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AWS Deployment

Deploy DoubleCube.gg to AWS using CDK infrastructure as code.

Prerequisites​

  • AWS Account with appropriate permissions
  • AWS CLI configured: aws configure
  • AWS CDK CLI: npm install -g aws-cdk
  • Docker (for building container images)

Architecture​

The AWS deployment includes:

  • EC2 Instance - Runs the application containers
  • DynamoDB - Game and user data storage
  • ECR - Container image registry
  • Elastic IP - Static public IP address
  • S3 - Static asset storage (optional)

Initial Deployment​

1. Bootstrap CDK​

First-time only per AWS account/region:

cd infra/cdk
cdk bootstrap

2. Deploy Infrastructure​

cdk deploy BackgammonStack-dev

Note the outputs:

  • PublicIP - Your server's IP address
  • InstanceId - EC2 instance ID
  • TableName - DynamoDB table name
  • ServerRepositoryUri - ECR repository for server
  • WebClientRepositoryUri - ECR repository for frontend

3. SSH Key Setup​

The EC2 instance is deployed without a KeyPair. Set up SSH access:

# Generate SSH key
ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/backgammon-deploy-key

# Connect via SSM
aws ssm start-session --target <INSTANCE_ID>

# Add public key to EC2
sudo su - ec2-user
mkdir -p ~/.ssh
chmod 700 ~/.ssh
echo "<YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY>" >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

4. Configure GitHub Secrets​

Add these secrets to your GitHub repository:

SecretDescription
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_IDAWS credentials
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEYAWS credentials
DEPLOY_SSH_PRIVATE_KEYPrivate key from step 3
DEPLOY_HOSTElastic IP address
JWT_SECRETProduction JWT signing key

5. Update SSM Parameters​

aws ssm put-parameter \
  --name "/backgammon/dev/jwt-secret" \
  --value "<your-production-jwt-secret>" \
  --type SecureString \
  --overwrite

DNS Configuration​

Point your domain to the Elastic IP:

  1. Create an A record: api.doublecube.gg → <ELASTIC_IP>
  2. Create an A record: doublecube.gg → <ELASTIC_IP>

Continuous Deployment​

Pushes to main trigger GitHub Actions:

  1. Build Docker images
  2. Push to ECR
  3. SSH to EC2
  4. Pull and restart containers

Container Configuration​

On EC2, containers run via Docker Compose:

version: '3.8'
services:
  server:
    image: ${ECR_SERVER_IMAGE}
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    environment:
      - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
      - DynamoDb__TableName=${TABLE_NAME}
      - Jwt__Secret=${JWT_SECRET}

  webclient:
    image: ${ECR_WEBCLIENT_IMAGE}
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"

HTTPS with Caddy​

Caddy handles TLS certificates automatically:

doublecube.gg {
    reverse_proxy webclient:80
}

api.doublecube.gg {
    reverse_proxy server:5000
}

Monitoring​

View Logs​

ssh ec2-user@<ELASTIC_IP>
docker logs backgammon-server -f

Health Check​

curl https://api.doublecube.gg/health

DynamoDB Metrics​

View in AWS Console → DynamoDB → Tables → Metrics tab.

Scaling Considerations​

For higher traffic:

  • Enable Redis for SignalR backplane (multi-server support)
  • Use Application Load Balancer with multiple EC2 instances
  • Consider ECS Fargate for container orchestration

Troubleshooting​

Container Won't Start​

docker logs backgammon-server

DynamoDB Access Denied​

Check IAM role attached to EC2 has DynamoDB permissions.

SSL Certificate Issues​

Caddy logs show certificate acquisition:

docker logs caddy