Create SteVe Instance in AWS Lightsail

How to create a SteVe Server using AWS Lightsail (free tier)

Prepare AWS

1. Log into AWS Dashboard AWS Services -> Lightsail

2. Create Instance, Platform Linux/Unix, OS Only Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, -> Status 2024: UBUNTU 24.x Upload public key, select smallest plan -> Status 2024: Memory Minimum 1GB

3. Create Static IP address, Attach to Instance

4. Click on Instance -> Networking, Under Firewall Select + Add Another TCP 8080

5. Create Database, Pick MySQL 5.7.26, You can leave Username and Password to default, Plan Standard / smallest

6. Wait for the database to start and copy database credentials (endpoint, username and password)

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Configure VM

1. Connect to instance via ssh using the public IP.

2. Update everything: sudo apt update && sudo apt -y upgrade (don't override the configs)

3. Install required packages:

a. sudo apt install maven

b. sudo apt install mysql-client

c. sudo apt-get install openjdk-17-jdk

4. Prepare Database (use the username, host and password from earlier):

mysql -u dbmasteruser -h ls-e98192e66a6XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.c0ftlmkcbxge.eu-central-1.rds.amazonaws.com -p

mysql> CREATE DATABASE stevedb CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;

mysql> quit

5. Checkout SteVe: git clone https://github.com/RWTH-i5-IDSG/steve.git; cd steve

6. Configure SteVe: vi src/main/resources/config/prod/main.properties

• configure db.ip, db.user and db.password to match your MySQL information, e.g. ls-e98192e66a6XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.c0ftlmkcbxge.eu-central-1.rds.amazonaws.com (MySQL endpoint) as db.ip, dbmasteruser as db.user and db.password as shown.
• Bind SteVe to all interfaces by setting: server.host = 0.0.0.0
• Use a strong password for auth.password

7. Build Steve (we need to enforce lower memory usage on the tiny instance): export MAVEN_OPTS="-Xmx200m" && mvn package

8. Start it. I suggest running it inside screen or tmux: java -jar target/steve.jar You'll be able to access SteVe via the Lightsail public IP.