Web Server Deployment using Nginx and Docker

Before we start, there are definitely some prerequisites regarding this.

Prerequisites

An Ubuntu 20.04 server

Firewall rules allowing ssh on port 22, HTTP on port 80 and HTTPS on port 443 access
A static Public IP for the server
Ability to SSH into the server
A root password for the server as it will be needed in few steps
- (If you use an Private Key (.pem file) to SSH into the server, SSH into the server and use sudo passwd <YOUR USERNAME> to create a new password)
An Account on Docker Hub with a private repository created (You can use any registry, just look up the instructions to do docker login.

SSH Into the Server

Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu focal stable"
sudo apt update

Update the package database for Docker and Make sure you are about to install from the Docker repo instead of the default Ubuntu repo

apt-cache policy docker-ce

Finally install and check if Docker daemon is running

sudo apt install docker-ce
sudo systemctl status docker

Give docker command sudo privileges

sudo usermod -aG docker ${USER}
su - ${USER} # Password will be needed in this step

Confirm that you're in the docker group

id -nG

References: DigitalOcean

Install Docker Compose

sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.27.4/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
docker-compose --version

References: DigitalOcean

Get access token from Docker Hub

Login to Docker Hub
Go to Account Settings
Go to Security
Click on New Access Token
Give your token a name
Generate new token and copy it somewhere safe and accessible and close the dialog box.

docker --login username <USERNAME> # Replace <USERNAME> with your Docker Hub username

Make the docker-compose.yml file

cd ~
touch docker-compose.yml
nano docker-compose.yml

Paste the Following
Do note that you can change the number of services according to your preference

version: "3"

services:
  frontend:
    image: dockerhubusername/webapp:frontend # Docker Image of Frontend App
    container_name: frontend
    ports:
      - "8000:80" # Replace 80 with your container port

  backend:
    image: dockerhubusername/webapp:backend # Docker Image of Backend App
    container_name: backend
    ports:
      - "9000:80" # Replace 80 with your container port

Setup Nginx

Install Nginx

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx

Start and Enable Nginx

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Edit conf file for basic http server

sudo rm /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
sudo touch /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Paste the following Configuration

Here also you've to keep the number of services in mind. If you're using only one container, remove the /api block

worker_processes 1;

events {
  worker_connections 1024;
}

http {
  client_max_body_size 10M; # Maximum size a request can have
  server {
    client_max_body_size 10M; # Configure both values according to your application

    server_name subdomain.domain.com; # Domain name for the server

    # Pass all /api calls to backend

    location /api {
      client_max_body_size 10M;
      proxy_pass http://localhost:9000;
    }

    location / {
      client_max_body_size 10M;
      proxy_pass http://localhost:8000;
    }
  }
}

Restart Nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Starting the HTTP Server

docker-compose pull && docker-compose up -d

Setup your Domain

Enter the Public IP of your server in the DNS records of your Domain name as A Record, and your website should be up and running with HTTP on the domain.

Setting Up HTTPS and SSL with LetsEncrypt and CertBot

Install Prerequisites

sudo snap install certbot

Install CertBot

sudo certbot --nginx -d subdomain.domain.com

Enter all the follow up inputs required while generating certificate.

Test Automatic Renewal

sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Confirm that HTTPS is active now

Go to the your domain in your browser, and click on the Padlock to verify that the certificate issued is by LetsEncrypt.

References: Certbot

I have also written a followup post showing how you can setup an automatic Continuous Deployment (CD) environment setup for this deployment using Github Actions.