The performance of the web apps plays a vital role in user experience and impacts their engagement. Though web apps need to be performant, as most of the time, they can be accessed on Desktop/Mobile devices short span of time.

Websitestes usually comprise static assets such as .js .css and .json text files. Enabling GZIP compression on web servers is one of the simplest and most efficient ways to achieve that. This helps to reduce the bandwidth requirement, speeding up the website rendering.

All modern browsers include support for GZIP compression by default. However, to serve the compressed resources to users with no hiccups, we must configure your server properly.

In this post, I will discuss how to compress AWS ECS-based Web Containers by implementing NGINX reverse proxy sidecar with the internet blazing fast.

Excited? Let’s decompress!

As you can refer to this architecture, Users request the Application Load Balancer, which then distributes the traffic to the NGINX reverse proxy sidecars. The NGINX reverse proxy then forwards the request to the application server and returns its response to the client via the load balancer.

With this network design, we can achieve compression by enabling GZIP as well as filtering unwanted traffic to the web applications.

NGINX configuration.

worker_processes  1;

events {
  worker_connections  1024;
}

http {

  gzip on;
  gzip_min_length 1000;
  gzip_proxied expired no-cache no-store private auth;
  gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript application/x-javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;
  
  upstream apps {
    server app-container:3000; # Same Name as App Container
  }
  
  server {
    listen 80;
    server_name  localhost;

    
    location / {
      proxy_pass         http://apps;
      proxy_http_version 1.1;
      proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
      proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
      proxy_set_header Host $host;
      proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
      proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
  }
}

upstream apps: Define same as container application container name.

GZIP is a file format that uses DEFLATE internally, along with some interesting blocking, filtering heuristics, a header, and a checksum. In general, the additional blocking and heuristics that GZIP uses give it better compression ratios than DEFLATE alone.

gzip_types: Define types of files for compressed.

Note: I always deploy an environment using IaaC to make my life easier. So, I have developed Terraform code to deploy Fargret ECS (Nginx and App), ALB, Target Group for ALB

Container Definition

 [
    {
        "name": "app-container",
        "secrets": [],
        "image": "Your App ECR URL Here",
        "cpu": 512,
        "memory": 512,
        "portMappings": [
            {
                "containerPort": ${app_port},
                "protocol": "tcp",
                "hostPort": 0
            }
        ],
        "essential": true
    },
    {
        "name": "nginx-container",
        "image": "Your Nginx ECR URL Here",
        "memory": 256,
        "cpu": 256,
        "essential": true,
        "portMappings": [
            {
                "containerPort": ${web_port},
                "protocol": "tcp",
                "hostPort": 0
            }
        ],
        "links": [
            "app-container:app-container"
        ],
        "logConfiguration": {
            "logDriver": "awslogs",
            "secretOptions": null,
            "options": {
                "awslogs-group": "/ecs/nginx-log",
                "awslogs-region": "${region}",
                "awslogs-stream-prefix": "ecs"
            }
        }
    }
]

Main.tf

data "template_file" "template" {
    template = file("./templates/container-definition.json")
    vars = {
        region            = var.AWS_REGION
        app_port          = var.container_port
        web_port          = var.nginx_port
    }
}

As you can see from the main.tf file container ports passed as variables. var.container_port = 3000 and var.nginx_port = 80

Task Definition

resource "aws_ecs_task_definition" "task_definition" {
    container_definitions = data.template_file.template.rendered
    family = "SideCar"
    requires_compatibilities = ["FARGATE"]
    network_mode = "bridge"
    execution_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole"
    task_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole"
}

requires_compatibilities = ["FARGATE"] - Define that container deployed as fargrate instance.

execution_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole" - AWS managed role for Task Execution, Please replay with your AWS Account ID

task_role_arn = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole" - AWS managed role for Task Execution, Please replay with your AWS Account ID

ECS Service

resource "aws_ecs_service" "ecs_service" {
  cluster = aws_ecs_cluster.cluster.id
  name = "WebApp"
  task_definition = aws_ecs_task_definition.task_definition.arn
  iam_role = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/aws-service-role/ecs.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForECS"
  load_balancer {
    target_group_arn = aws_alb_target_group.target_group.arn
    container_name = "nginx-container"
    container_port = var.nginx_port
  }
  desired_count = var.desired_count
 lifecycle {
    ignore_changes = [desired_count]
  }
}

iam_role = "arn:aws:iam::YourAccountID:role/aws-service-role/ecs.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForECS" - AWS managed role for AWS Service, Please replay with your AWS Account ID

cluster = aws_ecs_cluster.cluster.id - I have created aws cluster in terraform file and I have refer to here

load_balancer - I have created Application Load Balancer and map to the Nginx Container port  request comes from ALB will be forwarded to the Nginx Container

Load Balancer Listner Rule

resource "aws_alb_listener" "listener" {
    load_balancer_arn = aws_alb.fargate.id
    port              = "80"
    protocol          = "HTTP"
    default_action {
    type             = "forward"
    target_group_arn = aws_alb_target_group.target_group.arn
    }

    condition {
    host_header {
      values = ["webapp.com"]
    }
  }
    condition {
        path_pattern {
        values = var.alb_rule
        }

    }
}

I have added Port 80 Listner to the Application Load Balancer and defined the Listener rule as follows.

When client request like webapp.com or the request path container /api, which will be passed to the Nginx container.

Find the Full code here

Conclusion

Gzip compresses, reduced hosting charges and brings a better user experience.

Hello Everyone,

In my previous tutorial, I discussed How to deploy the Jenkins Server (Master) and Build server (Node/Slave) on EC2 Instances. Also, I mentioned that I will write how to build a Pipeline and deploy the application. So, this blog is a continuation of the previous tutorial. To read my previous tutorial click the link below

CI/CD Jenkins Pipeline With AWS - DevOps - Part 01

In this tutorial, I will show how to build Pipeline, Connect Github, and Continues Deployment of web application on Elastic Beanstalk. 

Let's jump into the tutorial

How to build Pipeline, Connect Github, and Continues Deployment of web application on Elastic Beanstalk.

In this case, I am using GitHub as Version Control System and I going to build and deploy the Node-Js application on ElasticBeantalk. 

1. Install NodeJs Plugins on Jenkins

Navigate to Manage Plugins and click on the Available tab. Then Search for NodesJs

Manage Jenkins > Plugin Manager > Install NodeJS plugin.Now the Plugin is successfully installed.

Now Goto the Global Configuration and Set your compatible node version. 

Bottom of your Global Tool Configuration, you can able to view nodejs installation tab.

Click On Add NodeJS and Configuration as follows,Name: NodeJs

Once the GitHub Repository is created, Navigate to your repository and select setting > webhook > add webhookPayload URL: <paste your Jenkins environment URL/github-webhook/>. 

Now the Project configuration is as follows,From the General Tab,

Under Source Code Management

For this project, I am maintaining a master branch and main branch. The master in which where I test my code and later merge my master branch to main. The main branch act as the main/common branch for other branches such as the feature branch, todo branch, etc.

I select GitHub hook trigger as build trigger. As we configured our GitHub to trigger Jenkins for each pull and push.

Under the Build section, select the AWS IAM credentials which you have added earlier for Elastic Beanstalk Application and Select region as per your choice.

Note: Please take a note of the region that will be used later in this tutorial to store our beanstalk application in S3.

Application Name: <your choice>

Version Label Format

As I mentioned earlier, ElasticBeanstalk stores different versions of the application to the S3 bucket. So let's configure applications for deploy to S3.

S3 Bucket Name: <the bucket which to store>

Hello Everyone,

As you know, I am reading about AWS services and automate the deployment process of any AWS services using Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, and bash and also often talk about DevOps.

DevOps is one of the things right now in the term of CI/CD with the development and release of software in the DevOps process. Every development and the release of the software have to be as fast as possible.

So, In this tutorial, show you how the deployment and release of a web application agile as possible using Jenkins, Github, AWS EC2 Instances, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk to create a deployment pipeline for a web application that is updated automatically every time you change your code.

This tutorial Divided into three parts, 

In part 01, I will be explaining how to deploy the Jenkins server (master) and Build server (node/slave).

In part 02, I will explain meticulously how to build Pipeline, Connect Github, and Continues Deployment of web application on Elastic Beanstalk.

In part 03, let's have contexts about the Continuous Test, Release Management and App Performance and Monitoring (APM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: In this tutorial, I won't be explaining VPC, Subnet, Route Table creation. This tutorial only about Jenkins Master/ Slave Installation & Configuration AWS Plattform.

ubuntu@ip-10.0.0.172:~$ sudo -s
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:-# sudo amazon-linux-extras install java-openjdk11
...
Transaction Summary
======================================
Install  1 Package (+31 Dependent packages)

Total download size: 46 M
Installed size: 183 M
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~#
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~#

ubuntu@ip-10.0.0.172:~# java --version
openjdk 11.0.7 2020-04-14 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.7+10-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.7+10-LTS, mixed mode, sharing)
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~#

Add Jenkins repository to Jenkins Master Instance. we’ll use the package installation method. Therefore a package repository is required to install Jenkins.

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# tee /etc/yum.repos.d/jenkins.repo<<EOF
[jenkins]
name=Jenkins
baseurl=http://pkg.jenkins.io/redhat
gpgcheck=0
EOF

Import GPG repository key.

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# rpm --import https://jenkins-ci.org/redhat/jenkins-ci.org.key

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~#  sudo yum repolist

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# yum install jenkins

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# systemctl start jenkins
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# systemctl enable jenkins
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# systemctl status jenkins
● jenkins.service - LSB: Jenkins Automation Server
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/rc.d/init.d/jenkins; bad; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Wed 2020-12-09 17:52:04 UTC; 9s ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 2911 ExecStart=/etc/rc.d/init.d/jenkins start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   CGroup: /system.slice/jenkins.service
           └─2932 /etc/alternatives/java -Dcom.sun.akuma.Daemon=daemonized -Djava.awt.headless=true -DJENKINS_HOME=/var/lib/jenkins -jar /usr/lib/jenkins/jenki...

Dec 09 17:52:03 amazon-linux systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Jenkins Automation Server...
Dec 09 17:52:03 amazon-linux runuser[2916]: pam_unix(runuser:session): session opened for user jenkins by (uid=0)
Dec 09 17:52:04 amazon-linux jenkins[2911]: Starting Jenkins [  OK  ]
Dec 09 17:52:04 amazon-linux systemd[1]: Started LSB: Jenkins Automation Server.

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# ss -tunelp | grep 8080
tcp  LISTEN 0      50                                     *:8080              *:*          users:(("java",pid=2932,fd=139)) uid:996 ino:26048 sk:f v6only:0 <->

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# yum install nginx
root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# service nginx start

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# vim /etc/ngnix/conf.d/jenkins.conf
upstream jenkins {
    server 127.0.0.1:8080;
}

server {
    listen      80 default;
    #server_name your_jenkins_site.com;#

    access_log  /var/log/nginx/jenkins.access.log;
    error_log   /var/log/nginx/jenkins.error.log;

    proxy_buffers 16 64k;
    proxy_buffer_size 128k;

    location / {
        proxy_pass  http://jenkins;
        proxy_next_upstream error timeout invalid_header http_500 http_502 http_503 http_504;
        proxy_redirect off;

        proxy_set_header    Host            $host;
        proxy_set_header    X-Real-IP       $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-Proto http;
    }

}

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# systemctl reload nginx

root@@ip-10.0.0.172:~# cat /var/lib/jenkins/secrets/initialAdminPassword
7c893b9829dd4ba08244ad77fae9fe4f

Once the plugins are installed create the first admin user.

Click Start Using Jenkins and You will be redirected to the Jenkins Dashboard.

Now we have done with Jenkins installation successfully. Moreover, Jenkins provides an email notification service through which we can report the build status and testing results to the team.

Now let's configure to send Email Notifications in Jenkins.

Note: There are two ways to configure email notifications in Jenkins. Using Email Extension Plugin and the 2nd is Using Default Email Notifier.

I am gonna use the Default Email Notifier for this tutorial.

Since we are using AWS services for the Jenkins server, lets configure AWS SES Services to our email server.

Navigate to the SES services and click Email Addresses

Fill in your email address and get verified, Then Navigate to SMTP Setting Make a note of your SMTP Server Name and Click Create My SMTP Credentials. 

Create My SMTP Credential page redirect to IAM Page and Click Create to get your SMTP Credentials for Jenkins Configuration.

Now Make of note your SMTP Credential and Go Back to your Jenkins Master Node and Configure SMTP for Email Notification under Jenkins configurations. 

On the Jenkins URL Tab add your SES Email which you have configured

Scroll Down to bottom of the configuration page and fill in the SMTP Server and SMTP Authentication information

2. Jenkins Slave Instance Configuration

As we discussed above, the Slave Instance acts as a build server. Later in this tutorial (part 2) we will build and deploy the application on the elastic beanstalk. With that in mind, let's create IAM Role for the slave instance to Beanstalk full access.

Navigate to IAM and Click on Create Roles and Choose use case as EC2 and Attach Beanstalk full Acess policy.

Now Launch an instance with the role which you have created and configure security group inbound for SSH and only allow your Jenkins Master instance.

Note: Again I am not going to provide a tutorial for how to launch an instance and security group configuration. Please configure it yourself.

Disclaimer: To access your slave server from Jenkins master you need to add the private key of your slave instance to Jenkins master. Please take note of the SSH keys.

Go back to your Jenkins Master instance Configuration > Credentials > Global Credential (Unrestricted) Path and add the SSH private key

Now Start your Slave instance and install the following software.

1. Install Java

ubuntu@ip-10.0.0.168:~$ sudo -s
root@@ip-10.0.0.168:-# amazon-linux-extras install java-openjdk11

2. Install Git

root@@ip-10.0.0.168:-# yum -y install git

3. install elastic beanstalk CLI

root@@ip-10.0.0.168:-# /usr/bin/easy_install awsebcli

Once you have done with the installation, Take a note of the Slave instance private DNS and add this Slave instance to the Jenkins Master.
MyPrivateDNS: ip-10-0-0-168.us-west-2.compute.internal

Now go back to your Jenkins Master, Click Configuration > Manage Nodes and Cloud

You will see the master on the node page. Click the setting button and set the Number of executors to 0. Meaning we are disabling our Jenkins Master to build any application. Because we have deployed slave instance to do build.

Once you save it, Click on New Node and the Slave instance your worker node to build your application on the Continuous integration. and define the following fields on the menu.

Description: As you want

Remote Root Directory: Slave instance User's Directory, # /home/ec2-user

Usage: Use this node as much as possible

Launch method: Launch via SSH

Host: Your Private DNS, #ip-10-0-0-168.us-west-2.compute.internal

Credentials: Credentials that have created previously

Host Key Verification Strategy: non verifying verification strategy

Then click Save and you will be redirected to the Node page. On the page, you can able to view created node

Now click on the Node which you have created and click the Launch Agent button.

The Jenkins Master instance tries to connect your slave instance via ssh. You can able see the Log of the connectivity and on success will get a log that the agent has been launched.

Now you have successfully connected your Jenkins Slave Node with Master Node and you fully utilize your Slave node to build the application.

That's it for the CI/CD Jenkins Pipeline With AWS - DevOps - Part 01

In this blog, we have discussed how to deploy the Jenkins server (master) and Build server (node/slave).

I know it was a bit wild to configure back and forth. In the end, we have achieved our goal.

In part two, let's discuss how to build Pipeline, Connect Github, and Continues Deployment of web application on Elastic Beanstalk with the real-time example.

That's pretty much it, catch you guys in part two.