Django App on AWS ECS with CDK TypeScript

This repository contains a Django application hosted on AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) with infrastructure managed by AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) in TypeScript. The setup includes a fully automated CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions, which builds a Docker image from the app, pushes it to Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), and updates the ECS environment. The ECS cluster is fronted by an Application Load Balancer (ALB).

Architecture Overview

• AWS ECS: The Django application is deployed in an ECS cluster using Fargate, providing scalable and secure hosting.
• AWS CDK (TypeScript): The infrastructure is defined using AWS CDK in TypeScript, allowing for modular and reusable code.
• Application Load Balancer (ALB): The ECS service is fronted by an ALB, routing traffic to the Django application.
• Amazon ECR: Docker images are stored in a private ECR repository, automatically updated when changes are pushed to the main branch.
• GitHub Actions: CI/CD pipelines build and push Docker images to ECR and update the ECS service with the new image.
• Linting: Python linting is performed using Pylama, with specific ignore codes configured in the pylama.ini file for testing purposes.
• Automatic Tagging: Tags are automatically created by analyzing commit messages according to the conventional commit message standards.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

To replicate this architecture in your environment, you'll need to set up the following GitHub Secrets:

• GH_TOKEN: Your GitHub token for accessing private repositories (if applicable).
• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: Your AWS Access Key ID with permissions to manage ECS, ECR, and other related services.
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: Your AWS Secret Access Key.

Repository Configuration

1. Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory.

2. Update Pipeline Configuration:

   • Modify the GitHub Actions pipeline files to change the ECR repository name according to your preferences.

3. ALLOWED_HOSTS Configuration:

   • In the Django app settings, ALLOWED_HOSTS is set to allow any domain, as the app uses the ALB domain names instead of personal domains.

Deployment

1. Push Changes to Main Branch: When you push updates to the main branch, the GitHub Actions pipeline automatically builds a new Docker image and pushes it to the ECR repository.

2. Update ECS Service: The pipeline will then update the ECS service to use the newly built Docker image.

3. Update ECS Service: Get the ALB name from the 'deploy the latest image to ecs' > 'create-ecs-environment' section in the pipeline logs.

Monitoring and Management

• AWS Management Console: Use the AWS Management Console to monitor the ECS cluster, ALB, and other related resources.
• Logs and Metrics: CloudWatch logs and metrics can be used to monitor the performance and health of the application.

Notes

• Ensure that the ALLOWED_HOSTS in the Django settings allows the ALB domain names to ensure proper routing of requests.