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Ragul.M
Ragul.M

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Deploying a Two-Tier Web Application on AWS with MySQL and Apache

In this blog, I will guide you through step-by-step instructions to set up a two-tier architecture on AWS using VPC, Subnets, Internet Gateway, Route Tables, RDS, EC2, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and HTML. This project will allow you to host a registration web application where users can submit their details, which will be stored in an RDS MySQL database.

Step 1: Create a VPC
1.1 Login to AWS Management Console

  • Navigate to the VPC service
  • Click Create VPC
  • Enter the following details:
  • VPC Name: my-vpc
  • IPv4 CIDR Block: 10.0.0.0/16
  • Tenancy: Default
  • Click Create VPC

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Step 2: Create Subnets
2.1 Create a Public Subnet

  • Go to VPC > Subnets
  • Click Create Subnet
  • Choose my-vpc
  • Set Subnet Name: public-subnet
  • IPv4 CIDR Block: 10.0.1.0/24
  • Click Create

2.2 Create a Private Subnet
Repeat the steps above but set:

  • Subnet Name: private-subnet
  • IPv4 CIDR Block: 10.0.2.0/24

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Step 3: Create an Internet Gateway (IGW) and Attach to VPC
3.1 Create IGW

  • Go to VPC > Internet Gateways
  • Click Create Internet Gateway
  • Set Name: your-igw
  • Click Create IGW 3.2 Attach IGW to VPC
  • Select your-igw
  • Click Actions > Attach to VPC
  • Choose my-vpc and click Attach

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Step 4: Configure Route Tables
4.1 Create a Public Route Table

  • Go to VPC > Route Tables
  • Click Create Route Table
  • Set Name: public-route-table
  • Choose my-vpc and click Create
  • Edit Routes → Add a new route:
  • Destination: 0.0.0.0/0
  • Target: my-igw
  • Edit Subnet Associations → Attach public-subnet

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Step 5: Create an RDS Database (MySQL)

  • Go to RDS > Create Database
  • Choose Standard Create
  • Select MySQL
  • Set DB instance identifier: my-rds
  • Master Username: admin
  • Master Password: yourpassword
  • Subnet Group: Select private-subnet
  • VPC Security Group: Allow 3306 (MySQL) from my-vpc
  • Click Create Database

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Step 6: Launch an EC2 Instance

  • Go to EC2 > Launch Instance
  • Choose Ubuntu 22.04
  • Set Instance Name: my-ec2
  • Select my-vpc and attach public-subnet
  • Security Group: Allow
  • SSH (22) from your IP
  • HTTP (80) from anywhere
  • MySQL (3306) from my-vpc
  • Click Launch Instance

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Step 7: Install Apache, PHP, and MySQL Client
7.1 Connect to EC2

ssh -i your-key.pem ubuntu@your-ec2-public-ip
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7.2 Install LAMP Stack

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y apache2 php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql mysql-client
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7.3 Start Apache

sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2
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Step 8: Configure Web Application
8.1 Create the Registration Form

cd /var/www/html
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sudo nano index.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Registration Form</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h2>User Registration</h2>
    <form action="submit.php" method="POST">
        Name: <input type="text" name="name" required><br>
        DOB: <input type="date" name="dob" required><br>
        Email: <input type="email" name="email" required><br>
        <input type="submit" value="Register">
    </form>
</body>
</html>
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8.2 Create PHP Script (submit.php)

sudo nano /var/www/html/submit.php
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<?php
$servername = "your-rds-endpoint";
$username = "admin";
$password = "yourpassword";
$dbname = "registration";
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
$name = $_POST['name'];
$dob = $_POST['dob'];
$email = $_POST['email'];
$stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, dob, email) VALUES (?, ?, ?)");
$stmt->bind_param("sss", $name, $dob, $email);
if ($stmt->execute()) {
    echo "Registration successful";
} else {
    echo "Error: " . $stmt->error;
}
$stmt->close();
$conn->close();
?>
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Step 9: Create Target Group

  1. Go to the AWS EC2 Console → Navigate to Target Groups
  2. Click Create target group
  3. Choose Target type: Instance
  4. Enter Target group name: my-target-group
  5. Select Protocol: HTTP
  6. Select Port: 80
  7. Choose the VPC you created earlier
  8. Click Next
  9. Under Register Targets, select your EC2 instances
  10. Click Include as pending below, then Create target group

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Step 10: Create an Application Load Balancer (ALB)

  1. Go to AWS EC2 Console → Navigate to Load Balancers
  2. Click Create Load Balancer
  3. Choose Application Load Balancer
  4. Enter ALB Name: my-alb
  5. Scheme: Internet-facing
  6. IP address type: IPv4
  7. Select the VPC
  8. Select at least two public subnets (for high availability)
  9. Click Next

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Step 11: Test the Application

  1. Restart Apache sudo systemctl restart apache2
  2. Open your browser and visit: http://your-ec2-public-ip/
  3. Fill in the form and Submit
  4. Check MySQL Database:
mysql -u admin -p -h your-rds-endpoint
USE your_database;
SELECT * FROM table_name;
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This setup ensures a scalable, secure, and high-availability application on AWS! 🚀

Follow for more and happy learning :)

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