A step-by-step procedure to run NGINX server/load balancer in AWS EC2 Using Docker

Running Nginx ("Engine X") in AWS EC2 Using Docker

Steps to run NGINX in AWS EC2 with Docker and login

1. Create a Free AWS Account

Create a free AWS Account at https://aws.amazon.com/

2. Create and Launch an EC2 Instance and SSH into the Machine

We’ll use a t3.micro Amazon Linux Machine for this demo.
You can choose any OS (Ubuntu, Debian, Amazon Linux, etc.); commands are mostly the same with minor syntax differences.

Step-by-step

Search for EC2 in AWS Console
- Click on it — you’ll be redirected to the EC2 page.
- Click on Launch Instance
Give a Name to Your EC2 Machine

You can use any name you like.
Select your OS — here, Amazon Linux.
Instance Type and Key Pair
- Choose an instance type (e.g., t2.medium for 2–3 medium websites).
- Create a Key Pair to enable SSH access.
Give it a name and click Create Key Pair.
Network Settings

Enable both:
- Allow HTTPS traffic from the internet
- Allow HTTP traffic from the internet
Then click Launch Instance.
Instance Launched Successfully

Click on your Instance ID — this opens the instance summary page.

🎉 Congratulations — your instance is live!
Next, we’ll install Docker and NGINX inside Docker.

3. Connect to the Instance

You can connect using EC2 Instance Connect or SSH.

aws_connect

Copy the SSH Command

You’ll see a connection command like this:

aws_ssh_connect

cd Downloads
ssh -i "my_server_key.pem" ec2-user@ec2-54-224-17-6.compute-1.amazonaws.com

For mac

macOS will not allow to change files in Download/

so move your downloaded file to Desktop or any folder of your wish

cd Desktop
chmod 400 "my_server_key.pem"
ssh -i "my_server_key.pem" ec2-user@ec2-54-224-17-6.compute-1.amazonaws.com

copy your ssh command and paste.

Note: Generally the downloaded file of key pair will be in Downloads , You should be in that folder and run the above ssh command.

aws_ec2_launch

you should get this in your terminal/cmd

🎉 Then successfully you will be connected to your instance.

4. Install Docker

use yum for Amazon Linux

use apt for Ubuntu

Here I will be using yum , because I`m using Amazon Linux. Replace with apt in Ubuntu OS.

sudo yum install docker -y

#check for docker version,if it installed,it will come
docker -v

To start docker

sudo service docker start

#now if you run below command, you should see table headings of CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

sudo docker ps

To convert sudo docker to only docker (optional)

sudo usermod -a -G docker ec2-user

#Then you need to reboot machine to work with only docker.

now you can run docker ps only , no need of sudo or continue with sudo

5. Install NGINX Using Docker

To pull NGINX image

sudo docker pull nginx

#or docker pull nginx , if you ruined above command

To run NGINX in -d (detach) mode

sudo docker run -d --name nginx -p 80:80 nginx

-d is detach mode (after running command to come out of it)

-p is to expose port

here , 80 port is exposed to 80 port of your localhost.

🎉 That`s it you successfully ruined NGINX.

To check

Open your local machine browser and enter your ec2 instanc ip address.

Note:You should enable Allow HTTPS traffic from the internet and Allow HTTP traffic from the internet in your EC2 Network settings or else you cann`t access nginx page in browser.

You should see

aws_ec2_launch

To Run a Sample Static Html page

1.Create a folder and inside it craete a index.html file

mkdir my_website

cd my_website

2.Add your html inside index.html

You can use nano/vim/vi to edit your index.html

#To open nano editor
nano index.html
#same for vim or vi
#vim index.html

This is sample code for index.html

You can write your code init

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>My Web Site</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello from Nginx + Docker on AWS EC2</h1>
  </body>
</html>

3.Docker command to run

sudo docker  run -d --name nginx -p 80:80 -v ~/my_website:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro nginx

-v ~/my_website:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro nginx → mounts your folder into Nginx’s default web root (/usr/share/nginx/html).

:ro→ read-only, so Nginx can’t change your files.

🎉 Now, you can enter your ip in browser and check your website

How to Run NGINX in AWS EC2 Using Docker