How to Install NGINX on AWS EC2 (Ubuntu)

🧾 Prerequisites

Before we dive in, make sure you have:

An AWS account
Basic understanding of EC2
A key pair (for SSH access)
A domain name (optional but helpful)

🔧 Step 1: Launch an EC2 Instance

Go to the AWS EC2 Dashboard.
Click “Launch Instance”.
Choose Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (or 20.04).
Select a free-tier eligible type like t2.micro.
Create or use an existing key pair.
Under Security Group, allow these:
- SSH (port 22) – to access your server
- HTTP (port 80) – for web traffic
- HTTPS (port 443) – for SSL later

Click “Launch” and wait for the instance to be ready.

🔗 Step 2: Connect to the Server via SSH

Use your .pem key to SSH into your instance:

ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-public-ip

Replace /path/to/your-key.pem and your-ec2-public-ip with your actual key file and public IP.

📦 Step 3: Update the Server

Once connected, always update your server packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

🌐 Step 4: Install NGINX

Let’s install the NGINX web server:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Now start and enable NGINX:

sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Check status:

sudo systemctl status nginx

🔓 Step 5: (Optional) Allow NGINX Through UFW Firewall

If you’re using UFW (Ubuntu’s firewall):

sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

🌍 Step 6: Test in Your Browser

Open your browser and go to:

http://your-ec2-public-ip

You should see the default NGINX welcome page — that means it’s working! ✅

📁 Step 7: Create Your Own Website

Want to serve your own content?

Create a directory:

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/yourdomain.com
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /var/www/yourdomain.com

Add an index.html file:

echo "<h1>Hello from NGINX on AWS!</h1>" > /var/www/yourdomain.com/index.html

Create a new NGINX config:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com

Paste:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com www.yourdomain.com;

    root /var/www/yourdomain.com;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
}

Enable it and reload NGINX:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/yourdomain.com /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

🔐 Step 8: Add SSL with Let’s Encrypt (Free HTTPS)

To secure your site with HTTPS:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Run Certbot:

sudo certbot --nginx

Follow the prompts to install SSL automatically. 🎉

✅ Final Words

You now have NGINX running on an AWS EC2 instance — serving your own website, secured with HTTPS.

🔁 Summary Checklist

Task	Status
✅ Launch EC2 with Ubuntu	✔️
✅ Install NGINX	✔️
✅ Set up security groups	✔️
✅ Deploy a custom site	✔️
✅ Enable SSL with Certbot	✔️