Automated Minecraft Server Deployment

This repository contains infrastructure as code (IaC) and configuration management scripts to automatically deploy and configure a Minecraft server on AWS. The deployment is fully automated using Terraform for infrastructure provisioning and Ansible for server configuration.

Background

This project demonstrates modern DevOps practices by automating the deployment of a Minecraft server using:

• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
• Configuration Management (Ansible)

Requirements

Prerequisites

• AWS CLI v2.x
• Terraform v1.x
• Ansible v2.x
• Git

AWS Configuration

1. Install AWS CLI and configure credentials:

aws configure

You'll be prompted to enter:

• AWS Access Key ID
• AWS Secret Access Key
• Default region name (e.g., us-west-2)
• Default output format (press Enter for default)

2. For AWS Academy credentials, you may need to manually add the session token:

   • Open ~/.aws/credentials
   • Add aws_session_token = your_session_token under the [default] section
   • The file should look like:

     [default]
     aws_access_key_id = your_access_key
     aws_secret_access_key = your_secret_key
     aws_session_token = your_session_token
     

3. Required AWS permissions:

   • EC2 full access
   • VPC full access
   • IAM role creation
   • Security group management

SSH Key Pair

The deployment automatically:

1. Generates a new RSA key pair
2. Creates the key pair in AWS
3. Saves the private key as terraform/minecraft-server-ssh.pem
4. Uses the key pair for the EC2 instance

The private key file will be created in the terraform directory after running terraform apply. Keep this file secure as it's needed to SSH into your Minecraft server.

Deployment Instructions

1. Infrastructure Provisioning

   cd terraform
   terraform init
   terraform plan
   terraform apply

2. Get Server IP and Set Environment Variable

   # Get the server IP from Terraform output
   export MINECRAFT_SERVER_IP=$(terraform output -raw minecraft_server_ip)

3. Server Configuration

   cd ../ansible
   ansible-playbook -i inventory.yml minecraft.yml

Stopping the Server

Option 1: Using Terraform (Recommended)

1. Navigate to the terraform directory:

   cd terraform

2. Destroy the infrastructure:

   terraform destroy

   This will:
   • Stop and terminate the EC2 instance
   • Remove the security group
   • Clean up any other AWS resources created by Terraform

Option 2: Through AWS Console

1. Log into AWS Console
2. Navigate to EC2 Dashboard
3. Find your running instance
4. Select the instance and click "Instance state" → "Stop instance"
   • Note: This only stops the instance but keeps all resources intact
   • To completely remove resources, use Option 1 (terraform destroy)

Architecture

graph TD
    A[Local Deployment] --> B[Terraform]
    B --> C[AWS Infrastructure]
    C --> D[EC2 Instance]
    D --> E[Minecraft Server]
    F[Ansible] --> D

Loading

Verifying the Server

After deployment:

nmap -sV -Pn -p T:25565 <instance_public_ip>

Connecting to Minecraft Server

1. The server's public IP will be output after Terraform completes
2. Connect using Minecraft client with the server address: minecraft://<instance_public_ip>:25565

Project Structure

.
├── README.md
├── terraform/
│   ├── main.tf
│   ├── variables.tf
│   └── outputs.tf
└── ansible/
    ├── inventory.yml
    └── minecraft.yml

Resources and References

• Minecraft Server Documentation
• Terraform AWS Provider
• Ansible Documentation