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

EB CLI Quick Reference

Installation

bash

pip install awsebcli
# or
brew install awsebcli

Verify Installation

bash

eb --version

Initialize Project

bash

eb init

Core Commands

Command	Description
`eb init`	Initialize EB project
`eb create`	Create new environment
`eb deploy`	Deploy application
`eb status`	Show environment status
`eb health`	Show health status
`eb logs`	Get logs
`eb config`	Edit configuration
`eb terminate`	Terminate environment
`eb list`	List environments
`eb use`	Set default environment
`eb open`	Open in browser
`eb events`	Show recent events
`eb ssh`	SSH to instance
`eb scale`	Scale instances
`eb setenv`	Set environment variables
`eb printenv`	Show environment variables
`eb upgrade`	Upgrade platform
`eb clone`	Clone environment
`eb swap`	Swap environment URLs
`eb abort`	Abort in-progress update
`eb restore`	Restore terminated env
`eb appversion`	Manage app versions
`eb platform`	Platform operations
`eb console`	Open AWS Console
`eb tags`	Manage environment tags
`eb restart`	Restart app server
`eb codesource`	Configure CodeCommit integration
`eb local`	Run Docker app locally
`eb labs`	Experimental features
`eb migrate`	Migrate IIS apps to EB (Windows)

AWS Documentation Links

General

Platforms

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

Platform Best Practices

Node.js

code

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

code

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

code

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

code

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:

code

.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

bash

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

Nginx Customization

code

# .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

yaml

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

Packages

yaml

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

Commands

yaml

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

Files

yaml

# .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:

code

# 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:

bash

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:

bash

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"

bash

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

"Deployment failed"

bash

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

"502 Bad Gateway"

•App not listening on correct port
•App crashed on startup
•Health check failing

"High latency warnings"

bash

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

Presenting Documentation

When providing documentation:

•Give direct answers first
•Include relevant EB CLI commands
•Link to official docs for more detail
•Provide context for best practices

Example:

code

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