Deploying a Scalable Web App Using AWS ECS, ECR, and Fargate with Terraform

Overview

This project demonstrates how to deploy a fully containerized web application using AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) with Fargate, Elastic Container Registry (ECR), Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) using Terraform for Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Project Architecture

The application follows this architecture:

• Dockerized Application: A web application (Node.js/Python/Go) is packaged into a Docker container.
• Amazon ECR: Stores the container image for deployment.
• Amazon ECS (Fargate): Runs the containerized application in a serverless environment.
• VPC Configuration: Ensures secure networking with private and public subnets.
• Application Load Balancer (ALB): Distributes traffic to running ECS tasks.
• ECS Tasks & Services: Define how the container runs and scales dynamically.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed:

• AWS CLI
• Terraform
• Docker
• AWS Account with necessary IAM permissions

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Clone the Repository and Initialize Terraform

git clone <repo-url>
cd <repo-directory>
terraform init

Step 2: Build and Push Docker Image to ECR

# Authenticate AWS CLI
aws configure

# Build Docker image
docker build -t my-web-app .

Terraform will handle the creation of the ECR repository and the image push. Ensure Terraform applies before running the next command.

# Authenticate Docker with ECR
aws ecr get-login-password --region <aws-region> | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.<aws-region>.amazonaws.com

# Tag and push to ECR
docker tag my-web-app:latest <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.<aws-region>.amazonaws.com/my-web-app:latest
docker push <aws-account-id>.dkr.ecr.<aws-region>.amazonaws.com/my-web-app:latest

Step 3: Apply Terraform Configuration

terraform apply -auto-approve

This will:

• Provision an ECS Cluster and Fargate Task Definition
• Deploy the VPC, Security Groups, and Subnets
• Configure an Application Load Balancer (ALB)
• Set up the ECS Service with Auto Scaling

Step 4: Access the Application

• Retrieve the ALB DNS name:

  terraform output alb_dns_name

• Open the ALB URL in your browser to access the application.

Bonus Enhancements

• Implement CI/CD using Terraform Cloud or GitHub Actions for automated deployments.
• Enable CloudWatch Logs for monitoring and debugging.
• Use Secrets Manager for managing sensitive environment variables.

Conclusion

This setup provides a highly scalable, cost-effective, and secure containerized web application deployed on AWS using Terraform for Infrastructure as Code. The architecture is fully managed, ensuring ease of maintenance and auto-scaling capabilities.

Happy Deploying! 🚀