Have you ever wanted to automate Docker container deployment on an EC2 instance. That was exactly what I wanted to do last week and instead of doing it the old-fashioned way with SSH and manual scripts, I decided to automate it using Ansible and run it through GitHub Actions (CI/CD). The result? A super clean workflow that deploys Docker and then runs an NGINX container on an already provisioned AWS EC2 instance.
My Approach
I already had my EC2 instance running in AWS that I provisioned it via Terraform last time for setting up my lab on AWS then I follow the below steps to:
- Install Docker (in case it wasn’t already there).
- Pull and run an NGINX container.
- Configure the GitHub Secrets and Automate the deployment all using GitHub Actions.
I chose Ansible for configuration management (because it’s easy to use), and GitHub Actions to trigger the whole thing automatically on demand.
If you need help setting up your lab in AWS and understanding how to configure GitHub secrets, I recommend checking out my previous article.
In this article I walk you through step by step on how I did it by mimicking real-world setup. So, let’s start.
Step 1: Set Up Your EC2
Assuming your EC2 is already up and running:
- It’s accessible via SSH using a .pem key or a private key.
- Port 22 is open in the security group (important for Ansible to connect).
- You’ve noted the public IP or DNS of your instance.
In my case, I had a simple t3.nano based Ubuntu 24.04 EC2 instance in my AWS Lab for the deployment.
Step 2: Create Your Ansible Playbook
- Here’s the Ansible playbook I used deploy_nginx.yml:
—
– name: Deploy Docker and run NGINX container
hosts: webserver
become: yes
tasks:
– name: Install Docker
apt:
name: docker.io
state: present
update_cache: yes
– name: Pause for 10 seconds after installing Docker
pause:
seconds: 10
– name: Start and enable Docker service
systemd:
name: docker
enabled: yes
state: started
– name: Wait for server to be ready after Docker service start
wait_for_connection:
timeout: 300
– name: Create a custom index.html
copy:
dest: /home/ubuntu/index.html
content: |
Hello World! I am nginx running on cj-demo-linux
– name: Run NGINX container with custom Page
docker_container:
name: nginx
image: nginx:latest
state: started
restart_policy: always
ports:
– “80:80”
volumes:
– /home/ubuntu/index.html:/usr/share/nginx/html/index.html:ro
- Make sure your inventory.ini looks like this:
[webserver]
cj-demo-linux ansible_host=172.168.34.61 ansible_user=ubuntu ansible_ssh_private_key_file=~/.ssh/id_rsa
Replace above ec2 public ip and path to your private key accordingly.
Step 3: Add the Project to GitHub
Create a GitHub repo and push your files:
.github/workflows/deploy.yml
deploy_nginx.yml
inventory.ini
You can structured the code in GitHub repo like this:
├── .github
│ └── workflows
│ └── deploy.yml
├── deploy_nginx.yml
└── inventory.ini (optional I prefer to use dynamic inventory considering security, you can find the example in next steps)
You can find the code in my Public GitHub repo for more details.
Step 4: GitHub Actions Workflow
Here’s the GitHub action workflow or CI/CD pipeline github/workflows/deploy.yml:
name: Deploy Docker and NGINX container on EC2 via Ansible
on:
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
– name: Checkout code
uses: actions/checkout@v3
– name: Set up Python
uses: actions/setup-python@v4
with:
python-version: 3.x
– name: Install Ansible
run: |
python -m pip install –upgrade pip
pip install ansible
– name: Create SSH key
run: |
echo “${{ secrets.EC2_SSH_KEY }}” > private_key.pem
chmod 600 private_key.pem
# This below workflow code is optional but I recommend, use EC2_ANSIBLE_HOST as a secret to avoid hardcoding IPs and keeping your virtual machine IP secure
– name: Create Ansible inventory file by using GitHub secrets
run: |
echo “[webserver]” > inventory.ini
echo “cj-demo-linux ansible_host=${{secrets.EC2_ANSIBLE_HOST }} ansible_user=${{ secrets.EC2_USER }} ansible_ssh_private_key_file=private_key.pem ansible_ssh_common_args=’-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ControlMaster=no -o ControlPersist=no -o ConnectTimeout=60′” >> inventory.ini
– name: Run Ansible Playbook
run: |
ansible-playbook -i inventory.ini deploy_nginx.yml
Secrets you’ll need:
- EC2_SSH_KEY: Paste your private key into GitHub Secrets so that it should not get exposed.
- EC2_USER: Provide the EC2 instance login user in GitHub Secrets which can be used for executing the ansible playbook for deployment.
- Optional but I recommend, use EC2_ANSIBLE_HOST as a secret to avoid hardcoding IPs and keeping your virtual machine IP secure. In case if you want to use EC2_ANSIBLE_HOST variable then add the line as shown above in GitHub action workflow before task “Run Ansible Playbook”:
Ansible Playbook runtime optimization Tip:
These below arguments which I have mentioned in the workflow help Ansible connect without manual intervention, avoid using shared SSH sessions, ensure clean independent SSH connections for every task, and timeout cleanly if a server is slow to respond:
ansible_ssh_common_args=’-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o ControlMaster=no -o ControlPersist=no -o ConnectTimeout=60′
Step 5: Trigger the Workflow
- Head to the Actions tab in your GitHub repo.
- Choose the workflow and click Run workflow.
- In less than 2 minutes, your NGINX container should be running on the EC2 instance!
To confirm, open your browser and hit your EC2’s public IP. You should see the customized NGINX working page.
Lessons Learned
- I didn’t need to install any extra CI/CD tools or pipelines. GitHub Actions + Ansible was enough.
- Keeping infra and configuration management separate gives more flexibility. EC2 from Terraform, Docker from Ansible works like a charm.
- Using Ansible’s docker_container module simplified container deployment without writing complex shell commands.
What’s Next?
This approach is a strong foundation. You can extend it to:
- Deploy custom containers.
- Use Ansible roles for modularity.
- Connect to ECR/ECS later for a production-grade setup.
Wrap Up!
This setup gave me a flexible, minimal-cost, and code-driven solution to deploy containers on AWS. If you’re juggling infra and apps like I do this approach lets you keep things clean and scalable.
Got questions or want to try this with your own app? Let’s connect or drop a comment!
Charanjit is passionate about automating tasks and improving processes. He uses tools like Terraform and Azure DevOps to build and manage cloud infrastructure and streamline deployment. He also enjoys using Shell scripts and Ansible playbooks to make systems run more efficiently.
In his free time, Charanjit enjoys learning about new technologies and sharing his knowledge through his blog. When he’s not working, he likes listening to music, having a cup of coffee, and relaxing in nature.
You can connect with Charanjit on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or email him at charanjit.cheema@cjcheema.com.
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