Provisioning ECR / ECS Infrastructure to deploy a Node.js App in a Docker Container

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is a powerful concept in cloud computing that allows developers to manage and provision their infrastructure using code. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a popular cloud platform, and Terraform is a widely used tool for IaC. In this article, we will discuss how to use Terraform to provision ECR (Elastic Container Registry) and ECS (Elastic Container Service) infrastructure on AWS to deploy a Node.js app in a Docker container.

Step 1: Set up AWS credentials

Before we begin, make sure you have an AWS account and the necessary credentials. You can set up your AWS credentials by creating an IAM (Identity and Access Management) user with the required permissions and obtaining the access key and secret key.

Step 2: Install Terraform

Next, install Terraform on your local machine. You can download Terraform from the official website and follow the installation instructions for your operating system.

Step 3: Write Terraform configuration

Now, create a new directory for your Terraform configuration files. Inside this directory, create a file named `main.tf` and write the Terraform configuration for provisioning ECR and ECS.

  
  provider "aws" {
    region = "us-west-1" // specify your preferred AWS region
  }

  resource "aws_ecr_repository" "my_node_app" {
    name = "my-node-app"
  }

  resource "aws_ecs_cluster" "my_cluster" {
    name = "my-cluster"
  }
  
  

Step 4: Initialize and apply Terraform configuration

In the same directory where your `main.tf` file is located, run the following commands to initialize Terraform and apply the configuration:

  
  terraform init
  terraform apply
  
  

Step 5: Deploy Node.js app in a Docker container

With ECR and ECS infrastructure provisioned, you can now deploy your Node.js app in a Docker container. First, build a Docker image for your Node.js app, push the image to your ECR repository, and then create a task definition and a service in your ECS cluster to run your containerized app.

By following these steps, you can leverage Terraform to automate the provisioning of ECR and ECS infrastructure on AWS to deploy your Node.js app in a Docker container. This approach allows for consistent and repeatable deployments, making it easier to manage your cloud infrastructure with code.