This guide provides detailed instructions for deploying Fider on AWS ECS with the tasks running inside the private subnet and the application load balancer(ALB) as front-facing.
“Simply put, things always had to be in a production-ready state: if you wrote it, you darn well had to be there to get it running!”
AWS services used
- Elastic container registry(ECR)
- Elastic container service(ECS Fargate launch type)
- Application Load Balancer(ALB)
- Elastic File System(EFS)
- Amazon Certificate Manager (ACM)
What is Fider ?
Fider is an intuitive, open-source feedback platform that empowers teams to listen to their users, prioritize improvements, and foster a transparent dialogue with their community. Built with simplicity and user-friendliness, Fider allows organizations to create a centralized platform where users can submit ideas, upvote others' suggestions, and discuss features or improvements.
Fider's Tech Stack
It is a web application primarily built with the Go programming language for backend logic, while the frontend is built with TypeScript and React. It only uses PostgreSQL as the database, ensuring robust data handling and scalability for large amounts of feedback. The entire application can be easily containerized with Docker, making it highly portable and suitable for deployment on cloud platforms like AWS ECS, Kubernetes, or even self-hosted servers.
Deployment Architecture
Pre-flight checks:
Before starting, ensure that you have an AWS account with access to the free tier or a valid payment method on file.
Install AWS CLI:
Step 1:
You need the awscli package installed for pushing the images built locally to Elastic Container Registry(ECR).
Step 2:
If you use ubuntu distro, Check the snap version by using the following command.
snap version
Run the following snap install command for the AWS CLI.
sudo snap install aws-cli --classic
After the installation is complete, verify the installation by using the command,
aws --version
With Snap package you always get the latest version of AWS CLI as snap packages automatically refresh.
For command line installer check out the documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html
Step 4: Configure AWS CLI
Use this command to configure the AWS CLI.
aws configure
Once configured, verify your AWS CLI credentials using the following command.
aws configure list
Step 5: Pull official docker images from DockerHub
Pull the official docker image for Fider from the DockerHub registry at: https://hub.docker.com/r/getfider/fider/tags
Use the docker pull command to pull the image from the DockerHub.
docker pull getfider/fider:main
Now pull the official docker image of Postgres from the DockerHub registry at: https://hub.docker.com/_/postgres/tags
Use the docker pull command to pull postgres image.
docker pull postgres:13.16
Check if the docker images are available in your instance.
docker images
Push the Docker images to ECR
Step 1: Visit the ECR console
Create a public or private repository based on your use case by clicking on the create repository prompt in the top right corner.
Name the repo getfider/fider and repeat the same process for postgres.
Check if the repositories are created.
Step 2: View the push commands
View the push commands by clicking on the respective repository.
Use the AWS CLI to retrieve an authentication token and authenticate your Docker client to your registry.
tag your pulled image so you can push the image to this repository.
Run the following command to push this image to your newly created AWS repository.
Repeat the same steps for tagging and pushing the postgres image to the repository and view the pushed images in the ECR.
Create a VPC
Step 1: Create a standalone VPC for deploying Fider application
Login to the management console then navigate to the VPC service console and click on Create VPC.
Create VPC only for now, you can create public and private subnets manually and can attach these subnets to particular route tables.
A route table will also get created with route to local traffic.
Step 2: Create an Internet gateway
Create an IGW and attach it to the VPC you created.
The IGW is now attached to the VPC.
Associate the IGW with the route table by clicking on edit routes.
By clicking on Add route attach the the IGW to the route table.
The route table now has a route to the IGW, which means the subnets associated with this route table can have Internet access.
Step 3: Create Public Subnets
Create at least two public subnets, so that the Application Load Balancer can reside in it.
Navigate to the VPC Console, under the subnets section create two public subnets.
Decide the subnet CIDR range and provision it accordingly.
Associate the public subnets to the public route table where the IGW is also attached.
Step 4: Create Private Subnets
Create at least two private subnets, so that your ECS tasks and EFS can reside in it.
Navigate to the VPC Console, under the subnets section create at least two private subnets.
Under the actions dropdown choose Edit subnet settings and uncheck the Enable auto-assign public IPv4 address.
Step 5: Create a Private route table
Create a private route table in the VPC console under the route tables section to route traffic locally.
Associate the private subnets to the private route table, like how you did with the public route table, and follow the same steps.
Step 6: Create NAT gateway
Create a NAT gateway to allow tasks in the private subnet to connect to the internet.
Navigate to NAT gateway section under the VPC console and create a NAT gateway.
Associate it with a public subnet and also associate an Elastic IP address to it.
Set the connectivity type to public.
Attach the NAT gateway to the private route table that has three private subnets associated with it.
The private route table now has a route to the NAT gateway.
Your VPC lineage should now look like this.
Create an EFS volume
Step 1:
Navigate to the EFS console and click on create file system prompt.
Name it pg_data_volume and choose the VPC you created.
Step 2: Create an access point
Navigate into the file system and create an access point.
Set the default path to the root directory for now and click on Create access point.
Step 3: Change the security group configuration for EFS
Under the network tab click on manage to change the settings.
Change the default security group setting to EFS-sg settings as EFS listens on port 2049, so create security group for that.
The EFS volume can now be attached to the ECS task via task definition.
Why use ECS instead of EC2
There are three major reasons to use ECS instead of EC2,
1. Cost Efficiency:
ECS supports Fargate, a serverless compute engine that lets you run containers without managing the underlying EC2 instances. Fargate charges based on the resources each container consumes, which can be more cost-effective than maintaining idle EC2 resources, especially for applications with variable traffic.
2. Reduced Operational Overhead:
With ECS, AWS takes on much of the responsibility for managing the infrastructure. This reduces the need for manual OS patching, Docker updates, or monitoring of EC2 health. ECS manages the lifecycle of your containers, so tasks like restarting containers, updating configurations, and redeploying are automated.
3. Security and Networking Configuration
ECS allows fine-grained control over network and security configurations for each task (container), such as running tasks in a private subnet for backend services while exposing the application to the internet through a load balancer in a public subnet. ECS integrates with AWS IAM, allowing you to apply specific IAM roles to Fider containers, improving security without requiring elevated permissions for the entire EC2 instance.
Create an ECS cluster
Step 1:
Navigate to the ECS console and create an ECS cluster with Fargate launch type.
Click on Create cluster.
This will create an ECS cluster via Cloudformation in the backend.
Create Task Definition
Step 1:
Navigate to the task definition section under the ECS console and create a task definition named fider-app-task.
The task definition can be created via both the console and JSON.
Attach the EFS volume provisioned within the task definition.
Set the configuration type to configure at task definition creation.
Refer to the following JSON task definition for creating the task definition via JSON.
{
"taskDefinitionArn": "arn:aws:ecs:us-east-2:545009831165:task-definition/fider-app-task:7",
"containerDefinitions": [
{
"name": "Fider-app",
"image": "545009831165.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/getfider/fider:main",
"cpu": 2048,
"memory": 6144,
"memoryReservation": 5120,
"portMappings": [
{
"name": "fider-app-3000-tcp",
"containerPort": 3000,
"hostPort": 3000,
"protocol": "tcp",
"appProtocol": "http"
}
],
"essential": true,
"environment": [
{
"name": "EMAIL_SMTP_PORT",
"value": "587"
},
{
"name": "DATABASE_URL",
"value": "postgres://<username>:<password>@localhost:5432/<database>?sslmode=disable"
},
{
"name": "EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD",
"value": "Your-SMTP-Password"
},
{
"name": "JWT_SECRET",
"value": "Generate a secure secret, for example using https://jwtsecret.com"
},
{
"name": "EMAIL_SMTP_ENABLE_STARTTLS",
"value": "'true'"
},
{
"name": "EMAIL_SMTP_USERNAME",
"value": "Use-SMTP-Username-here"
},
{
"name": "BASE_URL",
"value": "Provide your URL"
},
{
"name": "EMAIL_SMTP_HOST",
"value": "Provide your SMTP host"
},
{
"name": "EMAIL_NOREPLY",
"value": "Provide your noreply mail"
}
],
"environmentFiles": [],
"mountPoints": [],
"volumesFrom": [],
"dependsOn": [
{
"containerName": "postgres-db",
"condition": "HEALTHY"
}
],
"ulimits": [],
"logConfiguration": {
"logDriver": "awslogs",
"options": {
"awslogs-group": "/ecs/fider-app-task",
"mode": "non-blocking",
"awslogs-create-group": "true",
"max-buffer-size": "25m",
"awslogs-region": "us-east-2",
"awslogs-stream-prefix": "ecs"
},
"secretOptions": []
},
"systemControls": []
},
{
"name": "postgres-db",
"image": "545009831165.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/postgres:13.16",
"cpu": 2048,
"memory": 6144,
"memoryReservation": 5120,
"portMappings": [
{
"name": "postgres-db-5432-port",
"containerPort": 5432,
"hostPort": 5432,
"protocol": "tcp",
"appProtocol": "http"
}
],
"essential": true,
"environment": [
{
"name": "POSTGRES_USER",
"value": "fider"
},
{
"name": "POSTGRES_PASSWORD",
"value": "s0m3g00dp4ssw0rd"
},
{
"name": "POSTGRES_DB",
"value": "fider"
},
{
"name": "PGDATA",
"value": "/var/lib/postgresql/data"
}
],
"environmentFiles": [],
"mountPoints": [],
"volumesFrom": [],
"healthCheck": {
"command": [
"CMD-SHELL",
"pg_isready -U fider"
],
"interval": 10,
"timeout": 5,
"retries": 5
},
"systemControls": []
}
],
"family": "fider-app-task",
"executionRoleArn": "arn:aws:iam::545009831165:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole",
"networkMode": "awsvpc",
"revision": 7,
"volumes": [
{
"name": "pg_data_volume",
"efsVolumeConfiguration": {
"fileSystemId": "fs-08874b6ca635e5349",
"rootDirectory": "/",
"transitEncryption": "ENABLED",
"transitEncryptionPort": 2049,
"authorizationConfig": {
"accessPointId": "fsap-0bc6e6c2dd68da7b8",
"iam": "DISABLED"
}
}
}
],
"status": "ACTIVE",
"requiresAttributes": [
{
"name": "ecs.capability.execution-role-awslogs"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.ecr-auth"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.28"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.21"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.container-health-check"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.execution-role-ecr-pull"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.18"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.task-eni"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.29"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.logging-driver.awslogs"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.24"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.efsAuth"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.19"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.efs"
},
{
"name": "ecs.capability.container-ordering"
},
{
"name": "com.amazonaws.ecs.capability.docker-remote-api.1.25"
}
],
"placementConstraints": [],
"compatibilities": [
"EC2",
"FARGATE"
],
"requiresCompatibilities": [
"FARGATE"
],
"cpu": "4096",
"memory": "24576",
"runtimePlatform": {
"cpuArchitecture": "X86_64",
"operatingSystemFamily": "LINUX"
},
"registeredAt": "2024-10-27T11:10:15.921Z",
"registeredBy": "arn:aws:sts::your-account-id:assumed-role/AWSReservedSSO_AdministratorAccess_06c094dca8d9665c/your-account-name",
"enableFaultInjection": false,
"tags": []
}
Configuring mail server for Fider
Fider requires a mail server so administrators can set up SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) details in Fider's environment settings. This usually involves specifying the mail server’s hostname, port, and authentication credentials (if needed) or via API, ensuring Fider can send emails reliably and securely.
The application requires email verification as part of the signup process to prevent spam and ensure only valid users access the platform.
Step 1: Setup a Mailgun account
Sign up with Sinch Mailgun and create an account at: https://signup.mailgun.com/new/signup?
If you don't want to add the payment information at the time of sign up, you can ignore that and proceed without providing it.
Step 2: Navigate to Domains paths under send
Once the sign up process is completed, Log in with your account and navigate to the
Domain path under the sending navigation panel.
You can either verify your domain and add the DNS records that Mailgun provides you with, to your DNS registrar or you can go with Mailgun's sandbox account to test the email functionality of the application.
Step 3: Use the SMTP credentials
There are two options, You can either use Mailgun's API or its SMTP credentials to plug into your app's settings.
Click on the sandbox account domain, it'll take you to the overview section.
I'll be using the SMTP credentials in my app's settings (environment variables).
Sandbox domains are restricted to authorized email recipients only, so verify your email address beforehand.
Use these SMTP credentials inside the task definition of the Elastic container service.
Create an ECS service
Step 1:
Navigate to the ECS cluster you created and click on it, once inside the cluster click on service.
Step 2: Configuration parameters
In the compute configuration choose the launch type and choose Fargate as a launch type in the dropdown.
Choose service as the application type in the deployment configuration and Replica as the service type.
In the networking configuration choose the VPC you created and choose the same subnets where your EFS too resides, else you'll run into EFS utils error while initializing the task.
Turn off the public IP address as the tasks will use NAT gateway.
Configure the Application load balancer and place it inside the public subnet as front-facing for your application.
Create target-group on the fly in the ECS console itself.
Click on create in the end and navigate to Cloudformation to view the status.
Step 3: Use ACM for SSL certificates
The service is up and running now.
Navigate to the ACM console and click on request a certificate.
Request a public certificate and click on Next.
Provide your domain name and choose the DNS validation method.
Click on request and ACM provides you with the DNS records, verify the records by mapping them to your DNS registrar settings.
Your SSL certificate is ready to be used with the application load balancer.
Step 4: Configure HTTPS for ALB
Navigate to the ALB console and setup a HTTPS listener by clicking on Add listener.
Choose ACM as a certificate source in Secure listener settings.
Edit the HTTP listener rule and redirect the HTTP traffic to the HTTPS listener.
In routing actions select the Redirect to URL option and click on save changes.
Step 5: Map the ALB endpoint to your subdomain
Navigate to your DNS registrar's DNS settings and map it to your subdomain.
Try passing it as CNAME record if your registrar does not allow A record mapping for ALB.
Step 6:
Now enter the URL you passed in the ECS task definition in the web browser.
Viola! There you have it. Fider's up and about with the tasks running securely inside a private subnet of their own and the ALB routing requests to them.
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