How to Deploy a Web App on AWS: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Deploying a web application on AWS can feel overwhelming given the sheer number of services available. However, for most standard web apps, a simple combination of Elastic Beanstalk and RDS gets the job done efficiently. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the core steps to get your app live.

Before we dive into the deployment commands, it’s important to understand the architecture. AWS Elastic Beanstalk handles the compute layer (EC2 instances), auto-scaling, and load balancing automatically, while Amazon RDS manages your database. This means you focus on writing code, not managing servers.

Step 1: Prepare Your Application

• Ensure your app runs locally with a Procfile or build configuration.
• Package your code as a ZIP or WAR file (for Java).
• Set environment variables (database connection strings, secret keys) in the Elastic Beanstalk console.

Step 2: Create Your Environment

• Open the Elastic Beanstalk console and click “Create Application.”
• Choose a platform (Node.js, Python, PHP, or Ruby).
• Upload your ZIP file, then configure the instance type and security groups.

Step 3: Set Up the Database

• Go to the RDS console and create a PostgreSQL or MySQL instance.
• Note the endpoint, username, and password.
• Update your app’s environment variables to point to this database, then run migrations.

Step 4: Deploy and Monitor

• Click “Deploy” on Elastic Beanstalk; your app will be live at a default URL.
• Use CloudWatch to monitor logs and health checks.
• For automated CI/CD, connect your GitHub repository via CodePipeline.

That’s it—you’ve deployed a web app on AWS in under 15 minutes. As you grow, consider adding S3 for static assets and CloudFront for content delivery. Start small, iterate, and let AWS handle the heavy lifting.