ECR Node.js Application

A Node.js application containerized with Docker and deployed to AWS ECS via GitHub Actions.

Prerequisites

1. AWS Account with:

   • ECR repository created
   • ECS cluster and service configured
   • Task definition created
   • IAM roles with proper permissions

2. GitHub Secrets configured:

   • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
   • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

AWS Setup

1. Create ECR Repository

aws ecs create-repository --repository-name ecr-nodejs-app --region us-east-1

2. Create ECS Cluster

aws ecs create-cluster --cluster-name ecr-cluster --region us-east-1

3. Register Task Definition

aws ecs register-task-definition --cli-input-json file://task-definition.json --region us-east-1

Note: Update the task-definition.json file with:

• Your AWS account ID
• IAM role ARNs
• ECR repository URI

4. Create ECS Service

aws ecs create-service \
  --cluster ecr-cluster \
  --service-name ecr-nodejs-service \
  --task-definition ecr-nodejs-task \
  --desired-count 1 \
  --launch-type FARGATE \
  --network-configuration "awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-xxxxx],securityGroups=[sg-xxxxx],assignPublicIp=ENABLED}" \
  --region us-east-1

5. IAM Roles Required

• ECS Task Execution Role: Allows ECS to pull images from ECR and write logs
• ECS Task Role: Permissions for the running container (if needed)

Example policy for Task Execution Role:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ecr:GetAuthorizationToken",
        "ecr:BatchCheckLayerAvailability",
        "ecr:GetDownloadUrlForLayer",
        "ecr:BatchGetImage"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "logs:CreateLogStream",
        "logs:PutLogEvents"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

GitHub Actions Setup

1. Go to your repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
2. Add the following secrets:
   • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: Your AWS access key
   • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: Your AWS secret key

Configuration

Update the following in .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

• AWS_REGION: Your AWS region
• ECR_REPOSITORY: Your ECR repository name
• ECS_SERVICE: Your ECS service name
• ECS_CLUSTER: Your ECS cluster name
• ECS_TASK_DEFINITION: Your task definition family name

Usage

The pipeline will automatically trigger on:

• Push to main or master branch
• Manual trigger via GitHub Actions UI

The workflow will:

1. Build the Docker image
2. Push to ECR
3. Update the ECS task definition with the new image
4. Deploy to ECS service

Local Development

Build Docker image

docker build -t ecr-nodejs-app .

Run locally

docker run -p 3000:3000 ecr-nodejs-app

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the application.