Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides

Guides

How to Host a Static Website on AWS EC2 with Nginx

By , AWS & DevOps trainer LinkedIn Published: Last updated:

To host a static website on AWS EC2 with Nginx, install Nginx on an Amazon Linux 2023 instance, upload your HTML/CSS files with scp, copy them to /var/www/mysite, and add a server block in /etc/nginx/conf.d/mysite.conf with root /var/www/mysite;. Test with sudo nginx -t, reload with sudo service nginx reload, and open http://<PUBLIC_IP> with port 80 allowed in the security group.

Friends, in the Nginx guide we built a one-page proposal website. Was the answer "yes"? Then now give her a real website – with photos, CSS and its own folder. Today we upload a complete website from the laptop to EC2 and host it properly with Nginx – the way companies do it.

Quick answer

From your laptop, upload the site; then on the server, copy it, add a server block and reload:

# laptop
scp -i mykey.pem -r ./mysite ec2-user@<PUBLIC_IP>:~/

# server (Amazon Linux 2023, Nginx already installed)
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mysite && sudo cp -r ~/mysite/* /var/www/mysite/
sudo find /var/www/mysite -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/mysite -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
# create /etc/nginx/conf.d/mysite.conf (Step 4), then:
sudo nginx -t && sudo service nginx reload

What do I need before hosting a static site?

How does a visitor reach your static site?

How a web request reaches Nginx on EC2 A laptop and a mobile phone send an HTTP request over the internet. It passes the security group, which allows port 80, and reaches Nginx on the EC2 instance. Nginx sends the response page back the same way. Request ← Response Laptop Mobile Internet Security group Port 80 open EC2 instance Nginx index.html 200 OK Request Response Request Response

The browser on a laptop or mobile sends a Request over the internet. The security group lets it in on port 80, Nginx on EC2 answers with the page, and the Response travels back.

How do I host a static website on EC2 with Nginx?

Step 1 — Create a small site (or use your own)

No site yet? Create one on the server in ~/mysite:

mkdir -p ~/mysite/css
cat > ~/mysite/index.html <<'HTML'
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>My First Cloud Website</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css">
</head>
<body>
  <header><h1>Namaste from AWS EC2!</h1></header>
  <main><p>This static website is served by Nginx on an EC2 instance.</p></main>
</body>
</html>
HTML
echo 'body{font-family:Arial,sans-serif;margin:0;background:#f4f7fb} header{background:#0b3d6e;color:#fff;padding:20px;text-align:center} main{max-width:700px;margin:30px auto;background:#fff;padding:20px;border-radius:8px}' > ~/mysite/css/style.css
echo '<!DOCTYPE html><html><body><h1>404 - Page not found</h1><a href="/">Go home</a></body></html>' > ~/mysite/404.html
ls -R ~/mysite

Step 2 — Upload your files from the laptop

Run scp on your laptop, from the folder that contains mysite and your key:

scp -i mykey.pem -r ./mysite ec2-user@<PUBLIC_IP>:~/

Other ways: git clone your GitHub repository on the server (sudo yum install -y git), or drag and drop with WinSCP, MobaXterm or FileZilla (SFTP, port 22, same key). You cannot upload straight into /var/www/... because root owns it — upload to your home folder first.

Step 3 — Copy to the web folder and set permissions

sudo mkdir -p /var/www/mysite
sudo cp -r ~/mysite/* /var/www/mysite/
sudo find /var/www/mysite -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/mysite -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
ls -la /var/www/mysite

Folders 755 and files 644 let Nginx read everything while only root can change it.

Step 4 — Add an Nginx server block

sudo tee /etc/nginx/conf.d/mysite.conf > /dev/null <<'EOF2'
server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name YOUR_SERVER_NAME;
    root /var/www/mysite;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }
    error_page 404 /404.html;

    access_log /var/log/nginx/mysite_access.log;
    error_log  /var/log/nginx/mysite_error.log;
}
EOF2
# put this server's public IP (or your domain) as server_name
sudo sed -i "s/YOUR_SERVER_NAME/$(curl -s https://checkip.amazonaws.com)/" /etc/nginx/conf.d/mysite.conf

Amazon Linux already has a default server { server_name _; } block in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf that serves /usr/share/nginx/html. Giving your block the exact public IP (or a domain) makes Nginx choose your block. Quick method instead: copy your files into /usr/share/nginx/html/ — no config needed.

Step 5 — Test, reload and open the site

sudo nginx -t && sudo service nginx reload
curl -s http://localhost -H "Host: $(curl -s https://checkip.amazonaws.com)" | head -5

Open http://<PUBLIC_IP> in your browser. Try http://<PUBLIC_IP>/no-such-page to see your custom 404 page. Your website is live! 🎉

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Many students forget to update server_name when the public IP changes, and then Nginx's default welcome page shows up again. That's why you attach an Elastic IP first. Once the Elastic IP or domain is in place, change server_name and run sudo nginx -t && sudo service nginx reload.

How do I update the website later?

Upload the changed files again and copy them over the old ones:

# laptop
scp -i mykey.pem -r ./mysite ec2-user@<PUBLIC_IP>:~/
# server
sudo cp -r ~/mysite/* /var/www/mysite/

With git: cd ~/mysite && git pull, then the same sudo cp. Static files need no reload — only config changes do. Want a proper name like mysite.com instead of an IP? Continue with How to Connect a GoDaddy Domain to AWS EC2.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

💡 Before blaming the web server, run curl -I http://localhost from inside the server. If this works but the browser doesn't, the problem is outside – the security group, the IP, or you typed https. If it fails inside too, read sudo tail -n 20 /var/log/nginx/mysite_error.log. This one habit halves your troubleshooting time.

How do I fix common static site errors?

Ghabru naka 😅 — every student meets these:

Symptom Likely cause Fix
403 Forbidden No index.html; wrong permissions ls -​la /​var/​www/​mysite; folders 755, files 644; namei -​l /​var/​www/​mysite/​index.​html
404 Not Found Wrong root; filename case (Index.html) Check the root line; ls the exact names
Still the welcome page Default block wins; server_name is wrong Put the exact public IP/domain in server_name; sudo nginx -T shows the full config
CSS/images not loading Wrong relative path; file not uploaded Browser DevTools (F12) → Network tab
scp: Permission denied Uploading straight into /var/www Upload to ~/, then sudo cp
Browser timeout Port 80 missing in the security group; no public IP Add HTTP 80 from 0.0.0.0/0
Site broke after stop/start Public IP changed Attach an Elastic IP; update server_name

Learn it properly

This guide is the short path. The free AWS course explains every step in depth, with labs:

Got it? Upload, copy, permissions, server block, nginx -t and reload – those are the six steps of static hosting. Now, to send the link you need a proper domain, not an IP – we do that in the next guide.

Frequently asked questions

How do I host a static website on EC2?

Install Nginx, open port 80 in the security group, upload your files with scp, copy them to /var/www/mysite, add a server block with root /var/www/mysite;, then run sudo nginx -t && sudo service nginx reload.

How do I upload my website files to EC2?

From your laptop: scp -i mykey.pem -r ./mysite ec2-user@<PUBLIC_IP>:~/. You can also use git clone on the server, or WinSCP, MobaXterm or FileZilla (SFTP on port 22).

Why do I get 403 Forbidden after uploading my site?

Usually there is no index.html in the folder, or the permissions are wrong. Set folders to 755 and files to 644, and check every folder in the path with namei -l /var/www/mysite/index.html.

Why does Nginx still show the welcome page?

The default server block in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf won. Put the exact public IP or domain in server_name of your block, then test and reload. Or simply copy your files into /usr/share/nginx/html.

Can I use S3 instead of EC2 for a static website?

Yes. S3 static website hosting needs no server at all. This guide uses EC2 because it teaches the web server, permissions and Linux skills you need for dynamic sites later.

How do I host more than one website on the same EC2 instance?

Give each site its own folder and its own server block with a different server_name (name-based virtual hosts), then point each domain to the same Elastic IP.