Ninja Space Content Tech Blog

Deploying React App with AWS Amplify

Posted by Ninja Space Content on Thursday, April 15, 2021 Under: AWS
I created an AWS account 3 months ago but hadn't deployed anything on any of their services until last evening! A few months ago, I was having trouble with AWS Elastic Beanstalk and decided to put it in the back burner to learn Angular and TypeScript. Now, I'm ready to dig into AWS again. Instead of using AWS Elastic Beanstalk this time, which was what I originally had in mind, I decided to try out AWS Amplify to see if deploying my React app this way would be easier. It definitely is.

Here were my steps to deploy my React app on AWS Amplify: 
  1. I signed into my AWS account, and then clicked on AWS Amplify. Then, I had the choice to develop using their framework or just deploying. I'm only interested in deploying with the Amplify Console so I clicked on that deploy button option and then clicked on the GitHub link from there to authorize AWS to get access to my GitHub.
  2. Then after my GitHub was successfully connected, I selected the GitHub file that I needed to use to deploy and hit the "Next" button. I clicked "Next" again and then continued to deploy. Then, it sent me to a status screen where I patiently waited until all steps: Provision, Build, Deploy and Verify have taken place.
  3. I clicked on Verify and it says Build Duration was 1 minutes and 42 seconds. From there, under Domain, I found the link where my app was deployed at. Whoa, that was it! No CLI needed for just deployment on AWS Amplify. This was way easier than I thought!
Issue:
Initially, the main issue that I had was my Nodemailer under my Contact section was not working. Otherwise, everything is rendering great. It's because AWS Amplify is server-less so for backend stuff like Nodemailer, it will not work. I created the backend and front end in one app for this one. I will need to try to deploy it on AWS Elastic Beanstalk if I want a full stack app to deploy properly. However, I am pretty happy with how easy it is to deploy a front-end app on AWS Amplify. (Update: I found a workaround with this. See this blog entry on how I handled getting Nodemailer to work via AWS Amplify.)

The Best Thing:
The greatest thing about AWS Amplify that I love is when I do my regular "git push" command for my app, I can just simply click on the right angle bracket via AWS Amplify to update the deployment and I can easily watch it go through the Provision, Build, Deploy and Verify steps. This is a huge time saver! I didn't have to do an "npm run build" command  in my terminal.

Here is my working deployed app link via AWS Amplify: https://master.d27cizkq724af1.amplifyapp.com.

In : AWS 


Tags: aws amplify  how to deploy  react app 

About Ninja Space Content


Ninja Space Content I have been building simple websites on my own since 2008 and currently run several websites at the moment, including this one. I used to be an account manager for an affiliate/e-commerce company, helping affiliates grow their sales so I have some knowledge on the business side and client side of affiliate marketing. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I completed a JavaScript coding bootcamp and graduated in Dec 2020. I've been working as a contractor for a few software companies ever since.
Note: links to resources and promoting special deals may allow me to earn a small commission from each sale.