FullStack Diaries

Source: Dev.to

🌟 Introduction

As part of the DevOps Micro Internship (DMI), Week 3 focused on mastering Git, GitHub collaboration workflows, and deploying a real static website on AWS EC2 using Nginx.

This week transformed my understanding of:

• Version control systems
• Branching strategies
• Open‑source contribution workflow
• Production‑style deployment on Linux servers

The blog documents the complete hands‑on journey.

Part 1: Setting Up Git Locally

Created a Project Repository

• Project name: CodeTrack
• Initialized Git:

git init

What I Learned

• Git tracks changes using snapshots.
• The .git directory stores commit history.
• Version control prevents accidental loss of code.

Part 2: Git Identity Configuration

Configured Git identity locally and globally:

git config user.name "Manjay Verma"
git config user.email "..."

Key Learning

• Local config applies per repository.
• Global config applies system‑wide.
• Enterprise environments often prefer local config.

Part 3: Staging, Committing & Clean History

Created index.html and style.css, then staged and committed:

git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit: Add index and style files"

Made a small change and committed separately.

What I Learned

• Clean commit messages improve collaboration.
• Small commits are easier to review.
• Commit history tells the project story.

Part 4: Branching Workflow (Feature‑Based Development)

Created a feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/contact-page

Added contact.html and updated index.html, then merged back to main:

git merge feature/contact-page

Key Learning

• Feature branches isolate development.
• The main branch remains stable.
• This is an industry‑standard Git workflow.

Part 5: GitHub Collaboration Workflow

Steps followed:

1. Forked upstream repository.
2. Cloned the fork.
3. Added upstream remote.
4. Created feature branch.
5. Pushed to origin.
6. Created Pull Request.

git remote add upstream 
git push origin feature/update-readme

What I Learned

• Difference between origin and upstream.
• Why forks are required in open‑source.
• How Pull Requests enable collaboration.

Part 6: Deploying to AWS EC2 (Production‑Style)

Instance Details

• Region: Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04
• Instance type: t2.micro (Free Tier)
• Security Group: SSH + HTTP

Connected via SSH:

ssh -i codetrack-key.pem ubuntu@

Installed Nginx:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx -y

Deployed static site to /var/www/html/.

🌍 Live Deployment Result

The website is now live on AWS EC2 using Nginx, providing hands‑on experience with:

• Linux server management
• Security Groups
• Public IP configuration
• Service management (systemctl)

Production‑Level Checks Performed

sudo systemctl status nginx
curl localhost
netstat -tulpn | grep 80

What I Learned

• Always verify services are running.
• Always test port bindings.
• Deployment is not complete until verified.

🚧 Challenges Faced

Each issue strengthened troubleshooting skills.

🎯 Key DevOps Concepts Practiced

• Git internals
• Branching strategy
• Clean commit hygiene
• Fork & PR workflow
• Linux server configuration
• Nginx deployment
• Security best practices

🧠 My Biggest Takeaway

DevOps is not just about tools — it’s about:

• Clean workflow
• Reproducibility
• Verification
• Security awareness
• Professional documentation

This week moved me closer to real‑world DevOps engineering practices.

🚀 What’s Next?

• Automate deployment using CI/CD
• Use GitHub Actions
• Attach a custom domain
• Deploy using Docker

🙌 Acknowledgment

Thanks to the DevOps Micro Internship (DMI) program and mentors for structured hands‑on guidance.