Nginx Web Server
Deploy a VPC with a public subnet and an EC2 instance running Nginx using Terraform on Spinifex.
Overview
Deploy a complete Nginx web server on Spinifex using Terraform/OpenTofu. This workbook provisions a VPC, public subnet, internet gateway, route table, security group, SSH key pair, and an EC2 instance with cloud-init user-data that installs and starts Nginx.
What you'll learn:
- Configuring the AWS Terraform provider to target Spinifex
- Creating a VPC with public internet access
- Provisioning an EC2 instance with cloud-init user-data
- Generating SSH key pairs with the TLS provider
Prerequisites:
- Spinifex installed and running (see Installing Spinifex)
- A Debian 12 AMI imported (see Setting Up Your Cluster)
- OpenTofu or Terraform installed
Instructions
Step 1. Get the Template
Clone the Terraform examples from the Spinifex repository:
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse https://github.com/mulgadc/spinifex.git spinifex-tf
cd spinifex-tf
git sparse-checkout set docs/terraform
cd docs/terraform/nginx-webserver
Or create a main.tf file and paste the full configuration below.
# Example 1: Nginx Web Server on Spinifex
#
# Deploys a VPC with a public subnet and an EC2 instance running Nginx.
# Demonstrates: VPC, subnet, internet gateway, route table, security group,
# key pair, cloud-init user-data, and EC2 instance provisioning.
#
# Usage:
# cd spinifex/scripts/iac/aws/examples/01-nginx-webserver
# export AWS_PROFILE=spinifex
# tofu init && tofu apply
#
# After apply:
# curl http://<public_ip> # Nginx welcome page
# ssh -i nginx-demo.pem ec2-user@<public_ip>
terraform {
required_version = ">= 1.6.0"
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = ">= 5.0"
}
tls = {
source = "hashicorp/tls"
version = ">= 4.0"
}
local = {
source = "hashicorp/local"
version = ">= 2.0"
}
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Variables
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
variable "region" {
type = string
default = "ap-southeast-2"
}
variable "spinifex_endpoint" {
type = string
default = "https://localhost:9999"
description = "Spinifex AWS gateway endpoint"
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Provider — point the AWS provider at Spinifex
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
provider "aws" {
region = var.region
endpoints {
ec2 = var.spinifex_endpoint
iam = var.spinifex_endpoint
sts = var.spinifex_endpoint
}
skip_credentials_validation = true
skip_metadata_api_check = true
skip_requesting_account_id = true
skip_region_validation = true
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Data sources
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
data "aws_availability_zones" "available" {
state = "available"
}
data "aws_ami" "debian12" {
most_recent = true
owners = ["000000000000"] # Spinifex system images
filter {
name = "name"
values = ["*debian-12*"]
}
filter {
name = "virtualization-type"
values = ["hvm"]
}
filter {
name = "root-device-type"
values = ["ebs"]
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# SSH Key Pair
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "tls_private_key" "nginx" {
algorithm = "ED25519"
}
resource "aws_key_pair" "nginx" {
key_name = "nginx-demo"
public_key = tls_private_key.nginx.public_key_openssh
}
resource "local_file" "nginx_pem" {
filename = "${path.module}/nginx-demo.pem"
content = tls_private_key.nginx.private_key_openssh
file_permission = "0600"
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# VPC
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_vpc" "main" {
cidr_block = "10.10.0.0/16"
enable_dns_hostnames = true
enable_dns_support = true
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo-vpc"
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Internet Gateway — gives the public subnet a route to the internet
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_internet_gateway" "igw" {
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo-igw"
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Public Subnet
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_subnet" "public" {
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
cidr_block = "10.10.1.0/24"
availability_zone = data.aws_availability_zones.available.names[0]
map_public_ip_on_launch = true
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo-public"
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Route Table — send 0.0.0.0/0 through the internet gateway
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_route_table" "public" {
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
route {
cidr_block = "0.0.0.0/0"
gateway_id = aws_internet_gateway.igw.id
}
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo-public-rt"
}
}
resource "aws_route_table_association" "public" {
subnet_id = aws_subnet.public.id
route_table_id = aws_route_table.public.id
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Security Group — SSH + HTTP inbound, all outbound
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_security_group" "web" {
name = "nginx-demo-sg"
description = "Allow SSH and HTTP inbound"
vpc_id = aws_vpc.main.id
ingress {
description = "SSH"
from_port = 22
to_port = 22
protocol = "tcp"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}
ingress {
description = "HTTP"
from_port = 80
to_port = 80
protocol = "tcp"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}
egress {
description = "All outbound"
from_port = 0
to_port = 0
protocol = "-1"
cidr_blocks = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
}
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo-sg"
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# EC2 Instance — Debian 12 with Nginx installed via cloud-init
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
resource "aws_instance" "nginx" {
ami = data.aws_ami.debian12.id
instance_type = "t3.small"
subnet_id = aws_subnet.public.id
vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.web.id]
key_name = aws_key_pair.nginx.key_name
associate_public_ip_address = true
user_data_base64 = base64encode(<<-USERDATA
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
# Install Nginx
apt-get update -y
apt-get install -y nginx
# Write a custom landing page
cat > /var/www/html/index.html <<'HTML'
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>Spinifex Demo</title></head>
<body style="font-family: sans-serif; max-width: 600px; margin: 80px auto;">
<h1>Hello from Spinifex!</h1>
<p>This Nginx server was deployed with Terraform on Spinifex infrastructure.</p>
<hr>
<p><small>Instance provisioned via cloud-init user-data.</small></p>
</body>
</html>
HTML
# Ensure Nginx is running
systemctl enable nginx
systemctl restart nginx
USERDATA
)
tags = {
Name = "nginx-demo"
}
}
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Outputs
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
output "note" {
value = "EC2 instances can take 30+ seconds to boot after apply. If SSH or HTTP is unreachable, wait and retry."
}
output "instance_id" {
value = aws_instance.nginx.id
}
output "public_ip" {
value = aws_instance.nginx.public_ip
}
output "ssh_command" {
value = "ssh -i nginx-demo.pem ec2-user@${aws_instance.nginx.public_ip}"
}
output "web_url" {
value = "http://${aws_instance.nginx.public_ip}"
}
Step 2. Deploy
export AWS_PROFILE=spinifex
tofu init
tofu apply
Step 3. Verify
> Note: EC2 instances can take 30+ seconds to boot after apply. If SSH or HTTP is unreachable, wait and retry.
After apply completes, use the outputs to test:
curl http://<public_ip>
ssh -i nginx-demo.pem ec2-user@<public_ip>
Open the web_url output in your browser to see the Nginx welcome page.
Clean Up
tofu destroy
Troubleshooting
AMI Not Found
Ensure you have imported a Debian 12 image. Check available AMIs:
aws ec2 describe-images --owners 000000000000 --profile spinifex
Provider Connection Refused
Verify Spinifex services are running:
sudo systemctl status spinifex.target
curl -k https://localhost:9999/
SSH Connection Timeout
Check that the security group allows inbound SSH (port 22) and that the instance has a public IP assigned. Verify the instance is running:
aws ec2 describe-instances --profile spinifex
Nginx Not Responding
SSH into the instance and check cloud-init logs:
ssh -i nginx-demo.pem ec2-user@<public_ip>
sudo journalctl -u cloud-init --no-pager
sudo systemctl status nginx