Configuration-and-Change-Management-with-Packer-and-Ansible

Automating the deployment of infrastructure to AWS by using Packer to build machine images, and Ansible as a provisioner to the packer script.

Installation

If you’re using Homebrew on a macOS, install Packer using
$ brew install packer
If you're using Chocolatey on a windows machine, use
$ choco install packer

Using the variables in .env.sample file as guide, create a .env file and supply the information specific to your AWS account.

Run the bash script in the root directory to source the .env file and run packer template.json file.

From your AWS console (ensure you're in the same region the image was created), click on Services at the top menu and select EC2.
Navigate to the left hand menu, under IMAGES, click on AMI.
From the list of images presented to you, identify the image you just created and select it. Click on launch.
Choose an instance type, and then choose Next: Configure Instance Details. t2.micro will be selected by default since the image was built with this instance_type.
Click Next: Add Storage
Click Next: Add Tags
Add tags (optional) and proceed to create security group.
In the port range column, input the port your app is running on.
Set the source IP to 0.0.0.0/0 to allow traffic from all sources.
Click "Review and Launch" to review your settings.
Then click launch.
Select an existing key pair or create a new key pair, select the acknowledge agreement box, and then choose Launch Instances.
Navigate to EC2 dashboard and click on instances to view the instance you just created.
Click on the instance from the list presented.
Copy the IP address and past it in your browser URL to access the application.