Deploying the PMkbase/OmnilogDB Flask App on AWS EC2 (No SSL, IP Access Only)

This guide explains how to deploy the Flask-based PMkbase website on an Ubuntu EC2 instance using Gunicorn as the WSGI server and Nginx as the reverse proxy, without any SSL or domain configuration. The app will be accessible using your EC2 instance’s public IP address.

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1. Prerequisites

1. An Ubuntu EC2 instance (tested with Ubuntu 20.04/22.04).
2. SSH access with a user like ubuntu.
3. Your Flask project directory uploaded to /home/ubuntu/OmnilogDB.
4. A requirements.txt file in the project root.
5. Security group configured to allow inbound traffic on ports 22 (SSH), 80 (HTTP).

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2. Initial Server Setup

Update packages and install dependencies:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install Python 3, pip, and virtualenv
sudo apt install python3 python3-pip python3-venv -y

# Install Nginx
sudo apt install nginx -y

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3. Clone the repository and set Up the Python Virtual Environment

git clone https://github.com/SBRG/PMkbase.git
cd /home/ubuntu/PMkbase

# Create and activate the virtual environment
python3 -m venv pmkbase_env
source pmkbase_env/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

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4. Test Run with Gunicorn

Before configuring systemd, test that Gunicorn can run your app:

# From the project root
gunicorn --workers 4 --bind 0.0.0.0:8000 app:app

• Replace app:app with wsgi:app if your app entry point is in wsgi.py.
• Visit http://<EC2-PUBLIC-IP>:8000 in your browser to verify it runs.
• Stop it (CTRL+C) once verified.

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5. Create a systemd Service for Gunicorn

Create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/pmkbase.service

Paste:

[Unit]
Description=Gunicorn instance for PMkbase
After=network.target

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Group=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/OmnilogDB
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/myenv/bin/gunicorn -b localhost:8000 -w 20 --timeout 3600 app:app
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and reload systemd:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable pmkbase
sudo systemctl start pmkbase

# Verify it's running
sudo systemctl status pmkbase

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6. Configure Nginx

Edit the default Nginx configuration:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Replace contents with:

upstream flaskpmkbase {
    server 127.0.0.1:8000;
}

server {
    listen 80 default_server;
    listen [::]:80 default_server;
    server_name _;

    root /var/www/html;

    index index.html index.htm index.nginx-debian.html;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://flaskpmkbase;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    }
}

Test and restart Nginx:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

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7. Managing the Service

Useful commands:

# Check Gunicorn service status
sudo systemctl status pmkbase

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart pmkbase

# Stop the service
sudo systemctl stop pmkbase

# Check if something is using port 8000
sudo lsof -i :8000

# Check Nginx status
sudo systemctl status nginx

To debug and run manually:

source myenv/bin/activate
gunicorn --workers 10 --timeout 3600 app:app

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8. Access the App

Open your browser and go to:

http://<EC2-PUBLIC-IP>

Your Flask app should now be live.