When I started this project, I thought it would be a straightforward deployment.
It wasn’t.
From database connection errors to broken Terraform configs and missing Ansible templates, this project pushed me to think like a real DevOps engineer — not just follow tutorials.
In this article, I’ll walk you through how I deployed a Node.js application (EpicBook) using:
Terraform → Infrastructure provisioning
Ansible → Configuration & deployment
AWS (EC2 + RDS) → Hosting
PM2 + Nginx → Production runtime
And most importantly…
👉 I’ll show you the exact commands, mistakes, and fixes so you can replicate it yourself.
🏗️ Architecture Overview
Here’s what we’re building:
EC2 (Ubuntu) → Runs the app
RDS (MySQL) → Stores data (private subnet)
Nginx → Reverse proxy
PM2 → Keeps Node.js running
⚙️ Step 1: Provision Infrastructure with Terraform
First, I navigated into my Terraform directory:
cd terraform/aws
Then initialized Terraform:
terraform init
Validated config:
terraform validate
And applied the infrastructure:
terraform apply
⚠️ First Major Problem
Error: No configuration files
💡 Fix: I was in the wrong directory. Always ensure you're inside the folder containing .tf files.
⚠️ Second Problem (Very Important)
DBSubnetGroupDoesNotCoverEnoughAZs
💡 Fix:
RDS requires at least 2 Availability Zones.
I updated my Terraform to include:
Multiple private subnets
Different AZs
✅ Output
After success:
ec2_public_ip = "13.x.x.x"
rds_endpoint = "epicbook-db.xxxxx.amazonaws.com:3306"
🔐 Step 2: Connect to EC2
ssh -i ~/.ssh/key.pem ubuntu@
⚙️ Step 3: Install Ansible
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ansible-core -y
Verify:
ansible --version
⚠️ Error I Hit
ansible-playbook: command not found
💡 Fix: Install Ansible (it’s not pre-installed).
🤖 Step 4: Run Ansible Playbook
cd ansible
ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini site.yml
This automated:
Nginx setup
App deployment
DB configuration
📦 Step 5: Application Setup
Ansible handled:
git clone
npm install
sudo apt install nodejs npm mysql-client -y
🛢️ Step 6: Database Setup (RDS)
I created the database:
mysql -h -u admin -p -e "CREATE DATABASE bookstore;"
⚠️ Big Issue #1
ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:3306
💡 Cause:
App was trying to connect to localhost
💡 Fix:
Passed environment variables:
DB_HOST → RDS endpoint
DB_NAME → bookstore
⚙️ Step 7: Configure App
Using Ansible template:
template:
src: config.json.j2
dest: /var/www/epicbook/config/config.json
⚠️ Error
config.json.j2 not found
💡 Fix:
Create the file here:
roles/epicbook/templates/config.json.j2
🚀 Step 8: Run App with PM2
npm install -g pm2
pm2 start server.js --name epicbook
pm2 save
⚠️ Issue
pm2 delete epicbook → not found
💡 Fix:
ignore_errors: true
🗄️ Step 9: Database Schema & Seeding
This was the trickiest part.
Run schema:
mysql -h -u admin -p bookstore < BuyTheBook_Schema.sql
Seed data:
mysql -h -u admin -p bookstore < author_seed.sql
mysql -h -u admin -p bookstore < books_seed.sql
⚠️ Issue #1
Table 'books' doesn't exist
💡 Fix:
Schema must run before seeding
⚠️ Issue #2
Unknown database 'bookstore'
💡 Fix:
Standardised DB name across:
Terraform
Ansible
SQL files
⚠️ Issue #3
Table already exists
💡 Fix:
Make tasks idempotent:
ignore_errors: yes
🎉 Final Result
I opened the app:
http://
✅ And finally…
📚 Books were displaying from the database
That moment? Worth every error.
🧠 What This Project Taught Me
Terraform is for infrastructure, not configuration
Ansible eliminates manual setup (when done right)
Order matters:
DB → Config → App → Seed
Debugging is a core DevOps skill
Small misconfigurations (like DB name) can break everything
💡 What I’d Improve Next
Use Ansible MySQL modules instead of shell
Add Load Balancer (ALB)
Implement Auto Scaling
Store secrets in AWS Secrets Manager
Add CI/CD pipeline
🚀 Final Thoughts
This wasn’t just a deployment project.
It was a real-world DevOps experience:
Broken configs
Debugging under pressure
Fixing issues step by step
And in the end… building something that actually works in production.
🔗 If you're learning DevOps
Don’t just follow tutorials.
👉 Break things
👉 Fix them
👉 Understand why
That’s how you grow.
