Infrastructure Foundation - Create the AWS infrastructure components that will host your self-hosted Relvy with proper security and networking.
Overview This section guides you through creating the cloud infrastructure for Relvy self-hosting using AWS as an example. The core self-hosting setup requires an application server and database.
Routing Options If you have a way to route a subdomain to your Relvy server (e.g., through your existing load balancer, reverse proxy, or direct DNS), you can skip the load balancer and SSL certificate setup. Otherwise, you’ll need to deploy an Application Load Balancer and obtain an SSL certificate for secure access.
Core Components (Required)
EC2 Instance Self-hosted application with Docker containers
RDS Database PostgreSQL database for application data
Optional Components (Production)
Application Load Balancer Traffic distribution and SSL termination
SSL Certificate Secure HTTPS communication
Step 1: Create Security Groups Security groups act as virtual firewalls to control network access. We’ll create security groups for the required components, with optional groups for the load balancer setup.
1.1 ALB Security Group (Optional) Navigate to EC2 Console → Security Groups → Create Security Group
Field Value Name relvy-alb-sgDescription Load balancer security group for Relvy App VPC [Your VPC]
Inbound Rules Type Protocol Port Source Description HTTP TCP 80 0.0.0.0/0 HTTP redirect HTTPS TCP 443 0.0.0.0/0 HTTPS from internet
Outbound Rules Type Protocol Port Destination Description HTTP TCP 80 [Will add app SG after creating] To app instances
Note - We’ll update the outbound rule destination after creating the app security group.
1.2 App Security Group Navigate to EC2 Console → Security Groups → Create Security Group
Field Value Name relvy-app-sgDescription Application server security group for Relvy App VPC [Your VPC]
Inbound Rules Type Protocol Port Source Description HTTP TCP 80 relvy-alb-sg From load balancer SSH TCP 22 [Your IP]/32 SSH access
Outbound Rules Type Protocol Port Destination Description HTTPS TCP 443 0.0.0.0/0 HTTPS outbound HTTP TCP 80 0.0.0.0/0 Package downloads DNS UDP 53 0.0.0.0/0 DNS resolution
1.3 Database Security Group Navigate to EC2 Console → Security Groups → Create Security Group
Field Value Name relvy-db-sgDescription Database security group for Relvy VPC [Your VPC]
Inbound Rules Type Protocol Port Source Description PostgreSQL TCP 5432 relvy-app-sg Database access from application only
Outbound Rules
None (databases don’t need outbound access)
1.4 Update ALB Security Group Now update the ALB security group’s outbound rule:
Navigate to EC2 Console → Security Groups
Select relvy-alb-sg
Click Edit outbound rules
Update the HTTP rule destination to relvy-app-sg
Step 2: Create Application Load Balancer (Optional) If you have a way to route a subdomain to your Relvy server (as mentioned in the Routing Options above), you can skip this step. Otherwise, create a load balancer for production use.
Navigate to EC2 Console → Load Balancers → Create Load Balancer
2.1 Basic Configuration Field Value Name relvy-albScheme Internet-facing IP address type IPv4
2.2 Network Configuration Field Value VPC [Your VPC] Mappings Select 2 public subnets in different AZs Security Groups Remove default, Add relvy-alb-sg
2.3 Create Target Group
Click “Create target group” (opens in new tab)
Configure as follows:
Field Value Target type Instances Target group name relvy-app-tgProtocol HTTP, Port : 80 VPC [Your VPC] Health check path /health
Important - Don’t register targets yet. We’ll do this after creating the EC2 instance.
Field Value Listener HTTP:80 Default action Forward to relvy-app-tg
2.5 Review and Create Review the configuration and create the ALB. Note down the ALB DNS name : relvy-app-alb-xxxxxxxxx.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com
Save This - You’ll need the ALB DNS name for domain configuration in the next step.
Step 3: Create EC2 Instance (Core Component) This is the main application server. You can access Relvy directly through this instance if you don’t need a load balancer.
Navigate to AWS Console → EC2 → Instances → Launch Instance
3.1 Basic Configuration Field Value Name and tags Name: relvy-app-ec2 Application and OS Images (AMI) Amazon Linux 2023 AMI (64-bit x86)
3.2 Instance Type Field Value Instance family General purpose Instance type t3.xlarge
3.3 Key Pair Option A: Create new key pair
Click Create new key pair
Name : relvy-app-keyKey pair type : RSAPrivate key format : .pemClick Create key pair and download
Option B: Use existing key pair
Select from dropdown if you already have one
Security - Keep your private key secure. You’ll need it to SSH into the instance.
3.4 Network Settings Field Value VPC [Your VPC] Subnet [Select a subnet in the same AZ as target group] Auto-assign public IP Enable (for ssh) Firewall (Security groups) Select existing security group relvy-app-sg
3.5 Storage Configuration Field Value Root volume (gp3) Size: 100 GiB
3.6 Launch Instance Review and launch the instance. Wait for it to reach the “Running” state.
3.7 Register with Load Balancer (Optional) If you created a load balancer in Step 2:
Navigate to EC2 → Target Groups
Select your target group (relvy-app-tg)
Click Register targets
Select your new instance
Port : 80Click Include as pending below → Register pending targets
If you’re not using a load balancer, you can access Relvy directly via the EC2 instance’s public IP address.
Step 4: Create RDS Instance 4.1 Create Database Instance Navigate to RDS Console → Databases → Create database
4.1.1 Database Creation Method
Standard create (not Easy create)
4.1.2 Engine Options Field Value Engine type PostgreSQL Version PostgreSQL 17.4-R2 (or latest)
4.1.3 Templates
Production (for best practices)
4.1.4 Settings Field Value DB instance identifier relvy-app-dbMaster username postgresMaster password [Generate strong password - save this securely]
Important - Save the database password securely. You’ll need it for application deployment configuration.
4.1.5 Instance Configuration Field Value DB instance class db.t3.medium (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM) Storage type General Purpose SSD (gp3) Allocated storage 50 GB Storage autoscaling Enable Maximum storage threshold 200 GB
4.1.6 Connectivity Field Value Connect to EC2 Compute Resource Select the EC2 instance we created (relvy-app-ec2) DB subnet group Automatic setup Public access No VPC security groups Choose existing → relvy-db-sg Certificate authority default
4.1.7 Database Authentication
Database authentication : Password authentication
4.1.8 Additional Configuration Field Value Initial database name relvydbEnable Performance Insights Yes (optional) Deletion protection Enable
Database Name - The initial database name must be set to relvydb for the Relvy application to work correctly.
Wait for DB creation and note the endpoint .
4.2 Update App Security Group Navigate to EC2 Console → Security Groups → relvy-app-sg
Add outbound rule:
Type : PostgreSQL, Port : 5432, Destination : relvy-db-sg, Description : Database access
Step 5: Verify Infrastructure 5.1 Check All Components Verify all components are created and running:
Component Status Check Security Groups App and DB groups created with proper rules EC2 Instance Instance running (and registered with target group if using ALB) RDS Database Database available and accessible Load Balancer ALB running with target group (if created)
5.2 Test Connectivity # Test SSH access to EC2 ssh -i relvy-app-key.pem ec2-user@ < EC2_PUBLIC_I P > # Test database connectivity (from EC2) sudo yum install -y postgresql17 psql -h < RDS_ENDPOIN T > -U postgres -d relvydb Important Notes Save These Details - Keep track of the following for the next steps:RDS endpoint Database username and password EC2 IP for ssh ALB DNS name (if created) Next Steps Your cloud infrastructure is now ready! The next steps are:
Configure Domain - Set up DNS records and SSL certificate in Domain Configuration Setup Slack Integration - Create Slack app (optional) in Slack Setup Deploy Application - Install Docker and deploy Relvy in Application Deployment
Cost Alert - Your AWS resources are now running and incurring charges. Complete the deployment to start using Relvy.
