dev-gotchas

Deploy a NextJS App on AWS EC2

Create an SSH key pair and upload to AWS before generating an EC2. (You’ll need both the private and public keys.) Use this key whe setting up your EC2.

Install and Configure Apache

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2
sudo a2enmod proxy_http
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Modify files in /etc/apache2/sites-available accordingly and enable and restart, if necessary:

sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/<domain>.conf
sudo cp /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl.conf /etc/apache2/sites-available/<domain>-ssl.conf

Example Files:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/<project>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
    ProxyPass / http://localhost:3000/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:3000/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost

    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined

    SSLEngine on

    SSLCertificateFile      /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
    SSLCertificateKeyFile   /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
    <FilesMatch "\.(?:cgi|shtml|phtml|php)$">
        SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
    </FilesMatch>
    <Directory /usr/lib/cgi-bin>
        SSLOptions +StdEnvVars
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

sudo systemctl restart apache2

Install Node and NPM

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nodejs
sudo apt install npm

Install PM2

sudo npm install pm2 -g 

Clone Project

Add your public key to GitLab through the Console.

sudo chown -R $USER /var/www
git clone git@gitlab.com:<something>/<something>.git

Start App

Add your variables with:

sudo nano .env

Inside the project run

npm install
npm run build
pm2 start npm --name nextjs-app -- run start -- -p 3000

Gotchas

Cloning your Project

Do not use sudo when cloning your project.

Make Changes

Pull, install, and:

pm2 restart nextjs-app