Using Docker For Github Project deployment

Source: Dev.to

Install required tools

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install Git

sudo apt install git -y

Install Node.js (IMPORTANT → Node 20+)

# Remove any old Node.js packages
sudo apt remove nodejs npm -y

# Add the NodeSource repository for Node 20
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Verify installation

node -v
npm -v

Clone your GitHub project

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo.git
cd your-repo

Install dependencies

rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
npm install

Build project (IMPORTANT)

npm run build

Install Docker

sudo apt install docker.io -y
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Run website using Docker

docker run -d -p 80:80 \
  -v $(pwd)/dist:/usr/share/nginx/html \
  --name mysite \
  nginx

Verify container

docker ps

Open website

Visit http://your-ec2-public-ip in a browser.

Troubleshooting

• Docker install conflict

  sudo apt remove containerd containerd.io -y
  sudo apt install docker.io -y

• Docker permission denied

  sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu
  newgrp docker

• Container not running / site not opening

  docker ps          # check container status
  curl localhost     # test locally
  docker logs mysite # view logs

• Website not opening in browser

  Ensure the EC2 security group allows inbound HTTP traffic:

  Type	Port	Source
  HTTP	80	0.0.0.0/0

Final deployment command

sudo docker run -d -p 80:0 \
  -v $(pwd)/dist:/usr/share/nginx/html \
  --name mysite \
  nginx