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A typical web app on Amazon ECS follows a clear path: publish a container image to Amazon ECR, describe how to run it in an ECS task definition, use an ECS service to keep tasks running, and route web requests through an Application Load Balancer (ALB). With Fargate, AWS manages the underlying compute capacity, but you still configure networking, permissions, resources, and the app itself.

How the pieces connect

Think of deployment as a chain from packaged code to incoming request:

  1. Build and publish: Package the application and its dependencies as a container image, then store that image in Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR).
  2. Describe how to run it: Create an Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) task definition that points to the image and specifies container settings.
  3. Run and maintain it: Start an ECS service using that task definition. The service works to keep the desired number of tasks running.
  4. Route requests: If the app needs web traffic, connect the service to an ALB. The load balancer listener and rules forward requests to a target group associated with the service.

AWS’s containerized web application guidance describes this ECR-to-ECS image-pull pattern with Fargate and an internet-facing ALB. The load-balanced application also depends on supporting resources such as networking, logging, and IAM roles; an actual app may additionally need DNS, a database, secrets management, and monitoring.

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What each component does

ECR stores the image; ECS runs it

ECR is the registry where you store container images. ECS uses the image reference in a task definition to pull the image and launch a container. ECR does not run the app, and ECS is not the image repository.

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A task definition is the launch blueprint

A task definition is a reusable configuration for one or more containers. It can specify the image, CPU and memory, network mode, port mappings, logging, volumes, and IAM roles. AWS calls it a blueprint for an application in its Fargate task tutorial.

A task is a running instance launched from that definition. In a Fargate deployment, the task definition needs Fargate compatibility and the awsvpc network mode. If the app receives traffic, configure the container’s listening port and an appropriate port mapping.

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An ECS service maintains tasks

An ECS service manages the desired number of task instances and can replace tasks that stop or fail. This is distinct from a task definition: the definition describes how to launch tasks, while the service manages their ongoing count and can connect them to load balancing. AWS’s CloudFormation examples include both a service and a load-balanced web application.

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An ALB is the web traffic entry point

An ALB handles HTTP and HTTPS traffic at the application layer. Its listeners accept requests and its rules can route them to target groups, including by URL path. The ECS service registers tasks with the target group so traffic can reach them. Load balancing is optional for an ECS service; it is used when the app needs this kind of traffic routing.

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How to deploy a web app on ECS Fargate

The exact console or infrastructure-as-code steps vary, but the dependencies follow this order:

  1. Containerize the application and publish an image to ECR. Choose a versioned image tag that identifies the release.
  2. Register a task definition. Reference the ECR image and set the CPU and memory, awsvpc networking, container port, logging, and required IAM roles. For Fargate, select Fargate compatibility.
  3. Create an ECS service. Select the task definition revision, compute capacity, and desired task count. The service maintains that count as tasks stop or fail.
  4. Configure an ALB if the app needs HTTP/HTTPS access. Set up its listener, routing rules, target group, security groups, and health checks. For Fargate tasks using awsvpc, the target group must use IP targets rather than instance targets.
  5. Deploy a release deliberately. Publish the new image, register a new task-definition revision that references it, and update the service to use that revision.
  6. Check service status and logs. Confirm tasks start and that the load balancer can reach healthy targets. When using a tutorial environment, remove the resources afterward; AWS’s tutorial includes cleanup instructions and notes that some associated resources may require separate cleanup.

How to choose compute and load balancing

Fargate or ECS on EC2

Fargate avoids managing EC2 hosts: AWS manages the underlying server capacity for tasks. You remain responsible for the task’s size, network configuration, IAM permissions, and application settings. With ECS on EC2 capacity, you also manage instance selection and host capacity. The choice depends on operational needs; Fargate is not automatically cheaper or better for every workload.

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ALB, NLB, or Gateway Load Balancer

Load balancer Typical fit Routing focus
Application Load Balancer (ALB) Web apps that need HTTP/HTTPS features such as path-based routing Application layer
Network Load Balancer (NLB) Workloads that need Network Load Balancer features for TCP or UDP Transport layer
Gateway Load Balancer Workloads that use virtual network appliances Traffic through appliances

AWS recommends an ALB for ECS unless the workload requires a feature unique to an NLB or Gateway Load Balancer. Its ECS load-balancing guide describes the use cases and configuration. Load balancer charges depend on usage; check AWS’s current pricing before estimating deployment cost.

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Releases, permissions, and reliability

Keep code, image, and task revision aligned

A release should be traceable through its application version, image tag, and task-definition revision. Updating the service to a revision that references the intended image makes the deployed configuration easier to identify and roll forward or back. Avoid relying on an ambiguously changing image tag as the production release record.

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Separate launch permissions from app permissions

The task execution role is used by ECS or Fargate agents for launch-time AWS API calls, such as retrieving an image or sending logs. The application’s own AWS access belongs in its task role. Keep permissions scoped to what each role needs, and consider separate task-definition families and IAM roles for business components that need independent scaling or permissions.

Health checks and exposure need deliberate configuration

An ALB can distribute requests and use health checks, but an ALB alone does not guarantee availability. Task count, deployment settings, networking, health-check behavior, and the application’s own failure modes all matter.

Security groups should match the intended exposure. A public listener may accept traffic from the internet when that is the design, while task ingress should generally be limited to the ALB and the app’s required port. Do not copy a tutorial’s example rule allowing inbound HTTP on port 80 from anywhere without considering whether that exposure is appropriate.

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What this pattern does not provide automatically

  • Application dependencies: A database, DNS, secrets, and monitoring are separate design choices, not guaranteed by creating an ECS service and ALB.
  • Availability: The service can replace stopped tasks, but application health and deployment configuration still affect whether users can reach a working app.
  • Cost control: Load balancers and other provisioned AWS resources may continue to incur charges. Clean up tutorial resources you no longer need, including supporting resources that are not removed with the main stack.

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