Getting Started with AWS ECS: Deploying Containers at Scale

How ECS service works

ECS (Elastic Container Service) is a managed container orchestration service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows you to run and manage Docker containers on a scalable infrastructure. To set up ECS and launch containers with specific images, you need to perform the following steps:

Step 1: Create an ECS Cluster

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Open the Amazon ECS console.
3. Click on “Clusters” in the navigation pane.
4. Click on “Create Cluster”.
5. Select the cluster template that suits your needs (e.g., “EC2 Linux + Networking”).
6. Configure the cluster details, such as cluster name, instance type, and EC2 instance settings.
7. Click on “Create” to create the cluster.

Step 2: Create a Task Definition

1. In the ECS console, click on “Task Definitions” in the navigation pane.
2. Click on “Create new Task Definition”.
3. Select the launch type compatibility (EC2 or Fargate).
4. Configure the task definition details:

• Task Definition Name: Provide a name for the task definition.
• Task Role: If required, specify an IAM role for the task.
• Network Mode: Choose the appropriate network mode for your application.
• Container Definitions: Add container definitions by clicking on “Add container”. Provide the container name, image name (including the repository and tag), CPU and memory requirements, port mappings, and any environment variables.
• Task Execution Role: If needed, specify an IAM role for the task execution.
• Click on “Create” to save the task definition.

Step 3: Create a Service

1. In the ECS console, go to the “Clusters” section and select your cluster.
2. Click on the “Services” tab and then click on “Create”.
3. Configure the service settings:

• Launch Type: Choose the appropriate launch type (EC2 or Fargate).
• Task Definition: Select the task definition you created in the previous step.
• Service Name: Provide a name for the service.
• Number of Tasks: Specify the desired count of tasks to run.
• Network Configuration: Configure the network settings for your service (e.g., VPC, subnets).
• Load Balancing: If required, configure a load balancer for your service.

4. Click on “Next” to review and configure additional settings if necessary.

5. Click on “Create Service” to create the service.

Step 4: Launch Containers

1. Once the service is created, ECS will automatically launch the containers based on the specified task definition.
2. Monitor the service in the ECS console to ensure that the desired number of tasks are running and healthy.
3. If using the EC2 launch type, ECS will provision EC2 instances based on the specified configuration.
4. If using the Fargate launch type, ECS will use the Fargate compute engine to launch the containers.
5. ECS will handle scaling, load balancing, and monitoring of the containers.

That’s the general process for setting up ECS and launching containers with specific images. Ensure that you have the necessary permissions and access keys for AWS to perform these actions.