How to Host Symfony on AWS EC2 (Amazon Cloud)

Symfony is a developer-centric PHP framework that powers thousands of websites and web apps today. This framework is built upon Symfony Components that developers mix-and-match to create CMS and platforms such as Drupal, eZ Publish, etc.

The framework is particularly well known for its vibrant community that includes over 2,000 contributors who maintain the Symfony core code and related projects.

Reference: Builtwith, Feburary 2023

Such a robust framework needs to be paired with an excellent hosting solution. This is where AWS hosting services excels because it is considered the pioneer in providing cloud infrastructure with persistent performance, reliable server infrastructure, and prompt technical support.

Amazon has data centres at major business locations. As a result, you get the option to host your websites closer to the target audience. Hosting Symfony on an AWS EC2 is not at all difficult. In this tutorial, I’ll show you that you can install Symfony on AWS using Cloudways Platform within minutes.

Why Choose Amazon Cloud?

In addition to the user-friendly UI, the fully managed Platform offers several exciting features, including a free SSL certificate by Let’s Encrypt, an optimized PHP stack, CloudwaysBot for prompt notifications, vertical scaling, and top notch technical support.

To help you make an informed decision, Cloudways offers a free 3-day trial. There is also the flexibility of apps, as you can launch Magento, PHP, Laravel  on EC2 servers through the CloudWays platform.

If you still have any confusion about installing Symfony on AWS, feel free to comment below, and I’ll answer them for you.

To launch a Symfony on AWS EC2 server on Cloudways, follow these steps:

Install Symfony 6.x On AWS EC2

Enter a valid email address to sign up at the Platform.

Note: You can also sign up using your LinkedIn, Google, or Github account.

Enter the details and click “START FREE” to initiate the process.

For this tutorial, I will install the latest version of the Symfony framework over the PHP application on AWS EC2.

Select PHP Application

• Select Custom PHP Application from the drop-down menu,
• Enter a name for the application,
• The select the server of your choosing, and select the project.

Choose the Cloud Infrastructure – AWS EC2

• You can choose from the top five amazing cloud server providers. I am going to opt for AWS infrastructure

Configure Your Server

• Select server size, bandwidth, and storage space.

When your requirements increase, you can always scale server configuration through the Vertical Scaling function.

Note: Remember that your server should have enough storage, RAM, and bandwidth to handle traffic spikes and for uncertain situations.

• Click LAUNCH SERVER and wait for a few minutes for the optimized PHP application to be deployed on the AWS Server.

Launch SSH Terminal

• Click on “Server Management” tab to launch the SSH Terminal.
• Here you can find the login credentials for the SSH terminal to access your server.

Install Symfony on Cloudways

In the SSH Terminal, move to the public_html folder.
Note: As a precautionary measure, delete all the existing files and folders inside the public_html folder through the following command:

rm -Rf *

Update Your PHP Version on Cloudways

• Click Settings & Packages > Packages.

• Before you move forward with the installation, you must ensure your server is compatible to symfony 6 requirement.

• You will see your current PHP version; click the edit button right next to it.
• Select PHP 8.1 from the drop-down menu.

• Click on save button.

You will have your PHP version updated to 8.1, and completed all server requirements to deploy symfony, lets continue with the installation.

Now, use the following command to install Symfony 6.1.12

• composer create-project symfony/website-skeleton symfony-cloudways
• Replace symfony-cloudways with the desired project name. I am going to use myproject as the project name.

• Do you want to include Docker configuration for this project?
• Enter n (NO)

Ready to Go!

Once the installation finishes, go to “Access Detail” in the “Application Management” tab and visit the application’s URL

http://your_application_url/symfony-cloudways/public

This is it. The latest version of Symfony is ready to use.

Note: You no longer need to configure the database during the installation process. as required for the earlier versions.

Pricing Plan

Cloudways offer Pay-as-You-Go service; this means you only pay for the resources you consume. With Amazon (AWS), Disk Sizes are configurable, and Bandwidth is on pay as you go basis.

Summary

AWS with Cloudways is a great option for those who are less teck savvy or who want to get strong and optimized performance on a budget.

Here in this article, we’ve launched a managed AWS server with Symfony. You can now explore the amazing Cloudways Platform optimized with its custom ThunderStack.

You can now focus on managing your AWS-based Symfony website and let Cloudways-managed Symfony hosting handle your server management hassles.

Salman Siddique

Salman is a content marketer with a CS background, so he is (very) good at creating and marketing technical content. When not working as a Digital Content Producer at Cloudways, he enjoys reading interesting stuff and learning new skills.

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