Table of Contents

1. AWS Cloud Resume Challenge
   • Built With
2. Challenge Stages
   • Stage 1
   • Stage 2
   • Stage 3
3. Getting Started
   • Prerequisites
   • Installation

AWS Cloud Resume Challenge

This is my repo for AWS Cloud Resume Challenge, created by Forrest Brazea. The project is a full-stack application that consists of a static website hosted on S3, a DynamoDB database for storing visitor counts, and a backend API powered by AWS Lambda and API Gateway to handle requests.

Diagram

Built With

The project incorporates the following AWS resources:

• HTML/CSS/JavaScript for the static website
• Amazon S3 for hosting the static site
• Amazon CloudFront for distributing the website with HTTPS
• Amazon Certificate Manager (ACM) for provisioning SSL/TLS certificates to enable HTTPS on CloudFront
• Amazon DynamoDB as a NoSQL database for visitor counter
• AWS Lambda in Java to handle backend logic and interact with DynamoDB
• Amazon API Gateway to provide a REST API to the frontend
• GitHub Actions for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD)
• AWS SAM Serverless Application Model to deploy the infrastructure as code

Challenge Stages

Stage 1 - Developing Frontend

For the Front end, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are used to create a resume page. The Front end has been deployed by using following AWS services:

• Amazon S3: The static website is hosted in an S3 bucket configured with static website hosting. I ensured all public access was blocked, and access was restricted to CloudFront.
• Amazon Cloudfront: CloudFront distribution is set to deliver my content through a Content Delivery Network (CDN), which improves load times and adds HTTPS security.
• Amazon Route 53: Custom domain cho93.com is registered with Route 53 and mapped it to the CloudFront distribution using DNS records. This ensured visitors could access the site via my custom domain.
• AWS Certificate Manager (ACM): SSL/TLS certificate is requested and deployed to secure the website with HTTPS. This certificate is integrated with CloudFront for seamless encryption.

Stage 2 - Developing Backend

To track the number of visitors to my website, serverless backend is built, which provides a REST API to update and retrieve visitor counts. The backend components include:

• Amazon API Gateway: This service acts as the API's entry point, handling client requests and forwarding them to a Lambda function. It provides a single GET route, which forwards requests from the frontend to the Lambda function. This design ensures the frontend never communicates directly with DynamoDB

  API Workflow

  

• AWS Lambda: Java-based Lambda function is written to interact with DynamoDB. This function updates and retrieves the visitor count.

• Amazon DynamoDB: This serverless NoSQL database stores the visitor count.

Stage 3 - CI/CD

To streamline the deployment process, CI/CD pipeline is implemented using GitHub Actions. The pipeline automates the deployment of both the backend and frontend components whenever changes are pushed to the repository:

• The pipeline validates and deploys the SAM template, which provisions resources like API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB.
• Updates to the static website files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) are synchronized with the S3 bucket.
• CloudFront cache invalidation is triggered to ensure updated files are served immediately.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following tools installed:

• AWS CLI - For configuring access to your AWS account.
• AWS SAM CLI - To build and deploy the serverless application.
• Maven - To build the Java Lambda function.

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/rcho93/aws-cloudP.git
   cd aws-cloudP

2. Set up AWS CLI and SAM:

   Install AWS CLI

   Install the AWS CLI and configure the AWS CLI by running:

   aws configure

   You will be prompted to enter your AWS Access Key, Secret Key, Region, and Output Format. Use the following details:

   • AWS Access Key ID: Provided by IAM or AWS Management Console
   • AWS Secret Access Key: Provided by IAM or AWS Management Console
   • Default region name: us-west-2
   • Default output format: json

   Install AWS SAM CLI

   Install the AWS SAM CLI and verify that the SAM CLI is installed correctly by running:

   sam --version

   This should output the SAM CLI version, indicating the installation was successful.

   Build and Deploy with SAM

   Build the Backend: Navigate to the backend directiry and run the following command to build the SAM application:

   sam build

   Deploy the Backend: Run the following command to deploy the backend resources, such as Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB:

   sam deploy --guided

After the SAM deployment is successful, your backend is ready to handle requests!

3. Set Up the Frontend: Sync the website files to your s3 bucket:

   aws s3 sync frontend/ s3:your-s3-bucket-name --delete