Deploying to AWS EC2

An EC2 deployment is a classic “you manage the server” approach.

High-level architecture

• EC2 instance (Linux)
• Gunicorn runs your app as a systemd service
• Nginx reverse proxies from port 80/443 to Gunicorn

diagram Diagram mermaid

  flowchart LR
  Internet --> SG[Security Group]
  SG --> N[Nginx :80/:443]
  N --> G[Gunicorn :8000]
  G --> App[Flask]

Key pieces to understand

• Security groups (open ports 80/443)
• SSH access
• systemd service files
• Nginx site config
• TLS certificates (Let’s Encrypt)

Typical deployment approach

• configure environment variables (systemd service)
• start/restart service on code changes
• log to journald (systemctl logs)

Operational caution

EC2 gives you full control but also full responsibility:

• patching OS
• firewall rules
• backups
• monitoring

It’s great for learning real-world deployment fundamentals.