🚀 AWS S3 Static Website with Terraform & GitHub Actions

📖 Overview

A complete infrastructure-as-code project demonstrating automated deployment of a static website to AWS S3 using Terraform, with CI/CD pipelines via GitHub Actions and remote state management in Terraform Cloud.

🏗️ Architecture

graph TB
    GitHub[GitHub Repository] --> GitHubActions[GitHub Actions]
    GitHubActions --> TerraformCloud[Terraform Cloud]
    TerraformCloud --> AWS[AWS Infrastructure]
    
    subgraph AWS [AWS Services]
        S3[S3 Bucket]
        CloudFront[CloudFront CDN]
        ACM[ACM Certificate]
    end
    
    User[End User] --> CloudFront
    CloudFront --> S3

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📁 Project Structure

AWS-S3-Static-Website/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── deploy.yml          # Deployment pipeline
│       └── destroy.yml         # Destruction pipeline
├── modules/
│   └── s3-website/
│       ├── main.tf
│       ├── variables.tf
│       └── outputs.tf
├── environments/
│   ├── dev/
│   │   ├── main.tf
│   │   ├── variables.tf
│   │   └── terraform.tfvars
│   └── prod/
│       └── ...
├── website/
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── styles.css
│   └── script.js
├── main.tf
├── variables.tf
├── outputs.tf
├── providers.tf
├── backend.tf
└── README.md

🚀 Features

• ✅ Infrastructure as Code - Complete Terraform configuration
• ✅ CI/CD Pipelines - GitHub Actions for automated deployments
• ✅ Remote State Management - Terraform Cloud for state storage
• ✅ Modular Design - Reusable Terraform modules
• ✅ Multi-environment - Dev/Prod environment support
• ✅ CloudFront CDN - Global content delivery
• ✅ HTTPS Encryption - SSL/TLS with ACM certificates
• ✅ Custom Domain - Route53 DNS configuration
• ✅ Cost Optimization - S3 + CloudFront cost-effective hosting

🛠️ Technologies Used

• Terraform - Infrastructure as Code
• AWS Services - S3, CloudFront, ACM, Route53, IAM
• GitHub Actions - CI/CD Pipelines
• Terraform Cloud - Remote State Management
• HTML/CSS/JS - Static Website Content

📋 Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

1. AWS Account with appropriate permissions
2. Terraform Cloud Account for state management
3. GitHub Account for repository and actions
4. Domain Name (optional) for custom domain setup

⚙️ Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/tasnimmizaoui/AWS-S3-Static-Website-.git
cd AWS-S3-Static-Website

2. Terraform Cloud Setup

1. Create Terraform Cloud account at app.terraform.io
2. Create a new organization
3. Generate an API token: Settings > Tokens > Create API Token
4. Store token in GitHub Secrets as TF_API_TOKEN

3. AWS Credentials Setup

Create IAM user with required permissions:

# Minimum required policies:
- AmazonS3FullAccess
- CloudFrontFullAccess
- AmazonRoute53FullAccess
- AWSCertificateManagerFullAccess
- IAMReadOnlyAccess

Store credentials in GitHub Secrets:

• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

4. GitHub Secrets Configuration

Navigate to: Repository Settings > Secrets > Actions

Add the following secrets:

• TF_API_TOKEN - Terraform Cloud API token
• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID - AWS IAM access key
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY - AWS IAM secret key

5. Terraform Configuration

Update backend.tf with your Terraform Cloud details:

terraform {
  backend "remote" {
    organization = "your-organization-name"
    workspaces {
      name = "aws-s3-website"
    }
  }
}

🚀 Deployment

Manual Deployment via GitHub Actions

1. Navigate to Actions tab in your repository
2. Select "Deploy Infrastructure" workflow
3. Click "Run workflow"
4. Select branch and environment
5. Monitor the execution progress

Automated Deployment on Push

Push to main branch triggers automatic deployment:

git add .
git commit -m "Deploy website updates"
git push origin main

Destroy Infrastructure

Warning: This will delete all AWS resources!

1. Navigate to Actions > Destroy Infrastructure
2. Click "Run workflow"
3. Confirm destruction (requires manual approval if configured)

📊 GitHub Actions Workflows

Deployment Pipeline (deploy.yml)

Destruction Pipeline (destroy.yml)

🎯 Learning Outcomes

Terraform Best Practices

• Module-based architecture for reusability
• Remote state management with Terraform Cloud
• Variable validation and type constraints
• Output values for cross-module communication
• Environment separation using workspaces or directories

AWS Infrastructure Patterns

• S3 static website hosting configuration
• CloudFront distribution for CDN and HTTPS
• Route53 DNS management with Terraform
• ACM certificate provisioning and validation
• IAM policies for least privilege access

CI/CD Implementation

• GitHub Actions workflows for automation
• Environment protection and approval processes
• Artifact management for plan files
• Secret management with GitHub Secrets
• Concurrency control to prevent conflicts

Error Handling & Debugging

• Terraform validation and format checking
• Plan review process before apply
• Destruction safeguards with manual approval
• Logging and output for debugging
• State recovery procedures

📈 Performance Metrics

Metric	Value	Description
Deployment Time	~5-7 minutes	Full infrastructure creation
Cost Estimate	< $1/month	S3 storage + CloudFront requests
Availability	99.9%	Global CDN distribution
SSL Rating	A+	TLS 1.2+ with modern ciphers

🔒 Security Considerations

1. IAM Least Privilege - Minimal required permissions
2. SSL Encryption - HTTPS only traffic
3. S3 Bucket Policies - Block public access except through CloudFront
4. GitHub Secrets - Secure credential storage
5. Terraform Cloud - Secure state management

💡 Advanced Features

Custom Domain Setup

module "website" {
  source = "./modules/s3-website"
  
  domain_name    = "yourdomain.com"
  create_dns     = true
  create_cert    = true
  enable_cdn     = true
}

Environment Variables

# environments/dev/terraform.tfvars
bucket_name = "dev-website-bucket"
domain_name = "dev.yourdomain.com"
environment = "development"

Website Upload Automation

- name: Upload Website Files
  run: |
    aws s3 sync ./website s3://${{ steps.terraform-output.outputs.bucket_name }} \
      --delete \
      --cache-control "max-age=31536000"

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

1. "Required token could not be found"

   • Solution: Ensure TF_API_TOKEN is set in GitHub Secrets

2. "No valid credential sources found"

   • Solution: Check AWS credentials in GitHub Secrets

3. "Error: Failed to get existing workspaces"

   • Solution: Create workspace manually in Terraform Cloud first

4. "S3 bucket name already exists"

   • Solution: Use unique bucket names across AWS

Debugging Commands

# Check Terraform configuration
terraform validate
terraform fmt -check

# Plan without applying
terraform plan -out=tfplan

# Show current state
terraform show

# List resources
terraform state list

📚 Resources & References

• Terraform AWS Provider Documentation
• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Terraform Cloud Documentation
• AWS S3 Static Website Hosting

🎓 Conclusion

This project demonstrates modern infrastructure automation practices combining Terraform, AWS, and GitHub Actions. It provides a production-ready template for static website hosting with best practices for security, cost optimization, and maintainability.

👥 Contributors

• Mizaoui Tasnim

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⭐ If you found this project helpful, please give it a star on GitHub!

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