Introduction
Starting my journey in the HNG DevOps Internship was both exciting and challenging. The first task, "DevOps Stage 0," required me to set up and configure an NGINX web server on a cloud platform. This task tested my ability to work with Linux servers, web server configurations, and deployment processes. In this post, I’ll share my approach, the challenges I faced, and how this experience aligns with my professional goals.
Task Overview
The goal was to install NGINX on an Ubuntu server and configure it to serve a custom HTML page. The HTML page needed to display:
Welcome to DevOps Stage 0 - [Adetola Ajala]/[Annie]
Additionally, the task required documentation of the entire process in a well-written blog post.
My Approach
- Create a Linux Server on any cloud provider of your choice, for this article, i used the AWS cloud provider and launched an EC2 instance running on Ubuntu server 24.04 LTS.
- Installing and Configuring NGINX:To ensure a smooth setup, I updated and upgraded the server packages.
Once installed, I verified that NGINX was running:
It displayed "active (running)", meaning my server was ready to serve web pages.
- Creating a Custom HTML Page Next, I customized the default NGINX web page. I edited the index.html file:
After saving the file, I restarted NGINX:
- then to ensure my application was running properly on the server, i went to the IP address of the server
Personal Growth from the HNG Internshp DevOps Stage 0 Task
This task has been a great learning experience, strengthening my Linux server management, troubleshooting, and web server configuration skills. I now have a better understanding of NGINX, firewall settings, and networking concepts.
Encountering and resolving challenges—like ensuring NGINX served the correct page and configuring firewall rules—helped improve my problem-solving abilities. Additionally, writing this blog enhanced my technical documentation skills, which are crucial for any DevOps role.
Overall, this task has boosted my confidence and motivation to explore automation, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud deployments in my DevOps journey.
Lessons Learned
🔹 Server Management: This task improved my skills in setting up an Ubuntu server, installing software, and configuring services.
🔹 Troubleshooting: I encountered and resolved issues related to firewall settings, browser caching, and file permissions.
🔹 Web Server Basics: I now understand how NGINX works and how to serve static web pages.
References
As part of the task, I referenced the following resources:
https://hng.tech/hire/devops-engineers
https://hng.tech/hire/cloud-engineers
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