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+---
+layout: post
+title:  "Notes from setting up a Jekyll blog on AWS S3 and CloudFront"
+slug: jekyll-aws-s3-cloudfront
+date:   2017-12-29 15:00:00 +0000
+categories: jekyll setup
+---
+
+Here are my notes from today's task of setting up this blog.
+
+* Using [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/)
+  * Easy to setup
+  * Built-in syntax highlighting
+  * write/commit/push workflow
+  * easy to deploy as static website
+  * Compatible with GitHub and GitLab pages
+* Theme
+  * Using [minima theme](https://github.com/jekyll/minima)
+  * Basic but easy to customize and extend
+  * Overrides:
+    * [`home.html`](https://gitlab.com/rfwatson/techblog/commit/1f9e5bcc69b1d25329c7552a7d3152ff63725250#f87bb2fcce406e16253570011cce02227981f242_0_25) to add full post content to homepage
+    * [`assets/main.scss`](https://gitlab.com/rfwatson/techblog/blob/1f9e5bcc69b1d25329c7552a7d3152ff63725250/assets/main.scss) with CSS/design changes
+  * Fonts
+    * Webfonts from [Google Fonts](https://fonts.google.com/)
+* Hosting
+  * Considered [GitHub pages](https://pages.github.com/), [GitLab pages](https://about.gitlab.com/features/pages/) and static hosting using [AWS S3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/dev/WebsiteHosting.html)
+  * Requirements:
+    * free (gratis)
+    * easy-to-maintain, preferably static/serverless
+    * Basic HTTPS support, with redirect from HTTP
+  * GitLab Pages
+    * Free static site hosting comparable to GitHub Pages
+    * Pros:
+      * Powerful containerized [CI/build system](https://about.gitlab.com/features/gitlab-ci-cd/)
+      * HTTPS support for static site, even on custom domains
+    * Cons:
+      * No option to force HTTPS
+      * Tricky to get LetsEncrypt TLS certs to work with CI/build system - [official tutorial](https://about.gitlab.com/2016/04/11/tutorial-securing-your-gitlab-pages-with-tls-and-letsencrypt/) is slightly out-of-date
+  * GitHub pages
+    * Pros:
+      * Popular and well-documented
+      * HTTPS support, including option to force HTTPS
+    * Cons:
+      * No HTTPS support for custom domains
+  * AWS S3
+    * Pros:
+      * less managed than GitLab/GitHub - so a bit more setup, but also more flexibility
+      * HTTPS support, as well as supporting "redirect objects" which effectively allow us to set up arbitrary 301 redirects on our site programatically.
+      * supports multiple subdomains
+    * Cons:
+       * Not quite free, but very low cost for low usage
+  * Ended up choosing S3
+    * Created bucket, enabled static website hosting option
+    * Added Cloudfront web distribution
+      * Follow approach [here](http://someguyontheinter.net/blog/serving-index-pages-from-a-non-root-location-via-cloudfront/) to avoid 403 errors from S3 when serving paths without an explicit `index.html`, like `/about`
+    * Added simple deploy script making use of [AWS CLI](https://aws.amazon.com/cli://aws.amazon.com/cli/)
+* DNS
+  * Registered domain
+  * Added hosted zone to [AWS Route 53](https://aws.amazon.com/route53/)
+  * Updated nameserver records in Namecheap control panel to point at AWS
+  * Added alias record to point at Cloudfront distribution
+  * Added MX record to point at pre-existing [Mailinabox](http://mailinabox.email/) setup