Spring Boot CI/CD to AWS EC2 using Docker & GitHub Actions (Complete Guide)

In today’s video, we are going to see complete CI/CD automation for a Spring Boot application using GitHub Actions, Docker Hub, and AWS EC2.

In our last two classes, we deployed Spring Boot manually and also using Docker. Those needed multiple manual steps.

But with CI/CD, once you commit code to GitHub, your application will be automatically built, dockerized, pushed to Docker Hub, and deployed to EC2 — without any manual action.

I have uploaded all commands used in this video in a text file in the description.
This is a slow and detailed video so even beginners can easily understand.

Please comment your doubts, I will respond.

🚀 Steps Covered in This Video
Step 1: Create Spring Boot Application

Create your Spring Boot REST API

Add Dockerfile (to convert JAR → Docker Image)

Create CI/CD file:
.github/workflows/deploy.yml

The Dockerfile and deploy.yml are included in the description.

What deploy.yml automates:

Build Docker image

Push to Docker Hub

SSH to EC2

Pull Docker image

Run application inside EC2

Step 2: Push Project to GitHub

Use these commands inside your project folder:

echo "# AwsEc2DockerCICDDemoRepo" )) README.md
git init
git add .
git commit -m "first commit"
git branch -M main
git remote add origin https://github.com/prabhakaranskg-bot...
git push -u origin main


Provide GitHub username + Personal Access Token.

Step 3: Add Secrets in GitHub

Go to GitHub → Settings → Environments → Dev → Secrets

Add these:

Secret Name Value
DOCKER_USERNAME your Docker Hub username
DOCKER_PASSWORD your Docker Hub password/token
EC2_HOST EC2 Public IP
EC2_SSH_KEY contents of your .pem file

Docker Hub registration:
https://hub.docker.com/

Step 4: Create AWS EC2 Instance

OS: Ubuntu

Instance: t3.micro

Create Key Pair (download .pem file)

Security Groups:

SSH → port 22

HTTP → port 80

Custom TCP → 8080 or 8081 (your app port)

Launch instance and note public IP (Example: 18.61.173.206)

Step 5: Connect to EC2 & Install Docker

Fix .pem permissions (Windows PowerShell):

icacls "D:\Youtube\AWS\springboot-ec2-cicd-demo.pem" /reset
icacls "D:\Youtube\AWS\springboot-ec2-cicd-demo.pem" /inheritance:r
icacls "D:\Youtube\AWS\springboot-ec2-cicd-demo.pem" /grant:r "$($env:USERNAME):R"
icacls "D:\Youtube\AWS\springboot-ec2-cicd-demo.pem" /remove "Authenticated Users" "Users" "Administrators" "SYSTEM"


Connect:

ssh -i "springboot-ec2-cicd-demo.pem" ubuntu@EC2-PUBLICIP


Install Docker:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io -y
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu
exit


Reconnect.

Step 6: Create deploy folder & deploy.sh
mkdir -p ~/deploy
cd ~/deploy
nano deploy.sh
OR
vi ~/deploy/deploy.sh
ESC+:WQ --TO SAVE

Paste this:

#!/bin/bash
docker stop springboot-webapp || true
docker rm springboot-webapp || true
docker pull prabhakaranskg/springboot-ec2-cicd-demo:latest
docker run -d -p 8081:8080 --name springboot-webapp prabhakaranskg/springboot-ec2-cicd-demo:latest


Save and give permission:

chmod +x deploy.sh

Step 7: CI/CD Trigger

Now commit anything to GitHub:

git commit -am "test deployment"
git push


Go to:

GitHub → Actions → build-deploy

You will see:
✔ Build Docker image
✔ Push to Docker Hub
✔ SSH to EC2
✔ Run deploy.sh
✔ Update container

Step 8: Test in Postman

If app runs on 8081:

http://EC2-IP:8081/hello


If security group allowed only 8080 earlier, update it to 8081.

Example Output:

Spring Boot Application Deployed in EC2 Successfully Using CI/CD


Second commit will again trigger CI/CD automatically.

🎉 YOU HAVE COMPLETED FULL CI/CD AUTOMATION!

GitHub → Auto Build

Docker Hub → Auto Push

EC2 → Auto Deploy

0 manual steps after setup

Perfect for real-time DevOps and production workflows.

❤️ Thank You

This is a long but very clear tutorial so everyone can practice.
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