EC2 Web Server Deployment (Apache + Website Hosting)

📌 Introduction

In this project, I created and deployed a web server using the AWS EC2 service. I used an Amazon Linux 2 instance, installed the Apache web server on it, and hosted a simple HTML page. I also attached an Elastic IP to keep the server's IP address fixed. Through this project, I learned how to launch and manage virtual machines on AWS and host websites on the cloud.

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⚙️ Step-by-Step Process

▶ Step 1: Launching EC2 Instance

First, I logged in to my AWS Management Console and went to the EC2 service from the Services menu. From the EC2 Dashboard, I clicked on "Launch Instance" to start creating a virtual machine.

In the "Launch Instance" form:

• I entered the name of the instance as MyWebServer.
• I chose the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) as Amazon Linux 2 (Free tier eligible).
• For instance type , I selected t2.micro, which is free-tier eligible and perfect for small projects.
• Then, I created a new key pair and downloaded the .pem fi le to my system, which I would later use to connect via SSH.

Figure: EC2 instance setting page

▶ Step 2: Configuring Security Group

In the same launch wizard, I created a new Security Group with these inbound rules:

• SSH (port 22) – so I can connect to the server from my system.
• HTTP (port 80) – so my website can be accessed through the browser.

For both ports, I allowed access from Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0) for testing purposes.

Figure: Network settings in instance

Figure: Instance running status

▶ Step 3: Connecting to EC2 via SSH

Once the instance was running, I copied its public IPv4 address and opened my terminal. I navigated to the folder where my .pem file was saved, then run this command to connect:

ssh -i "Your_pem_file_name.pem" ec2-user@<EC2_PUBLIC_IP>

Figure: Bash terminal use to connect EC2 via SSH

▶ Step 4: Installing Apache Web Server

After connecting to the EC2 instance, I ran these commands one by one:

sudo yum update -y
sudo yum install httpd -y
sudo systemctl start httpd
sudo systemctl enable httpd

• The first command updates the system.
• The second one installs Apache web server.
• The last two start Apache and make sure it starts automatically every time the server boots.

▶ Step 5: Assigning an Elastic IP

To keep my server’s IP address the same even after rebooting, I attached an Elastic IP:

• From the EC2 Dashboard, I clicked on Elastic IPs in the left menu.
• I clicked "Allocate Elastic IP" , then chose default settings and clicked "Allocate".
• Then I clicked "Associate Elastic IP" and selected my EC2 instance from the list.

Now, this Elastic IP was permanently linked to my server.

Figure: Elastic IP was permanently linked

▶ Step 6: Hosting a Sample Website

I created a simple HTML page using the following command:

echo "<h1>Welcome to My Apache Web Server - Hosted on AWS EC2</h1>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/index.html

Checked the content:

cat /var/www/html/index.html

Then, I opened my browser and typed my Elastic IP in the address bar. The page loaded and showed my custom message. That conforrmed my web server was working! ( http://15.206.221.81 ).

Figure: Web server working in browser

Access the website at: http://<Elastic_IP>

▶ Step 7: Auto-start Apache on Reboot

To ensure Apache runs even if I reboot the server, I used this command again (just to be safe):

sudo systemctl enable httpd

This command makes sure that Apache starts automatically every time the instance is restarted.

Figure: Bash terminal run enable httpd command

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✅ What I Learned

• How to launch and configure an EC2 instance
• How to set up security groups for access
• How to connect to a cloud server using SSH
• How to install and run a web server
• How to keep a fixed IP using Elastic IP
• How to host and view a website on the cloud

This project gave me confidence to work with cloud servers and host real websites on AWS. It was a great learning experience for me as a beginner in cloud computing.

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✍️ Author

Vishwaraj Kumar
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