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.

Production Review Notes

Before treating the deployment as complete, verify that DNS, firewall rules, Caddy certificates, environment variables, restart policies, and log retention are all working as expected. A small production checklist helps avoid silent failures after the first successful deploy and makes future updates easier to troubleshoot.