Host Your Portfolio on AWS with Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Introduction

• What is Infrastructure as Code?

Resources Used

AWS Resources

Route 53

• Amazon Route 53 is a highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) web service which performs three main functions in any combination: domain registration, DNS routing, and health checking.

S3

• Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is an object storage service offering industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.

AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)

• AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) handles the complexity of creating, storing, and renewing public and private SSL/TLS X.509 certificates and keys that protect your AWS websites and applications.

CloudFront

• Amazon CloudFront is a web service that speeds up distribution of your static and dynamic web content through a worldwide network of data centers called edge locations.

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)

• AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a web service that helps you securely control access to AWS resources.

AWS CodeBuild

• AWS CodeBuild is a fully managed build service in the cloud. CodeBuild compiles your source code, runs unit tests, and produces artifacts that are ready to deploy.

AWS CodePipeline

• AWS CodePipeline is a continuous delivery service you can use to model, visualize, and automate the steps required to release your software.

AWS SDK for Python (Boto3)

• The AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) provides a Python API for AWS infrastructure services. Using the SDK for Python, you can build applications on top of Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Amazon DynamoDB, and more.

AWS CloudFormation

• AWS CloudFormation is a service that helps you model and set up your AWS resources so that you can spend less time managing those resources and more time focusing on your applications that run in AWS.

Non-AWS Resources

Troposphere

• The troposphere library allows for easier creation of the AWS CloudFormation JSON by writing Python code to describe the AWS resources.

Prerequisites

1. Create a GitHub App Connection

• Go to AWS CodePipeline in the AWS Console.
• Under Settings, select Connections, and create a new connection for GitHub.
• During the setup, you’ll be prompted to authorize the connection via GitHub’s OAuth consent screen.
• After authorization, select the specific repositories to connect or allow access to all repositories if desired.

2. Obtain a domain and create a Hosted Zone

• Option 1: Purchase and Register a New Domain Directly Through AWS
  • A Hosted Zone is created automatically when purchasing a domain through AWS.
• Option 2: Use an Existing Domain from Another Provider
  • You must create your own Hosted Zone and configure your domain's Nameservers.

3. Install python dependencies

4. Configure .env

Tutorial

Don't forget to complete the prerequisites above!

1. Create acm_certificate_template.py

• SSL Certificate Creation: Configures a certificate for the root domain and its www variant.
• Domain Validation: Utilizes DNS validation via a pre-existing Hosted Zone to confirm domain ownership.
• Secure Connections: Enables HTTPS connections for CloudFront distributions using the certificate.
• Cross-Stack Referencing: Exports the certificate's Amazon Resource Name (ARN) to be referenced in other CloudFormation stacks.

Note: CloudFront requires all SSL certificates to be provisioned in the us-east-1 region. Since your main stacks may be deployed in other regions, this certificate must be provisioned in a separate stack.

2. Create portfolio_website_template.py

• S3 Buckets: Creates the main root bucket for content and a secondary bucket for redirecting www-requests to the root bucket.
• S3 Bucket Policy: Defines a policy for the root bucket, granting public read access for website visitors and read access for the CloudFront distribution.
• CloudFront Distributions: Deploys CloudFront distributions for both the main domain and the www-prefixed subdomain, ensuring efficient and secure content delivery.
• Alias 'A' Records: Creates Alias records in the hosted zone, pointing to the CloudFront distributions for domain resolution.
• Cross-Stack Referencing: Exports the 'root' bucket name and the 'root' CloudFront distribution ID to be referenced in other CloudFormation stacks.

3. Create cicd_pipeline_template.py

• AWS CodeBuild: Builds the website whenever new changes are pushed to the GitHub repository.
• AWS CodePipeline: Orchestrates the CI/CD process, fetching source code from GitHub, triggering the build process, and deploying the output to the designated S3 bucket.
• Build Artifacts S3 Bucket: Creates an S3 bucket to store intermediate build artifacts generated during the pipeline execution.
• IAM Roles: Configures IAM roles for both CodeBuild and CodePipeline, with policies granting the minimum permissions required to interact with AWS resources securely.

4. Create deploy_stacks.py

• Template Deployment: Deploys the CloudFormation stacks using the templates created in previous steps.
• Region Selection: Allows for flexible deployment across different AWS regions.
• Error Handling: Includes error handling to manage deployment issues gracefully.
• Live Monitoring: Provides real-time feedback on stack creation and updates during the deployment process.

5. Build Templates & Deploy

1. Generate CloudFormation .yaml Templates
   Run the following commands to create the necessary CloudFormation templates:
   • py acm_certificate_template.py
   • py portfolio_website_template.py
   • py cicd_pipeline_template.py
2. Deploy Your CloudFormation Stacks
   Use the deployment script to provision the infrastructure:
   • py deploy_stacks.py

Note: It may take 5-10 minutes for DNS changes to propagate before your site becomes accessible at your domain.

Conclusion

• Leverage AWS Services: Set up S3, CloudFront, Route 53, and ACM to host a portfolio website.
• Automate Deployment: Use CodeBuild and CodePipeline to ensure continuous integration and delivery.
• Implement IaC Best Practices: Create modular and reusable CloudFormation templates for managing infrastructure.