Build, Run and Deploy a Containerized Web Application using Docker and Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)

In this lab we will learn how to build and run a containerised application. We will then use the Amazon Elastic Container Service to host and run this container in the Cloud.

The diagram below illustrates the architecture the lab will be using. There is currently a version of this architecture deployed for you in the cloud. In this lab we will be deploying a new version of our containerized application onto this cluster.

Let's get started

Go to Cloud9 on the AWS Web console - this is your IDE in the cloud. You can also use your local IDE for all the steps of this lab.

on top right corner - Switch to N.Virginia (us-east-1)

Open the "ECS Lab Cloud 9 Env" By clicking on Open IDE

Initial set up

Once Inside Cloud9 - Open the Terminal change directory to the correct folder & reset the lab

$ cd ~/environment/ecs-docker-lab/

$ chmod +x Reset.sh

$ ./Reset.sh

$ clear

Install and run docker

$ sudo yum update -y

$ sudo yum install -y docker

$ sudo service docker start

$ sudo usermod -a -G docker ec2-user

Check if docker is installed and running corectly

$ docker info

Open the index.html file inside the Dev Labs folder and edit the Write something here

The next person will read what you put in so please be respectful

Save your edited HTML File

Build and Run your Docker Container Locally

Build a container Image from the DockerFile

$ docker build -t staticsite:1.0 DockerStaticSite-master/

Run a container from the freshly built image

$ docker run -itd \--name mycontainer \--publish 8080:80 staticsite:1.0

Test if your container is running

$ curl http://localhost:8080

If you get an HTML page as a response, then the container is running successfully - well done!.

Push your container Image to the Cloud

Now that your containerized application is running locally, let's push your docker image to a ECR (Elastic Container Repository) repository in the cloud

Navigate to the ECS (Elastic Container Service) console and click on Repositories

Click on "ecs-lab-repo"

Click on "View Push Commands "

You will see a set of commands

Go back to cloud9 cd into the correct folder

$ cd DockerStaticSite-master/

Follow the steps of the push commands to build and push the new modified image to the cloud repo

Once the push is completed your docker image will be pushed to an ECR image repository on AWS

Update the cluster to use our new pushed image

An ECS cluster is already provisioned for you. This cluster is currently running a previous version of the same application. You will now Deploy the your new application Version to the service

Let's update the ECS task definition to use the image that you just pushed

Navigate to the Elastic Container Service Dashboard.

In the navigation menu on the left, click Task Definitions.

select the simplewebtask
checkmark simplewebtask
click Create New Revision
scroll to the bottom of the page, then click Create

This will create a new version of the Task. Note the Version Number. The new version will use the latest container image. i.e. the image that you just pushed.

Let's Update the ECS Service to deploy the new version of the task

in the left navigation pane, click Clusters.
in the Clusters window, click default >.

This is the cluster that your service resides in.

on the Services tab, check webService
click Update then click on Revision
Revision: select the latest version that you just created
Force New Deployment -- check this box & turn it on
click Next Step
on Step 2, click Next Step
on Step 3, click Next Step
on Step 4, click Update Service

This will deploy a new version of the application.

on the Launch Status page, click View Service
on the Service: myService page, click the Events tab.

Check if the new version on the application has successfully deployed

Wait a few minutes. Monitor the process of draining connections and stopping tasks till the service reaches a steady state.

You may need to click the Refresh button to see the new events.

Once the events says "service webService has reached a steady state."

Go to EC2 service page
On the left hand pane click on load balancers
search and click on myLoadBalancer

Paste in the Load Balancer's DNS name to see the new version of the app running in the cloud

Congratulations! Your Containerized web application is Now Running in the cloud

Clean Up Step

$ chmod +x Reset.sh

$ ./Reset.sh

joshuapmorgan/docker-ecs-lab