Step-by-Step Guide to CI/CD Pipeline Using AWS, GitHub, and Jenkins

Introduction

In this guide, we'll set up a CI/CD pipeline to deploy a HTML website on an AWS EC2 instance using Jenkins.

The pipeline will:
✔️ Pull code from an existing GitHub repository
✔️ Deploy the static website automatically

Step 1: Launch an EC2 Instance

1️⃣ Create an EC2 Instance

1. Log in to AWS Console.

2. Navigate to EC2 > Instances > Launch Instance.

3. Choose Ubuntu 22.04 as the OS.

4. Select t2.micro (Free-tier eligible).

5. Configure security group:

   • SSH (22) → For remote access

   • HTTP (80) → To access the website

   • Jenkins (8080) → For Jenkins UI access

6. Launch the instance and download the key pair (.pem file).

2️⃣ Connect to EC2

Use SSH to connect:

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

Step 2: Install Jenkins on EC2

1️⃣ Install Java & Jenkins

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install openjdk-11-jdk -y
wget -q -O - https://pkg.jenkins.io/debian/jenkins.io.key | sudo apt-key add -
sudo sh -c 'echo deb http://pkg.jenkins.io/debian binary/ > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/jenkins.list'
sudo apt update && sudo apt install jenkins -y

Start Jenkins:

sudo systemctl start jenkins
sudo systemctl enable jenkins

2️⃣ Access Jenkins

1. Open http://your-ec2-public-ip:8080 in your browser.

2. Get the initial password:

sudo cat /var/lib/jenkins/secrets/initialAdminPassword

3. Complete the setup wizard and install recommended plugins.

Step 3: Connect Jenkins with Your GitHub Repository

1️⃣ Install Git & Plugins

sudo apt install git -y

Inside Jenkins:

1. Go to Manage Jenkins > Plugins.

2. Install Git Plugin & GitHub Integration Plugin.

2️⃣ Generate SSH Key for GitHub

To connect Jenkins with GitHub, generate an SSH key:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "your-email@example.com"
cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Copy the output and add it to GitHub > Settings > SSH Keys.

Step 4: Use an Existing GitHub Repository

1. Find the GitHub Repository URL

• Go to GitHub and copy the SSH clone URL of your existing HTML project repository.

• Example:

git@github.com:your-username/existing-html-repo.git

2. Create a New Jenkins Job

• Open Jenkins Dashboard > Click New Item > Select Freestyle Project.

• Under Source Code Management, choose Git and enter:

git@github.com:your-username/existing-html-repo.git

Select credentials (your SSH key) if needed.

Step 5: Automate Deployment

1️⃣ Install Apache Web Server on EC2

sudo apt install apache2 -y
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

2️⃣ Add Build Commands in Jenkins

Under Build Steps, select Execute Shell and enter:

#!/bin/bash
# Move to Apache web root
cd /var/www/html

# Remove old files
sudo rm -rf *

# Clone the latest HTML project from GitHub
sudo git clone git@github.com:your-username/existing-html-repo.git .

# Set proper permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart apache2

3️⃣ Enable Automatic Deployment

• Go to Build Triggers and enable Poll SCM (* * * * * for every minute check).

• Click Save & Build Now!

Final Output

1. Jenkins automatically pulls the latest HTML project from your existing GitHub repo.

2. It copies the files to Apache’s web root.

3. Open http://your-ec2-public-ip to see your HTML website live!

Conclusion

In this blog, we deployed a static HTML website using Jenkins, AWS EC2, and an existing GitHub repository. This ensures automated deployments every time you push changes.

Next Steps:

✅ Add SSL (HTTPS) using Let’s Encrypt
✅ Use S3 + CloudFront for faster website delivery
✅ Deploy on Kubernetes (EKS)