes live automatically
Step 1: Create the Web Application
We start with a very simple web application.
Create the project directory
mkdir aws-cicd-demo
cd aws-cicd-demo
Create index.html
vim index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>AWS CI/CD Demo</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>App is live 🚀</h1>
<p>Deployed automatically using GitHub Actions</p>
</body>
</html>
This page will later confirm that deployment was successful.
Step 2: Dockerize the Application
Next, we containerize the app using Docker and NGINX.
Create Dockerfile
vim Dockerfile
FROM nginx:alpine
COPY index.html /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html
EXPOSE 80
Build and test locally
docker build -t aws-cicd-demo .
docker run -d -P aws-cicd-demo
docker ps
Access the mapped port in your browser to confirm it works.
Step 3: Push Code to GitHub
Initialize Git
git init
git branch -M main
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit: Dockerized web app"
Add GitHub remote and push
git remote add origin https://github.com/<your-username>/aws-cicd-demo.git
git remote -v
git push -u origin main
Step 4: Set Up AWS EC2
Launch EC2 Instance
Instance type:
t2.micro(Free Tier)OS: Ubuntu 24.04
Create or select a key pair
Configure Security Group
Inbound rules:
SSH (22) → My IP
HTTP (80) → 0.0.0.0/0
This allows secure SSH access and public web access.
Step 5: Connect to EC2 ( Using Instance Connect )
Install Docker on EC2
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io git
Step 6: Prepare SSH for GitHub Actions
GitHub Actions needs secure access to EC2.
Generate SSH key
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f github-actions-key
Copy public key to EC2
cat github-actions-key.pub
Add it to:
~/.ssh/authorized_keys
Add secrets to GitHub
In GitHub → Settings → Secrets → Actions:
EC2_HOST→ EC2 Public IPEC2_USER→ ubuntuEC2_SSH_KEY→ contents ofgithub-actions-key
Step 7: Create GitHub Actions Workflow
Create workflow file
mkdir -p .github/workflows
nano .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: CI/CD Deploy to EC2
on:
push:
branches:
- main
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout code
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Configure SSH
run: |
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
echo "${{ secrets.EC2_SSH_KEY }}" >> /~/.ssh/known_hosts
- name: Deploy to EC2
run: |
ssh ${{ secrets.EC2_USER }}@${{ secrets.EC2_HOST }} << 'EOF'
cd aws-cicd-demo || git clone https://github.com/<username of github account>/aws -cicd-demo.git
cd aws-cicd-demo
git pull origin main
docker stop web || true
docker rm web || true
docker build -t aws-cicd-demo .
docker run -d -p 80:80 --name web aws-cicd-demo
EOF
Step 8: Push and Trigger Deployment
git add .github/workflows/deploy.yml
git commit -m "Add CI/CD pipeline"
git push origin main
GitHub Actions automatically triggers the deployment.
Step 9: Verify Deployment
Open your browser and visit:
http://<EC2_PUBLIC_IP>
If you see:
App is live 🚀
Then the CI/CD pipeline worked successfully.
Challenges Faced & Lessons Learned
GitHub PAT permissions for workflows
SSH key-based authentication
EC2 networking and security groups
Docker port conflicts
Debugging GitHub Actions logs
These challenges provided real DevOps troubleshooting experience.
This project demonstrates:
CI/CD automation
Cloud deployment
Linux administration
Docker usage
Secure infrastructure access
Conclusion
This project transformed basic concepts into a real production-grade DevOps workflow. It is an excellent starting point for learning advanced topics such as Kubernetes, Terraform, monitoring, and scalable cloud architectures.
If you are a beginner in DevOps, this project gives you confidence, experience, and a strong portfolio asset.
Happy deploying 🚀
