Eb Docs

AWS Elastic Beanstalk Documentation (EB CLI)

Provide documentation, best practices, and reference information for Elastic Beanstalk using the EB CLI.

When to Use

• User asks "how do I..." regarding Elastic Beanstalk
• User wants best practices or recommendations
• User needs platform-specific guidance
• User asks about EB concepts or architecture

When NOT to Use

• Performing EB CLI operations → use the dedicated skills (deploy, status, logs, config, environment, app, maintenance)
• Diagnosing issues → use troubleshoot skill
• AWS infrastructure (SSL, domains, secrets, DB, security, monitoring, costs) → use eb-infra skill

EB CLI Quick Reference

Installation

pip install awsebcli
# or
brew install awsebcli

Verify Installation

eb --version

Initialize Project

eb init

Core Commands

AWS Documentation Links

General

• Developer Guide
• EB CLI Reference
• API Reference

Platforms

• Node.js
• Python
• Java
• Docker
• .NET
• Go
• Ruby
• PHP

Platform Best Practices

For full platform details (all 8 platforms including configuration, examples, and comparison), see the Platforms Reference.

Node.js

Project Structure:
├── package.json          # Required: dependencies & scripts
├── .npmrc                # Optional: npm configuration
├── Procfile              # Optional: custom start command
├── .ebignore             # Optional: files to exclude
└── .ebextensions/        # Optional: EB configuration

Key Settings:
- NODE_ENV=production
- npm start should work
- Listen on process.env.PORT (default: 8080)

Python

Project Structure:
├── requirements.txt      # Required: pip dependencies
├── application.py        # WSGI application
├── Procfile             # Optional: custom command
├── .ebignore            # Optional: files to exclude
└── .ebextensions/       # Optional: EB configuration

Key Settings:
- WSGIPath: application:application
- NumProcesses, NumThreads for scaling

Java

Project Structure:
├── target/app.war        # WAR file (Tomcat)
├── target/app.jar        # JAR file (standalone)
├── Procfile             # For JAR: web: java -jar app.jar
└── .ebextensions/       # Optional: EB configuration

Key Settings:
- JVM options via JAVA_OPTS
- Heap size configuration

Docker

Project Structure:
├── Dockerfile            # Required for single container
├── docker-compose.yml    # For multi-container
├── .dockerignore        # Exclude files from build
└── .ebextensions/       # Optional: EB configuration

Key Settings:
- Expose port 80 or configure proxy
- Use multi-stage builds for smaller images

.platform/ Directory (AL2 and AL2023)

On Amazon Linux 2 and AL2023, use .platform/ for hooks and reverse proxy customization:

.platform/
├── hooks/                    # Run during deployments & platform updates
│   ├── prebuild/             # Before app build (install dependencies)
│   ├── predeploy/            # After build, before app deploy
│   └── postdeploy/           # After app deploy completes
├── confighooks/              # Run only on configuration changes
│   ├── prebuild/
│   ├── predeploy/
│   └── postdeploy/
└── nginx/
    ├── conf.d/               # Additional nginx config (*.conf)
    └── nginx.conf            # Full nginx config (replaces default)

Hook scripts must be executable (chmod +x). They run as root.

Platform Hook Example

# .platform/hooks/postdeploy/01_restart_service.sh
#!/bin/bash
systemctl restart my-service

Nginx Customization

# .platform/nginx/conf.d/client_max_body.conf
client_max_body_size 50M;

Note: .ebextensions/ still works on AL2/AL2023 for option_settings and resources, but prefer .platform/hooks/ over .ebextensions/ commands/container_commands for lifecycle scripts.

.ebextensions Examples

Environment Variables

# .ebextensions/env.config
option_settings:
  aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
    NODE_ENV: production
    LOG_LEVEL: info

Packages

# .ebextensions/packages.config
packages:
  yum:
    gcc: []
    make: []

Commands

# .ebextensions/commands.config
commands:
  01_create_dir:
    command: mkdir -p /var/app/logs
    ignoreErrors: true

Files

# .ebextensions/files.config
files:
  "/etc/nginx/conf.d/proxy.conf":
    mode: "000644"
    owner: root
    group: root
    content: |
      client_max_body_size 20M;

.ebignore File

Create .ebignore to exclude files from deployment:

# Dependencies
node_modules/
.venv/
__pycache__/

# Build artifacts
dist/
build/
*.pyc

# Local config
.env
.env.local

# IDE
.idea/
.vscode/

# Git
.git/

Experimental & Specialized Commands

eb labs

Experimental features that may change or be removed in future versions:

eb labs --help    # List available lab commands

Warning: Do not rely on eb labs commands for production workflows.

eb migrate (Windows IIS)

Migrates IIS sites from Windows servers to Elastic Beanstalk:

eb migrate --interactive                       # Interactive migration
eb migrate --sites "Default Web Site" --archive-only  # Archive without deploy
eb migrate explore --verbose                   # List available IIS sites
eb migrate cleanup                             # Clean up migration artifacts

Requires IIS 7.0+, Web Deploy 3.6+, and admin privileges. Windows only.

Security Best Practices

Environment Variables

• Never commit secrets to source control
• Use AWS Secrets Manager for sensitive values
• Use eb setenv for configuration
• Rotate credentials regularly

IAM

• Use least-privilege instance profiles
• Separate roles for different environments
• Enable MFA for console access

Network

• Use VPC with private subnets for instances
• Configure security groups restrictively
• Enable HTTPS with SSL certificate

Troubleshooting Guide

Common Issues

"Environment health has transitioned from Ok to Severe"

eb health    # Check health details
eb logs      # View application logs
eb events    # Check recent events

"Deployment failed"

eb events    # Check deployment errors
eb logs --all  # Get detailed logs

"502 Bad Gateway"

1. App not listening on correct port
2. App crashed on startup
3. Health check failing

"High latency warnings"

eb health --refresh  # Monitor metrics
eb scale 3           # Add more instances

Presenting Documentation

When providing documentation:

1. Give direct answers first
2. Include relevant EB CLI commands
3. Link to official docs for more detail
4. Provide context for best practices

Example:

To set environment variables in Elastic Beanstalk:

1. Via EB CLI (recommended):
   eb setenv NODE_ENV=production API_KEY=secret

2. Via .ebextensions (committed to repo):
   # .ebextensions/env.config
   option_settings:
     aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment:
       NODE_ENV: production

3. View current variables:
   eb printenv

Best Practice: Use Secrets Manager for sensitive values.

See: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/dg/environments-cfg-softwaresettings.html

Composability

• Deploy code: Use deploy skill
• Check status & health: Use status skill
• View logs: Use logs skill
• Change configuration: Use config skill
• Troubleshoot issues: Use troubleshoot skill
• Manage environments: Use environment skill
• Manage applications: Use app skill
• Platform updates: Use maintenance skill
• AWS infrastructure (SSL, domains, secrets, DB, security, monitoring, costs): Use eb-infra skill

Additional Resources

For detailed reference information, see the shared reference files:

• Configuration Options - All available configuration namespaces and options
• Health States - Health colors, statuses, and thresholds
• Cost Optimization - Instance sizing, scaling, and cost-saving strategies
• Platforms - Platform-specific configuration and requirements

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