Ship It on AWS: From First Sign-In to Production

What's inside

1. Level 1: Your AWS Account: Free Plan, Paid Plan and CreditsFree
   Open an AWS account the safe way: choose between the Free and Paid plans and their sign-up credits, lock down the root user, and see where this independent, non-AWS course is heading.
2. Level 2: Cost Control First: Budgets, Alerts and the CalculatorFree
   Set up guard-rails on spending before building anything, using AWS Budgets, billing alerts and the Pricing Calculator to estimate the course app's monthly bill.
3. Level 3: IAM Identity Center, Roles and Least Privilege
   Stop using the root user. Sign in day to day through IAM Identity Center with permission sets, and learn how users, roles and policies enforce least privilege.
4. Level 4: Regions, the Console, CloudShell and the AWS CLI
   Choose a home region and work across the three interfaces you will use all course: the console, CloudShell and the AWS CLI signed in through Identity Center.
5. Level 5: Containerise the Course App and Push It to ECR
   Take the course's small Python web app, run it locally, package it in a container image and push that image to a private Amazon ECR repository.
6. Level 6: Choosing Compute: ECS Express Mode, Fargate or Lambda
   Weigh containers on ECS (Express Mode on Fargate) against Lambda functions behind API Gateway, and understand why App Runner is no longer an option for new customers.
7. Level 7: Deploy on ECS Express Mode with Fargate
   Deploy the ECR image as an ECS Express Mode service, reach it on its AWS-provided URL, read its logs, and tear down the load balancer and tasks that cost money.
8. Level 8: Deploy as Lambda Functions Behind API Gateway
   Run the same app as Lambda functions behind an API Gateway HTTP API, compare the experience with the container route, then remove it.
9. Level 9: VPCs and Security Groups in Plain Terms
   Learn what a VPC, subnets, route tables, gateways and security groups do, using the network your container service already runs in.
10. Level 10: Add a Database: RDS for PostgreSQL (or DynamoDB)
    Give the app persistent storage with a small RDS for PostgreSQL instance in private subnets, with DynamoDB shown as the serverless alternative.
11. Level 11: S3 Uploads with Pre-Signed URLs
    Let users upload and download files through S3 directly from the browser using short-lived pre-signed URLs, keeping the bucket private.
12. Level 12: Secrets Manager and Parameter Store
    Move the database password and app settings out of code and environment files into Secrets Manager and Systems Manager Parameter Store.
13. Level 13: CloudWatch Logs, Metrics and Alarms
    See what the running app is doing with structured logs, built-in and custom metrics, and alarms that tell you when something breaks.
14. Level 14: Custom Domain with Route 53, ACM and CloudFront
    Put the app on your own domain with a Route 53 hosted zone and a free ACM certificate, and see in outline where CloudFront fits in front of it.
15. Level 15: Scaling and What It Costs
    Make the app handle more load with service auto scaling and database sizing, and be honest about the bill each scaling choice brings.
16. Level 16: Describe the Whole Stack with the AWS CDK
    Rebuild everything you clicked together as infrastructure as code with the CDK in Python, then deploy, change and destroy it from the command line.
17. Level 17: CI/CD with GitHub Actions and OIDC
    Build, push and deploy the app and its CDK stack from GitHub Actions, using an OIDC-trusted IAM role instead of stored access keys.
18. Level 18: Backups and a Real Restore
    Protect the database and uploads with automated backups, snapshots and S3 versioning, then prove the backups work by restoring to a new instance.
19. Level 19: Production Checklist and Deleting Everything
    Review the stack against a production checklist covering security, cost, reliability and operations, then remove every billable resource and check nothing is left.
20. Level 20: Final Challenge: Ship It Again from Zero Exam
    Bring together the whole course by redeploying the full app from an empty account state through CI/CD, then proving it is observable, recoverable, affordable and fully removable.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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