AWS Static Site Infrastructure

A generic Terraform configuration for deploying static websites on AWS using S3, CloudFront, and Route53.

🏢 Architecture

This configuration creates a complete static website hosting infrastructure on AWS:

• S3 Bucket: Stores your static website files
• CloudFront: Global CDN for fast content delivery
• Route53: DNS management for custom domains
• SSL/TLS: Automatic HTTPS with AWS Certificate Manager

📁 Project Structure

aws-static-site-terraform/
├── main.tf                   # Provider and backend configuration
├── variables.tf              # Input variables
├── static-site.tf            # S3 and CloudFront resources
├── acm.tf                   # SSL certificate management
├── route53.tf               # DNS records
├── outputs.tf               # Output values
├── setup.sh                 # Interactive setup script
├── quick-start.sh           # Quick setup with defaults
├── bootstrap-backend.sh     # Backend setup script
├── deploy-sample.sh         # Complete demo deployment script
├── terraform.tfvars.example # Configuration template
├── backend.tf.example       # Backend configuration template
├── sample-website/          # Sample website files
│   ├── index.html           # Homepage
│   ├── about.html           # About page
│   └── contact.html         # Contact page
├── Makefile                 # Convenient commands
└── README.md                # This file

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• AWS CLI configured with appropriate credentials
• Terraform >= 1.0
• A registered domain name with Route53 hosted zone
• (Optional) SSL certificate issued by AWS Certificate Manager (auto-created by default)

Setup

Option 1: Quick Start (Fastest)

# One-command setup with defaults (includes backend setup)
./quick-start.sh my-project example.com

# Then deploy
terraform init && terraform plan && terraform apply

This will:

• Auto-detect AWS credentials and region
• Create terraform.tfvars with sensible defaults
• Optionally create S3 bucket and DynamoDB table for state management
• Generate backend.tf configuration

Option 2: Interactive Setup (Recommended)

1. Configure AWS credentials

   aws configure --profile your-profile
   export AWS_PROFILE=your-profile
   aws sts get-caller-identity  # Verify credentials

2. Run the interactive setup script

   ./setup.sh

   The script will:

   • Auto-detect your AWS account ID, region, and profile
   • List your Route53 hosted zones
   • Guide you through all configuration options
   • Optionally setup Terraform backend (S3 + DynamoDB)
   • Generate terraform.tfvars and backend.tf automatically

3. Initialize and deploy

   terraform init
   terraform plan
   terraform apply

Option 3: Manual Setup

1. Configure AWS credentials (same as above)

2. Create configuration file manually

   cp terraform.tfvars.example terraform.tfvars
   # Edit terraform.tfvars with your actual values

3. Initialize and deploy (same as above)

Option 4: Backend Setup Only

If you only want to setup the Terraform backend:

./bootstrap-backend.sh

This creates:

• S3 bucket for Terraform state storage
• DynamoDB table for state locking
• backend.tf configuration file

4. Upload your website

   # Get the S3 bucket name from output
   terraform output s3_bucket_name
   
   # Upload your static files
   aws s3 sync ./your-website-files/ s3://$(terraform output -raw s3_bucket_name)/
   
   # Invalidate CloudFront cache
   aws cloudfront create-invalidation --distribution-id $(terraform output -raw cloudfront_distribution_id) --paths "/*"

Script Features

setup.sh (Interactive Setup):

• Auto-detection of AWS credentials and settings
• Route53 hosted zone listing
• Input validation and smart defaults
• Backend setup integration
• Colorized output and error handling

quick-start.sh (Minimal Setup):

• Two-parameter setup (project name + domain)
• Automatic backend creation
• Sensible defaults for rapid deployment

bootstrap-backend.sh (Backend Only):

• Creates S3 bucket with encryption and versioning
• Creates DynamoDB table for state locking
• Generates backend.tf configuration
• Handles existing resources gracefully

🔧 Configuration

Required Variables

Variable	Description	Example
aws_account_id	AWS Account ID	123456789012
project_name	Project name (lowercase, alphanumeric with hyphens)	my-website
domain_name	Your registered domain	example.com

Key Configuration Options

• Domain Setup: Choose between subdomain (app.example.com) or apex domain (example.com)
• SSL Certificate: Auto-create ACM certificate with DNS validation, or use existing one
• SPA Support: Enable Single Page Application routing
• Caching: Configure CloudFront TTL settings
• Security: SSL/TLS versions, geo-restrictions
• Storage: S3 versioning and encryption options

🔐 Security Features

• HTTPS Only: Automatic redirect from HTTP to HTTPS
• Origin Access Control: S3 bucket accessible only through CloudFront
• S3 Security: Public access blocked, server-side encryption enabled
• SSL/TLS: Modern TLS versions with SNI support
• Access Control: Optional geo-restrictions
• Versioning: Optional S3 object versioning for rollback capability
• State Security: Terraform state stored in encrypted S3 bucket with versioning
• State Locking: DynamoDB table prevents concurrent modifications

🛠️ Development

Terraform Commands

# Format code
terraform fmt

# Validate configuration
terraform validate

# Plan changes
terraform plan

# Apply changes
terraform apply

# Destroy infrastructure
terraform destroy

Customization

This configuration is designed to be easily customizable:

1. Fork or clone this repository
2. Modify variables in terraform.tfvars
3. Extend functionality by adding resources to static-site.tf
4. Add modules for complex setups

❗ Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Certificate validation timeout: Ensure your Route53 hosted zone is properly configured and DNS propagation is complete
2. Domain validation: Verify your Route53 hosted zone matches your domain name exactly
3. Permission denied: Check AWS credentials and IAM policies (ACM, Route53, CloudFront, S3, DynamoDB permissions needed)
4. Resource conflicts: Ensure resource names are unique across your AWS account
5. Certificate region: ACM certificates for CloudFront must be created in us-east-1 region (handled automatically)
6. Backend migration: When running terraform init with a new backend, answer 'yes' to migrate existing state
7. State bucket exists: If the state bucket already exists, ensure you have access and it's in the correct region

Useful Commands

# Re-run interactive setup
./setup.sh

# Setup backend only
./bootstrap-backend.sh

# Quick start with defaults
./quick-start.sh project-name domain.com

# Check certificate status
aws acm list-certificates --region us-east-1

# Verify domain in Route53
aws route53 list-hosted-zones

# Test website deployment
curl -I https://your-domain.com

# View current configuration
cat terraform.tfvars
cat backend.tf

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

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🎯 Live Demo

Deploy Sample Site

Want to see it in action? Deploy the included sample website:

# Deploy sample site to sample.example.com
./deploy-sample.sh

This will:

1. ✅ Create terraform.tfvars with sample configuration
2. ✅ Setup Terraform backend (S3 + DynamoDB)
3. ✅ Deploy infrastructure (S3, CloudFront, ACM, Route53)
4. ✅ Upload sample website files
5. ✅ Invalidate CloudFront cache
6. 🌐 Result: Live site at https://sample.example.com

Sample Website Features

The included sample website demonstrates:

• 📱 Responsive Design: Works on all devices
• ⚡ Fast Loading: Optimized with modern CSS
• 🎨 Modern UI: Glassmorphism design with gradients
• 🔗 Multi-page: Index, About, Contact pages
• 📊 Analytics Ready: Console logging and deployment info

Clean Up

# Remove all created resources
terraform destroy

# Clean local files
make clean

Demo Configuration

• Domain: sample.example.com
• AWS Account: [Auto-detected]
• Profile: [Auto-detected from environment]
• Region: us-east-1
• Certificate: Auto-created with DNS validation
• Backend: S3 bucket with DynamoDB locking

Expected Results

After successful deployment:

🎉 Deployment Complete!
✨ Your sample website is now live!

📍 Site URL: https://sample.example.com
🪣 S3 Bucket: sample-site-demo-static-site
🌐 CloudFront Distribution: E1234567890ABC
📊 Certificate: arn:aws:acm:us-east-1:123456789012:certificate/...