Deploying A MERN Stack To-Do App on AWS: A Step-by-Step Guide

Table of Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Prerequisites
3. Steps
   • Step 0 Prepare Prerequisites
   • Step 1 Configure the backend
   • Step 2 Test the Backend code with Postman
   • Step 3 Create the frontend
   • Step 4 Create the React Components
   • Step 5 Run the app
4. Conclusion

Project Overview

The MERN stack is a popular web development framework that combines four technologies: MongoDB, Express.js, React and Node.js. This stack allows developers to build robust, scalable web applications using Javascript accross both the client and server sides.

The application we will be deploying is a single-page application (SPA), a to-do app having dynamic content.It can be used to add to-do items, display and delete to-do content.

Prerequisites

• AWS account
• AWS CLI
• Basic knowledge of React, Node.js, Express.js
• Basic knowledge of Linux

Steps

Step 0 Prepare Prerequisites

• Launch an EC2 instance named mern-server. We will be using an ubuntu instance LTS 24.04.

• SSH into the server from your local machine or development environment

ssh -i /path/to/key ubuntu@[public-IP]

Step 1 Configure the backend

• Update and upgrade the ubuntu instance:

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y

• Install Node.js and npm on the server:

sudo apt install -y nodejs npm

• Check node and npm version

node -v
npm -v

Set up application code

• First, we will create a new directory for the To-do app project and verify its creation with the ls command:

mkdir Todo && ls

• Change directory to the newly created directory:

cd Todo

• Initialise the project by running:

npm init

Press enter/return key to accept the default values. Finally enter yes to accept.

This command creates a new package.json file within our folder that
contains the application code and the dependencies it requires to run.

The content of the package.json is similar to the image below:

• Install Expressjs and the dotenv module Expressjs is a framework for Node.js. It helps to simplify development. We will install it with npm:

npm install express dotenv

Create the index.js file which is the entry point of the application:

vi index.js

We will write the following code into the index.js file. Open the file with an editor of choice and enter the code:

// Importing dependencies
const express = require('express');
require('dotenv').config();

// Creates the express app
const app = express();

// Setting the port
const port = process.env.PORT || 5000;

// CORS configuration
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
  res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept");
  next();
});

// Routes handling
app.use((req, res) => {
  res.send('Welcome to Express');   
});

// Starting the server
app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});

The code sets up a simple web server using Node.js and Express.js. Comments have been included in the code to provide explanations of each sections. When a request is made to the server, CORS headers are added to the response. Irrespective of the request URL or method, the server reponds with, "Welcome to Express". The server listens on the specified port or defaults to 5000 if the port is not provided.

Save the file.

To test our server, we will run:

node index.js

The image below shows the running server.

Note the port the server is running on and open the port in the security group with the following command:

Retrieve the groupId of the security group by running the following command:

aws ec2 describe-security-groups --query "SecurityGroups[*].{ID:GroupId,Name:GroupName}"

Retrieve groupId for a specific security group

aws ec2 describe-security-groups --group-names "my-security-group" --query "SecurityGroups[*].GroupId" --output text

Create an ingress rule for the port from anywhere 0.0.0.0/0

aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress --group-id [GroupId] --protocol tcp --port [port] --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

Alternatively, set the security group ingress via the AWS console.

Retrieve your server's public IP with the instance metadata

TOKEN=`curl -X PUT "http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token" -H "X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600"` && curl -H "X-aws-ec2-metadata-token: $TOKEN" -s http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/public-ipv4

Next, access your server's public IP in your browser:

http://[public-ip]:5000

Hints/ Troubleshooting :

• If you get "ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR" , check that you are running the application of http not https.

• When you run node index.js you will not be able work on that terminal, resolve this by ssh into the instance on another terminal. Alternatively, run the server with the ampersand symbol to run it in the background: node index.js &

• Routes Our to-do app will be able to perform the following three actions which will be associated with specific endpoints.

1. Create a new task
2. Display list of all tasks
3. Delete a completed task

We will be using standard HTTP request methods: POST, GET. DELETE

We will create routes that will define the endpoints that the to-do app requires.

In a new terminal,create a folder called routes and cd into it.

mkdir routes && cd routes

We will create a file named api.js inside the folder, opening it with an editor of choice.

vi api.js

Enter the following code:

// Import Express and Create a router
const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();

// Define routes

// Handles GET requests to retrieve a list of todos
router.get('/todos', (req, res, next) => {
  // Return the result as a JSON array
});

// Handles POST requests to create a new todo
router.post('/todos', (req, res, next) => {
  // Return the result as a JSON array
});

// Handles DELETE requests to delete a todo by ID
// `:id` is a route parameter, passed in the URL
router.delete('/todos/:id', (req, res, next) => {
  // Return the result as a JSON array
});

// Export the Router
module.exports = router;

The above code defines an Express.js router for handling CRUD (Create, Read, Delete) operations on our to-do app. Comments are included in the code to explain the functionality. To use this router, you would typically import it in your main server file and use it like this:

const todoRoutes = require('./api');
app.use('/api', todoRoutes);

Model
We will create a model since our app is using Mongodb, a NoSQL database. A model makes a javascript applications interactive. The model will be used to define the database schema. A schema is a layout of how the database will be constructed. We will install mongoose to create a schema and a model. mongoose is a node.js package that makes working with mongodb easier. it is an Object Data Modeling (ODM) library for MongoDB and Node.js

Install mongoose inside the Todo folder:

cd Todo && npm install mongoose

Create a models directory, cd into it and create a file named todo.js within the folder:

mkdir models && cd models && vi todo.js

Enter the following code into the todo.js file:

// Import mongoose
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const Schema = mongoose.Schema; // retrieves the mongoose schema constructor

// Defines the todo schema
const TodoSchema = new Schema({
  action: {
    type: String,
    required: [true, 'The todo text field is required']
  }
});

// Create model for todo
const Todo = mongoose.model('todo', TodoSchema);

// exports the todo model to be used in other parts of the app.
module.exports = Todo;

The code defines a mongoose model for our todo app in a MongoDB database. Comments are included in the code to explain its functionality.

Since our MongoDB models has been set up, we need to update the routes in the api.js

Delete the previous content of the api.js file and enter the following:

// Import Dependencies 
const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();
const Todo = require('../models/todo');

router.get('/todos', (req, res, next) => {
  Todo.find({}, 'action') // finds all the documents, selecting only the action field 
    .then(data => res.json(data))
    .catch(next);
});

router.post('/todos', (req, res, next) => {
  if (req.body.action) {
    Todo.create(req.body)
      .then(data => res.json(data))
      .catch(next);
  } else {
    res.json({
      error: "The input field is empty"    
    });
  }
});

router.delete('/todos/:id', (req, res, next) => {
  Todo.findOneAndDelete({"_id": req.params.id})
    .then(data => res.json(data))
    .catch(next);
});

module.exports = router;

This code sets up a RESTful API for a todo application, allowing clients to:

• Retrieve all todos (GET /todos)
• Create a new todo (POST /todos)
• Delete a specific todo (DELETE /todos/:id)

It interacts with the MongoDB database using the Mongoose model we defined earlier. The routes now have actual implementations, unlike in the previous version where they were empty.

• MongoDB Database We will use mongoDB to store our data. We will use a database as a service solution that used to be called mLab. mLab was a popular cloud database service for MongoDB, but it has since been acquired by MongoDB and merged into MongoDB Atlas, their cloud-based service. Since mLab no longer offers services independently, the process for creating a free MongoDB cluster now involves using MongoDB Atlas.

Sign up for MongoDB Atlas. Once signed in you will be taken to the MongoDB Atlas dashboard. And then, the Deploy your cluster page

Or follow the steps below:

• Create a New Project: Click on New Project to create a new project where your cluster will reside. Name the project and click "Next".

• Create a Free Cluster: In the newly created project, click "Build a Cluster", Choose "Shared Clusters" and select the "Free tier" (M0 cluster).You have options to configure the cloud provider (Choose AWS) and the region closest to you. Ensure you select the regions that have free tier available. We will choose the option of allowing access to the MongoDB database from anywhere.This is ideal for testing cases. [Note that stricter maeasures should be applied for production environment]. Also change the time of deleting entry from 6hours to 1 week.

Click on "Create your deployment", will display a page similar to the image below:

Note that, I have blocked out personal details,

From the pop-up you can set up your Network Access and Database user.

• Set up MongoDB User: Click "Database Access" and then Click "Add New Database User". Choose "Password" for the authentication method and set the username and password.

I used a weak password for testing purposes. It is ideal to use strong passwords for production environments.

• Set IP Whitelist: This allows your local machine or application to connect to MongoDB Atlas cluster. Click "Network Access", then click "Add IP Address". You can allow access from anywhere by entering 0.0.0.0/0. This is ideal for testing cases. [Note that stricter maeasures should be applied for production environment].

![image: Network access from Anywhere]](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/12zej1u6ihrdgn779sgx.png)

• Choose a connection method: After setting the database user and network access, Close the pop-up. On the dashboard, click "Get connection string". Then click "Done"

Copy the connection string for use in the application:

It is in the following format:

mongodb+srv://username:<db_password>@todo-app-cluster.vj1ly.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=todo-app-cluster

Note that the UI may differ. But the process of configuration remains largely the same.

• Creating an Environment variable file In our index.js we specified a process.env to access environment variables. Hence, we need to create the file named .env as follows in the todo directory and add the connection string:

vim .env

Add the connection string similar to the below:(Preferably get the connection string on the mongo Atlas dashboard)

DB = mongodb+srv://username:<db_password>@todo-app-cluster.vj1ly.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=todo-app-cluster

Next we will update the index.js to reflect the use of the .env so that Node.js can connect to the database. Simply delete the existing content of the file and add the following code:

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const routes = require('./routes/api');
const path = require('path');
require('dotenv').config();

const app = express();

const port = process.env.PORT || 5000;

// Connect to the Database
mongoose.connect(process.env.DB, { 
  useNewUrlParser: true,
  useUnifiedTopology: true 
})
.then(() => console.log(`Database connected successfully`))
.catch(err => console.log(err));

// Since mongoose promise is depreciated, we override it with node's promise
mongoose.Promise = global.Promise;

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
  res.header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept");
  next();
});

app.use(bodyParser.json());

app.use('/api', routes);

app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
  console.log(err);
  next();
});

app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${port}`);
});

This code sets up a RESTful API for a todo application, allowing clients to:

• Retrieve all todos (GET /todos)
• Create a new todo (POST /todos)
• Delete a specific todo (DELETE /todos/:id)

It interacts with the MongoDB database using the Mongoose model we defined earlier. The routes now have actual implementations, unlike in the previous version where they were empty.
To use this router in your main application, you would typically do something like:

const todoRoutes = require('./routes/api');
app.use('/api', todoRoutes);

This would make the routes accessible under the /api path, so the full paths would be /api/todos for GET and POST, and /api/todos/:id for DELETE.

We will start the Node.js server:

node index.js

Step 2 Test the Backend code with Postman

We will test the backend code by using Restful API. We will use Postman to test our API.

Install postman on your machine or use the web version.

I will be using the web version as it provides equal functionality. Also, because I am using a cloud IDE.

• Visit Postman website and sign up or sign in to your account.

• In Postman Web, create a new request by clicking "Send an API Request".

• Input the endpoint you want to test in the URL field. (A)

• Set the method by clicking on the dropdown. (B)

• set the body if necessary. (C)
  To set the body, click on the body tab below the URL field >> Select raw >> add the task in json format. For example:
  

{
  "action": "take out trash"
}

• Set the Headers: (D)

Key: value (Content-type: application/json)

(E) shows example result of the test on the POST request. The 200 OK status code means that the request was successful.

It is important to test all the endpoints:

Testing the HTTP GET request to display a list of tasks, we get the following:

Testing the HTTP DELETE request to test how to deleting an existing task:

if we check the GET endpoint again , we see that we are left with two tasks instead of three.

Step 3 Create the frontend

We will create a user interface for a web client to interact with the to-do app via API.

First scaffold the app with the create-react-app command. Run the following command in the Todo directory:

npx create-react-app client

This command creates a new folder in the Todo directory called client where we will add all the react code.

We will install the dependencies needed

• install concurrently

npm install concurrently --save-dev

The command runs multiple commands simultaneously

• install nodemon

npm install nodemon --save-dev

This is used to run and monitor the server. nodemon restarts and load new changes automatically if there is any change in the code.

Next, we will edit the package.json folder within our Todo directory to contain the following code:
Replace the "scripts" section with the following:

"scripts": {
"start": "node index.js",
"start-watch": "nodemon index.js",
"dev": "concurrently \"npm run start-watch\" \"cd client && npm start\""
},

• Configure proxy in package.json

We will configure proxy in package.json

change directory to the client folder:

cd client

Open the package.json file:

vim package.json

Add the key value pair:

"proxy": "http://localhost:5000"

Including the proxy configuration makes it possible to access the application directly from the browser by calling the server url http://localhost:5000 rather than always including the entire path http://localhost:5000/api/todos

Navigate to the Todo directory and run:

npm run dev

The app will run on localhost:3000, the default port for react app.

Hint: Open security group port to allow TCP port 3000.

Step 4 Create the React Components

React makes use of reusable components which makes code modular. We will have two stateful components and one stateless component for the todo app.

Change directory to the src folder from the todo directory:

cd client/src

Create a folder called components and cd into it

mkdir components && cd components

We will create three files namely: Input.js, ListTodo.js Todo.js

In the input.js, enter the following code:

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

class Input extends Component {
  state = {
    action: ""
  };

  addTodo = () => {
    const task = { action: this.state.action };

    if (task.action && task.action.length > 0) {
      axios.post('/api/todos', task)
        .then(res => {
          if (res.data) {
            this.props.getTodos();
            this.setState({ action: "" });
          }
        })
        .catch(err => console.log(err));
    } else {
      console.log('input field required');
    }
  };

  handleChange = (e) => {
    this.setState({
      action: e.target.value
    });
  };

  render() {
    let { action } = this.state;
    return (
      <div>
        <input type="text" onChange={this.handleChange} value={action} />
        <button onClick={this.addTodo}>add todo</button>
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default Input;

This React component, Input, enables users to add new Todo items. It features a text input field and an "Add Todo" button, validating non-empty text input. Upon submission, it sends a POST request to /api/todos using Axios, refreshing the Todo list by calling the getTodos prop function. The component's state manages the input value, resetting it after successful submission. It's designed to interact with a RESTful API and is exported for use in larger Todo applications.

To make use of Axios, a Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js, cd into the client and run npm install axios or yarn add axios

cd ../../ # or cd client Depending on your current location on the terminal 

npm install axios

Change to the components directory:

cd src/components

Open the ListTodo.js with a text editor:

vim ListTodo.js

Paste the code below into the file:

import React from 'react';

const ListTodo = ({ todos, deleteTodo }) => {
  return (
    <ul>
      {todos && todos.length > 0 ? (
        todos.map((todo) => (
          <li key={todo._id} onClick={() => deleteTodo(todo._id)}>
            {todo.action}
          </li>
        ))
      ) : (
        <li>No todo(s) left</li>
      )}
    </ul>
  );
};

export default ListTodo;

This component is designed to display and manage a list of Todo items, allowing users to delete individual items.

Then add the following code to the Todo.js file:

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import axios from 'axios';

import Input from './Input';
import ListTodo from './ListTodo';

class Todo extends Component {
  state = {
    todos: []
  };

  componentDidMount() {
    this.getTodos();
  }

  getTodos = () => {
    axios.get('/api/todos')
      .then(res => {
        if (res.data) {
          this.setState({
            todos: res.data
          });
        }
      })
      .catch(err => console.log(err));
  };

  deleteTodo = (id) => {
    axios.delete(`/api/todos/${id}`)
      .then(res => {
        if (res.data) {
          this.getTodos();
        }
      })
      .catch(err => console.log(err));
  };

  render() {
    const { todos } = this.state;

    return (
      <div>
        <h1>My Todo(s)</h1>
        <Input getTodos={this.getTodos} />
        <ListTodo todos={todos} deleteTodo={this.deleteTodo} />
      </div>
    );
  }
}

export default Todo;

This React code defines a Todo component that manages a Todo list application. It fetches Todo items from a RESTful API on mount, displays them using the ListTodo component, and allows users to add new items via the Input component. The component also handles deleting Todo items by sending a DELETE request to the API and updating the list. The getTodos function is used to refresh the list after adding or deleting items, ensuring the UI stays synchronized with the API data.

We will open the App.js file located in src. Change directory to the src directory and enter the following:

import React from 'react';

import Todo from './components/Todo';
import './App.css';

const App = () => {
    return (
        <div className="App">

            <Todo />
        </div>
    );

}

export default App;

This code defines the main App component, which serves as the entry point for the application. It imports the Todo component and renders it within a div element with the class "App". The Todo component is responsible for managing a Todo list, and this App component provides a container for it. The application's CSS styles are also imported from App.css. Overall, this code sets up the basic structure for the Todo list application.

Still in the src directory , we will open the App.css and paste the following csscode:

vi App.css

.App {
    text-align:center;
    font-size: calc(10px + 2vmin);
    width: 60%;
    margin-left: auto;
    margin-right: auto;
}

input {
    height: 40px;
    width: 50%;
    border: none;
    border-bottom: 2px #101113 solid;
    background: none;
    font-size: 1.5rem;
    color: #787a80;
}

input:focus {
    outline: none;
}

button {
    width: 25%;
    height: 45px;
    border: none;
    margin-left: 10px;
    font-size: 25px;
    background: #101113;
    border-radius: 5px;
    color: #787a80;
    cursor: pointer;

}

button:focus {
    outline:none;
}

ul {
    list-style: none;
    text-align: left;
    padding: 15px;
    background: #171a1f;
    border-radius: 5px;

}

li {
    padding: 15px;
    font-size: 1.5rem;
    matrgin-bottom: 15px;
    background: #282c34;
    border-radius: 5px;
    overflow-wrap: break-word;
    cursor: pointer;
}

@media only screen and (min-width: 300px) {
    .App {
        width: 80%;
    }
}

input {
    width:100%
}

button {
    width:100%;
    margin-top: 15px;
    margin-left: 0;
}

@media only screen and (min-width: 640px) {
    .App {
        width: 60%;
    }
}

input {
    width: 50%;
}

button {
    width: 30%;
    margin-left: 10px;
    margin-top: 0;
}

In the src directory, also open the index.css and enter the following css code:

body {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", "Roboto", "Oxygen", "Ubuntu", "Cantarell", "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;
    -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
    -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
    box-sizing: border-box;
    background-color: #282c34;
    color: #787a80;
  }

  code {
    font-family: source-code-pro, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, "Courier New", monospace;
  }

Step 5 Run the app

Cd into Todo directory run:

cd ../..
npm run dev

We will be able to view the app running on port 3000 as shown below. we will observe that the app has listed already, what we used in the postman tests. The todo list app is functional!

Conclusion

This project demonstrates the complete deployment process of a MERN stack to-do application on AWS. From setting up the backend with Node.js and Express.js, to integrating MongoDB Atlas for database storage, and finally deploying the React-based frontend, this guide covers the essential steps for developing and deploying a dynamic single-page application (SPA). The final product allows users to add, view, and delete tasks, leveraging AWS infrastructure for scalability and security.