How to Deploy a Next.js App on EC2 with Automatic HTTPS Using Caddy (Full Example)

Do you want to deploy your portfolio or web app on a real server with a custom domain? In this tutorial, you'll learn how to:

✅ Set up an EC2 instance
✅ Connect via SSH
✅ Install Node.js, pm2, and Caddy
✅ Point your domain
✅ Deploy your app with automatic HTTPS

We’ll use a fictional project: myawesomeproject.dev.

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PART 1: Create the EC2 Instance in AWS

🔧 Step 1: Launch Your Server

1. Go to https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2
2. Click on “Instances”, then “Launch instance”
3. Use the following configuration:
   • Name: my-server
   • Operating system: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS
   • Instance type: t2.micro (Free Tier eligible)
   • SSH Key: Create or select one (e.g., MyServerKey.pem)
   • Security group:
     • Allow these ports:
       • 22 (SSH)
       • 80 (HTTP)
       • 443 (HTTPS)
4. Click Launch instance

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🌐 Step 2: Point Your Domain

Let’s say you own the domain myawesomeproject.dev. Do the following:

1. Copy the public IP address of your EC2 instance (e.g., 34.201.1.100)
2. Go to your domain provider (e.g., Cloudflare, GoDaddy)
3. Edit the A record of myawesomeproject.dev and point it to your EC2 IP

Test it with:

ping myawesomeproject.dev
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Once it returns your server's IP, you're good to go.

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⚙️ PART 2: Configure the Server

🖥 Step 3: Connect via SSH

From your terminal:

ssh -i "MyServerKey.pem" ubuntu@34.201.1.100
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🔧 Step 4: Install Node.js, npm and pm2

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y nodejs npm
sudo npm install -g pm2
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Verify the installation:

node -v
npm -v
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Step 5: Clone Your Project from GitHub

cd /var
sudo mkdir www
sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu www
cd www

git clone https://github.com/youruser/yourrepo.git myawesomeproject.dev
cd myawesomeproject.dev

npm install
npm run build
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Don’t forget to upload your .env file if needed.

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Step 6: Launch Your App with pm2

pm2 start npm --name "myapp" -- run start
pm2 save
pm2 startup
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Run the command that pm2 gives you, for example:

sudo env PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin pm2 startup systemd -u ubuntu --hp /home/ubuntu
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🔐 Automatic HTTPS with Caddy

🔧 Step 7: Install Caddy

sudo apt install -y debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring apt-transport-https
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/gpg.key' | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/caddy-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/caddy/stable/debian.deb.txt' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/caddy-stable.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install caddy
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⚙️ Step 8: Configure Caddy

Edit the Caddyfile:

sudo nano /etc/caddy/Caddyfile
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Paste this content:

myawesomeproject.dev {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Reload Caddy:

sudo systemctl reload caddy
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🎉 Your Website is Live!

Open your browser and visit:

https://myawesomeproject.dev

With HTTPS, blazing fast performance from Next.js, and no manual SSL configuration needed.