Step-by-Step Guide: Deploy a Containerized App to AWS

This guide explains the steps I followed to containerize an application and deploy it to AWS using Docker, Terraform, ECS Fargate, and GitHub Actions. The goal is simple. Build the app, package it in Docker, store the image in ECR, run it on ECS Fargate, and automate the deployment with GitHub Actions. 1. Prepare the Application Create a simple Node.js application. Example project structure: app/ server.js package.json Dockerfile terraform/ Install dependencies: npm install Run the application locally to confirm it works. node server.js Open: http://localhost:3000 2. Containerize the Application Create a Dockerfile. FROM node:20-alpine WORKDIR /app COPY package*.json ./ RUN npm install --production COPY . . EXPOSE 3000 CMD ["node", "app/server.js"] Build the image: docker build -t job-tracker-app . Run the container locally: docker run -p 3000:3000 job-tracker-app Open the browser: http://localhost:3000 3. Create an Amazon ECR Repository Open AWS Console. Go to: ECR → Create repository