NGINX: Essential Guide to This Powerful Web Server

Deploying a Flask Weather App via NGINX with HTTPS on GCP

In this blog post, we’ll walk through how to deploy a Flask-based weather application using Docker, NGINX, and a secure HTTPS connection via Certbot on a GCP Virtual Machine (VM).

We’ll be using a public Docker image:
👉 sourabhaswal98/flask-weather-app
and the GitHub repo:
👉 SourabhAswal/flask-weather-app

Let’s break it down step-by-step. 💡

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✅ Step 1: Create a VM Instance in GCP with a Static IP

1. Go to your GCP Console.

2. Navigate to Compute Engine > VM instances.

3. Click "Create Instance" and configure:

   • Choose a region and zone.

   • Select a suitable machine type (e.g., e2-micro for demo).

   • Under Firewall, check Allow HTTP and HTTPS traffic.

4. In the Networking > Network interfaces, reserve a static external IP.

Example:

yamlCopyEditVM Name: climate
Static IP: 34.42.134.45 (example)

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✅ Step 2: Install Docker & Run the Weather App

Install Docker:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io -y
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Pull and run the Docker image:

udo docker pull sourabhaswal98/flask-weather-app
sudo docker run -d -p 3000:3000 sourabhaswal98/flask-weather-app

The app is now running at http://<your-static-ip>:3000

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✅ Step 3: Point Your Domain to the Static IP

We’ll now point our custom domain (climateapp.skilla.ai) to the static IP.

1. Go to your DNS provider (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare).

2. Add an A record like this:

Wait for the DNS propagation to complete (usually a few minutes).

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✅ Step 4: Install and Configure NGINX

Back on your VM, install NGINX:

sudo apt install nginx -y

Paste the following config:
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

server {
        listen 80;
        server_name climateapp.skilla.ai;


        location / {
            proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
            proxy_set_header Host $host;
            proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        }
    }

Enable the config:

sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl restart nginx

Now your app is accessible at:
http://climateapp.skilla.ai

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✅ Step 5: Secure It with HTTPS (Let’s Encrypt + Certbot)

Now that your app is live, it’s time to secure it.

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Run Certbot to configure SSL:

sudo certbot --nginx -d climateapp.skilla.ai

Follow the prompts to complete the SSL setup. Once done, Certbot will automatically:

• Update your NGINX config with SSL directives.

• Obtain and install an SSL certificate.

• Reload NGINX.

  

Now your app is live at:
🔒 https://climateapp.skilla.ai

🎉 That’s It!

You've successfully:

• Created a GCP VM with a static IP

• Deployed a Dockerized Flask weather app

• Configured NGINX as a reverse proxy

• Set up a custom domain

• Secured your site with HTTPS via Certbot