Introduction

Are you ready to graduate from shared hosting?

If you are running a CodeIgniter 4 (CI4) application on cPanel, you might feel a bit constrained. Maybe your site is growing, or maybe you just want the raw power and flexibility of the cloud. Whatever the reason, moving to Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a massive upgrade for your career and your website.

But let’s be honest—staring at a black terminal screen instead of the friendly cPanel interface can be scary. 😨

Don’t worry! I’m going to walk you through this process just like I’m sitting right next to you. We aren’t just moving files; we are setting up a professional production environment. By the end of this guide, you will have your CI4 site running on an AWS EC2 Ubuntu server with a custom domain and a secure green padlock (SSL).

Let’s dive in! 🚀

1. The Exit: Backing up from cPanel

Before we touch AWS, we need to pack our bags. We need two things: your files and your database.

Step A: Backup Your Files

1. Log in to your cPanel.
2. Open File Manager.
3. Navigate to your project folder (usually inside public_html).
4. Select all files (ensure you include hidden files like .env and .gitignore).
5. Right-click and select Compress (Zip Archive).
6. Name it ci4_backup.zip and download it to your computer.

Step B: Backup Your Database

1. Open phpMyAdmin in cPanel.
2. Click on your database name in the left sidebar.
3. Click the Export tab at the top.
4. Keep the settings as default (SQL format) and click Go.
5. Save the .sql file (e.g., db_backup.sql).

2. The Destination: Setting up AWS EC2

Now, let’s build your new home in the cloud.

1. Log in to the AWS Console.
2. Search for EC2 and click Launch Instance.
3. Name: CI4-Web-Server
4. OS Image: Choose Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (or 22.04).
5. Instance Type: t2.micro (This is free-tier eligible! 💸).
6. Key Pair: Create a new key pair (e.g., myserver-key.pem). Download this and keep it safe!
7. Network Settings: Check the boxes to allow traffic from:
   • SSH (Port 22)
   • HTTP (Port 80)
   • HTTPS (Port 443)
8. Click Launch Instance.

Wait a minute for the instance to start, then copy its Public IPv4 address.

3. The Move: Connecting & Installing Software (AWS EC2)

Open your terminal (Mac/Linux) or PowerShell/Git Bash (Windows). Navigate to where you saved your key file (myserver-key.pem).

Connect to the Server

Bash

# Fix key permissions (Mac/Linux only)
chmod 400 myserver-key.pem

# Connect
ssh -i "myserver-key.pem" ubuntu@YOUR_AWS_IP_ADDRESS

Install the Tech Stack (LAMP)

CodeIgniter 4 needs specific PHP extensions to run smoothy. Run these commands one by one:

Bash

# 1. Update the server
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# 2. Install Apache Web Server
sudo apt install apache2 -y

# 3. Install MySQL Database
sudo apt install mysql-server -y

# 4. Install PHP 8.1 (or 8.2/8.3) and required extensions for CI4
sudo apt install php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-intl php-curl php-gd php-xml php-mbstring php-zip -y

# 5. Restart Apache to apply changes
sudo systemctl restart apache2

4. The Transfer: Moving Your Files (AWS EC2)

Now we need to get your ci4_backup.zip and db_backup.sql from your computer to the AWS server. We will use a secure copy command (scp).

Open a NEW terminal window on your computer (don’t close the server connection) and run:

Bash

# Upload Zip file
scp -i "myserver-key.pem" path/to/ci4_backup.zip ubuntu@YOUR_AWS_IP_ADDRESS:/home/ubuntu/

# Upload SQL file
scp -i "myserver-key.pem" path/to/db_backup.sql ubuntu@YOUR_AWS_IP_ADDRESS:/home/ubuntu/

Unzip and Place Files

Go back to your Server Terminal window.

Bash

# Go to web root
cd /var/www/html/

# Remove default index.html
sudo rm index.html

# Move the zip file here
sudo mv /home/ubuntu/ci4_backup.zip .

# Unzip it (install unzip if needed: sudo apt install unzip)
sudo unzip ci4_backup.zip

# Clean up
sudo rm ci4_backup.zip

5. The Brain: Database & CI4 Configuration (AWS EC2)

This is the part where most beginners get stuck. Let’s make sure you don’t!

Import the Database

Bash

# Login to MySQL
sudo mysql

# Run these SQL commands (Replace 'strong_password' with a real one!)
CREATE DATABASE my_project_db;
CREATE USER 'ci4_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword123!';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON my_project_db.* TO 'ci4_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Now, import your data:

Bash

# Import the SQL file we uploaded earlier
sudo mysql -u ci4_user -p my_project_db < /home/ubuntu/db_backup.sql

Configure CodeIgniter (.env)

Edit your environment file:

Bash

sudo nano /var/www/html/.env

Update these lines to match your new AWS setup:

Ini, TOML

CI_ENVIRONMENT = production
app.baseURL = 'https://your-domain.com/'

database.default.hostname = localhost
database.default.database = my_project_db
database.default.username = ci4_user
database.default.password = StrongPassword123!
database.default.DBDriver = MySQLi

Press CTRL+X, then Y, then Enter to save.

⚠️ Critical Step: Folder Permissions

CodeIgniter needs to write logs and cache files. If you skip this, you will get errors!

Bash

# Give ownership to Apache
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/

# correct permissions for the writable folder
sudo chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/writable/

6. The Config: Apache Virtual Host (AWS EC2)

CodeIgniter 4 is designed so that only the public folder is exposed to the internet. We need to tell Apache this.

Bash

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/ci4.conf

Paste this configuration inside:

Apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin admin@your-domain.com
    ServerName your-domain.com
    ServerAlias www.your-domain.com
    
    # Point directly to the PUBLIC folder
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/public

    <Directory /var/www/html/public>
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        # AllowOverride All is crucial for .htaccess to work!
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the site and the rewrite module (for pretty URLs):

Bash

sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo a2ensite ci4.conf
sudo a2enmod rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

7. The Address: DNS Setup (AWS EC2)

Now, let’s point your domain name (e.g., example.com) to your AWS server.

1. Log in to your Domain Registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, BigRock, etc.).
2. Go to DNS Management.
3. Add/Edit the A Record:
   • Host/Name: @
   • Value/Points to: Your AWS Public IP Address (e.g., 54.123.45.67)
   • TTL: Automatic or 1 Hour.
4. Add a CNAME Record:
   • Host: www
   • Value: example.com

Note: DNS propagation can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 24 hours.

8. The Lock: SSL Setup (HTTPS)

Security is not optional in 2025. You have two choices here.

Option A: The Free Route (Let’s Encrypt) 🟢

This is the best option for most blogs and standard sites. It renews automatically.

Bash

# Install Certbot
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y

# Request the certificate
sudo certbot --apache

Follow the prompts (enter email, agree to terms). Select “Redirect HTTP to HTTPS” when asked. Boom! You are secure.

Option B: The Paid Route (Comodo / Sectigo / DigiCert) 🟡

If you are an E-commerce site or need “Organization Validation” (OV), you might have bought a certificate.

1. Generate CSR on AWS:Bashopenssl req -new -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout yourdomain.key -out yourdomain.csr
2. Copy the content of .csr and paste it into your SSL provider’s dashboard.
3. Download the .crt and ca-bundle files they give you.
4. Upload them to /etc/ssl/ on your server.
5. Edit your Apache config (ci4.conf) to include:

Apache

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName your-domain.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/html/public
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/yourdomain.key
    SSLCertificateChainFile /etc/ssl/ca-bundle.crt
</VirtualHost>

🎉 Conclusion (AWS EC2)

You did it! 👏

You have successfully migrated your CodeIgniter 4 application from a shared cPanel hosting to a powerful AWS EC2 server. You’ve configured the database, secured the file permissions, pointed your domain, and locked it down with SSL.

Quick Recap of what you achieved:

• ✅ Created a full VPS environment on Ubuntu.
• ✅ Configured Apache specifically for CI4 security.
• ✅ Automated SSL renewals.

Your site is now ready to handle more traffic and scale as your business grows.

💬Did you find this migration guide helpful?

I’d love to hear how your migration went! Did you run into any specific errors? Drop a comment below or share this guide with a developer friend who is still stuck on shared hosting! 👇

For more tutorials on CodeIgniter and AWS, check out our Web Development Services Blog.