Hello Rails (Docker + Terraform + AWS ECS) 🚃

This is a minimal Ruby on Rails app containerized with Docker and deployed to AWS ECS Fargate using Terraform. A GitHub Actions workflow builds and deploys the app automatically whenever code is pushed to main.

NOTE: Before starting, be sure you understand what this code is doing because you WILL incur AWS charges! 💰

Always run ./destroy.sh when you are finished, and log into your AWS account to double-check that everything is cleaned up.

This project is provided 🚨 as-is, with no warranty or responsibility 🚨 for any AWS costs or resource usage you may incur.

---

Project Overview ⛰️

• Rails: Simple "Hello World" controller/view (no database).
• Docker: Rails app containerized and ready for deployment.
• Terraform: Provisions AWS resources:
  • ECR repository for Docker images
  • ECS Fargate cluster + service
  • Application Load Balancer (ALB)
  • Security groups and CloudWatch logging
• GitHub Actions: CI/CD workflow that:
  • Builds an ARM64 image (compatible with Apple M1/M2)
  • Pushes to Amazon ECR
  • Forces a new ECS service deployment
  • Skips redeploy if the same commit image already exists (idempotent)

---

Requirements 🛠️

• macOS (tested on M1/M2 with Docker Desktop)
• Ruby on Rails
• Docker
• Terraform
• AWS CLI
• An AWS account with sufficient IAM permissions
• A GitHub repository with Actions enabled

---

Setup & Deployment 👨‍💻

Local Run (no AWS/GitHub needed) 🐳

You can run the app locally with Docker:

docker build -t hello-rails:local .
docker run --rm -p 3000:3000 hello-rails:local

Then open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

---

Deploy to AWS (via GitHub Actions) 🤖

When you push to main, GitHub Actions will build and deploy the app to AWS ECS Fargate.
For this to work, you must first set the required repository variables and secrets in GitHub:

• Repository Variables (from Terraform outputs): 📝

  • ECR_REPO ← repository_url
  • ECS_CLUSTER ← cluster_name
  • ECS_SERVICE ← service_name

• Secrets: 🤫

  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Once configured, every push to main will automatically trigger a build & deploy.
The app will be available at the alb_dns_name output URL.

---

Helper Scripts 🤝

• Deploy: 🚀

  ./deploy.sh

  Builds, pushes, and redeploys the app.

• Destroy: 💣

  ./destroy.sh

  Tears down all AWS infrastructure (force deletes ECR images).

---