如何在 AWS EC2 部署網頁應用程式，免受 DevOps 煩惱（2026）

AWS EC2 gives you a virtual server in a huge cloud. That's the good news. The bad news: before your app serves a single request, you're dealing with key pairs, security groups, IP addresses that change on stop and start, and a default user that isn't root.

This guide cuts through it. We'll launch an EC2 instance, deploy a Node.js or Next.js app with PM2 and Nginx, add HTTPS, and then show how ShipOwn turns repeat deploys into a short desktop flow.

Step 1: Launch the instance

In the EC2 console, Launch instance:

• AMI: Ubuntu Server LTS (the default user is ubuntu).
• Instance type: a small general-purpose type is fine for most side projects. Small instances can run out of memory during builds; more on that below.
• Key pair: create or choose one and download the .pem file. You won't get it again.
• Network settings / Security group: allow SSH (22) from your IP only, and HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) from anywhere.
• Storage: give yourself enough disk for node_modules, builds and logs.

Step 2: Give it a stable IP

A normal public IP changes when the instance is stopped and started. Allocate an Elastic IP and associate it with the instance, then point your domain's A record at it.

Step 3: Connect

chmod 400 my-key.pem
ssh -i my-key.pem ubuntu@ELASTIC_IP
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Step 4: Install the runtime

sudo apt install -y git nginx
# Node.js LTS via NodeSource or nvm
sudo npm i -g pm2

Add swap on small instances. next build and large TypeScript builds can be killed for lack of RAM:

sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile && sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile && sudo swapon /swapfile
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Step 5: Deploy the app

git clone https://github.com/you/app.git && cd app
cp .env.example .env
npm ci && npm run build
pm2 start npm --name app -- start
pm2 save && pm2 startup

Step 6: Nginx and HTTPS

server {
  server_name app.example.com;
  location / {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
  }
}

sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d app.example.com

If Certbot can't validate, the usual cause on AWS is the security group: port 80 must be open to the internet for the HTTP challenge.

The AWS-specific gotchas

Repeat deploys with ShipOwn

Launching the instance is a one-time job. Deploying, updating, adding domains and rolling back happen again and again. That's where ShipOwn helps.

ShipOwn is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux. It connects to your EC2 instance over plain SSH, using the same .pem key and ubuntu user. No ShipOwn deployment agent is installed on the instance.

The flow:

1. Connect a server: Elastic IP, port 22, user ubuntu, your key. ShipOwn tests the connection before saving it.
2. Pick a source: GitHub repo and branch, or a local folder.
3. Review the plan: detected framework, commands, port, domain and target. Every value is editable, and nothing runs until you approve.
4. Watch it build: choose a server build, or a PC build that builds on your computer and uploads the verified output. That's handy on a small instance that struggles with next build.
5. Operate it: live URL, deployed commit, how far behind its branch it is, health, logs, redeploy and rollback.

What ShipOwn takes care of:

• Node apps under PM2: Next.js, Nuxt, Remix, SvelteKit, NestJS, Fastify, Express.
• Static sites on Nginx: Vite (React/Vue), Astro, plain HTML.
• Docker apps from a Dockerfile or Compose file. It can also install Docker on a server that doesn't have it.
• Nginx config tested before reload, and restored if rejected.
• Certbot HTTPS, with certificate expiry shown in the app.
• Release directories and rollback: the live pointer only moves after the build and health check pass.

Monitoring without CloudWatch setup

For a single instance, you might not want to set up a full metrics stack. ShipOwn's server view shows CPU, RAM, disk, load and PM2 processes, read directly from /proc and pm2 jlist, next to an embedded terminal. Heartbeats can run from the system tray while the app is running and your PC is awake.

When something breaks

Describe the problem to ShipOwn's AI terminal ("the site returns 502 since the last deploy"). Using your own Anthropic, OpenAI or DeepSeek key, it inspects the server and proposes one command at a time with its reason. You approve each one. Destructive commands (recursive deletes, reboots, firewall flushes, stopping SSH) are always held for confirmation.

FAQ

Does ShipOwn manage AWS resources like security groups? No. You create the instance in AWS. ShipOwn works over SSH once the server exists.

Can I use Amazon Linux? ShipOwn handles Ubuntu, Debian, the RHEL family and Alpine. See the supported environments page before choosing.

Auto-deploy on push? Not in ShipOwn. It shows waiting commits, and you click deploy.

Conclusion

EC2 is powerful but has a few traps: security groups, changing IPs, small-instance memory. Get those right once, then use ShipOwn for the deploy-and-rollback loop. Try ShipOwn free for 30 days, no card required.

Written by Vishvajeet Shukla, full stack developer and creator of ShipOwn.