Serverless CMS Installation Guide

Welcome to the Serverless CMS installation guide. This documentation will walk you through setting up and deploying a complete serverless content management system on AWS.

Note: This guide assumes you have basic familiarity with AWS services, command-line tools, and web development concepts.

What is Serverless CMS?

Serverless CMS is a modern, scalable content management platform built entirely on AWS serverless technologies. It provides:

  • Component-based page building - Drag-and-drop interface with reusable components
  • Multi-site management - Manage multiple websites from a single admin interface
  • Template system - Create reusable page templates with fixed and content zones
  • Static-first publishing - Pages rendered to HTML and served via CloudFront CDN
  • Extensible component library - Upload custom components at runtime
  • Version control - Track page changes with automatic versioning
  • SEO optimization - Built-in SEO metadata, sitemaps, and structured data
  • Zero server management - Fully serverless architecture with automatic scaling

Architecture Overview

The platform consists of the following AWS components:

Admin Tool

React SPA hosted on CloudFront + S3 for managing sites, templates, pages, and components.

CMS API

API Gateway + Lambda functions for authenticated CMS operations with Cognito authentication.

Public API

API Gateway + Lambda functions for public content delivery and form submissions.

Content Store

DynamoDB table storing all CMS entities (sites, templates, pages, components).

Publish Store

S3 + CloudFront CDN serving published static HTML pages to end users.

Component Store

S3 bucket storing uploaded component bundles (HTML, CSS, JS).

Quick Start

Follow these steps to get Serverless CMS up and running:

  1. Install prerequisites - Node.js, Maven, AWS CLI
  2. Configure AWS - Create IAM user and configure credentials
  3. Set up domain - Configure Route 53 hosted zone
  4. Deploy the platform - Build and deploy with Maven
  5. Initial configuration - Create first admin user and site

System Requirements

Component Requirement
Node.js 22.x LTS or higher
Maven 3.9+ with Java 11+
AWS CLI 2.x or higher
AWS Account Active account with billing enabled
Domain Name Registered domain with Route 53 access

Estimated Costs

Monthly AWS costs for a low-traffic deployment (< 10,000 page views/month):

Service Estimated Cost
S3 Storage $1-5
DynamoDB $1-5
Lambda $0-5 (free tier)
API Gateway $3.50 per million requests
CloudFront $0.085 per GB + $0.01 per 10k requests
Cognito Free (first 50,000 MAUs)
Route 53 $0.50 per hosted zone
Total $10-30/month
Important: Set up AWS billing alerts to monitor costs. Actual costs may vary based on traffic and usage patterns.

Deployment Time

Expected time to complete installation:

  • Prerequisites setup: 15-30 minutes
  • AWS configuration: 20-30 minutes
  • Domain setup: 10-15 minutes (+ DNS propagation time)
  • Build and deployment: 10-15 minutes
  • Initial configuration: 10-15 minutes

Total: 1-2 hours (excluding DNS propagation)

Support and Documentation

Additional resources:

Ready to begin? Start with the Prerequisites page to ensure your environment is properly configured.