Complete AWS EC2 Deployment Guide For Beginners

What Is AWS EC2?

AWS EC2 stands for Elastic Compute Cloud. It allows developers and businesses to launch scalable cloud servers.

EC2 servers are used for:

• Website Hosting
• Application Deployment
• DevOps Infrastructure
• Cloud Computing
• Docker & Kubernetes

Step 1 — Launch EC2 Instance

First, create an AWS account and launch an Ubuntu EC2 instance.

EC2 Setup Steps

• Open AWS Console
• Search EC2
• Launch Instance
• Select Ubuntu
• Choose t2.micro
• Configure Security Group
• Allow Ports 22, 80, 443

Port 22 → SSH

Port 80 → HTTP

Port 443 → HTTPS

Step 2 — Connect Using SSH

After launching the server, connect using SSH.

ssh -i key.pem ubuntu@your-server-ip

Once connected, update the server packages.

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 3 — Install NGINX Server

NGINX is a high-performance web server used for hosting websites, reverse proxy and load balancing.

Install NGINX using:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Start and enable NGINX:

sudo systemctl start nginx

sudo systemctl enable nginx

Verify NGINX status:

systemctl status nginx

Step 4 — Deploy Your Website

Upload your website files to the server.

NGINX default directory:

/var/www/html

Remove default files:

sudo rm -rf /var/www/html/*

Clone your GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/username/project.git

Move files:

sudo cp -r project/* /var/www/html/

Restart NGINX:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Your website should now be live using server public IP.

Step 5 — Connect Domain Name

Connect your custom domain with AWS EC2 server.

Domain Setup Process

• Buy domain from provider
• Open DNS settings
• Create A Record
• Point domain to EC2 IP

Type: A

Host: @

Value: YOUR_SERVER_IP

Wait for DNS propagation which may take some time.

Step 6 — Install SSL Certificate

SSL secures your website using HTTPS.

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Generate SSL:

sudo certbot --nginx

SSL improves:

• Website Security
• SEO Rankings
• User Trust
• Browser Security

Final AWS Deployment Architecture

AWS EC2 deployment is one of the most important DevOps skills in 2026.

Practice deployments regularly to improve cloud engineering, Linux and DevOps knowledge.