![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*LnVkpxJgIzB_58DAHrg8-w.png)

http://www.slowcoder.com

Are you tired of maintaining your **CMS** (WordPress, Drupal, etc) ? Paying expensive hosting fees ? Fixing security issues everyday ?

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*epQp_10DEgGvI33A.)

I discovered not long ago a new blogging framework called [**Hexo**](https://hexo.io/) which let you publish **Markdown** documents in the form of blog post. So as always I got my hands dirty and wrote this post to show you how to build a production-ready blog with **Hexo** and use the **AWS S3** to make your blog **Serverless** and pay only per usage. Along the way, I will show you how to automate the deployment of new posts by setting up a **CI/CD** pipeline.

To get started**, Hexo** requires **Node.JS** & **Git** to be installed. Once all requirements are installed, issue the following command to install **Hexo CLI**:

> npm install -g hexo-cli

Next, create a new empty project:

> hexo init slowcoder.com

Modify blog global settings in _\_config.yml_ file:

Start a local server with “**hexo server**“. By default, this is at [http://localhost:4000](http://localhost:4000/). You’ll see Hexo’s pre-defined “**Hello World**” test post:

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*M97KDwf3ulIxdZqy.)

If you want to change the default theme, you just need to go [here](https://hexo.io/themes/) and find a new one you prefer.

I opt for [Magnetic Theme](https://github.com/klugjo/hexo-theme-magnetic) as it includes many features:

*   Disqus and Facebook comments
*   Google Analytics
*   Cover image for posts and pages
*   Tags Support
*   Responsive Images
*   Image Gallery
*   Social Accounts configuration
*   Pagination

Clone the theme **GitHub** repository as below:

> git clone [https://github.com/klugjo/hexo-theme-magnetic](https://github.com/klugjo/hexo-theme-magnetic) themes/magnetic

Then update your blog’s main _\_config.yml_ to set the theme to _magnetic_. Once done, restart the server_:_

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*seGeOToeSEOaEGHh.)

Now you are almost done with your blog setup. It is time to write your first article. To generate a new article file, use the following command:

> hexo new POST\_TITLE

Now, sign in to **AWS Management Console**, navigate to **S3 Dashboard** and create an **S3 Bucket** or use the **AWS CLI** to create a new one:

> aws s3 mb s3://slowcoder.com

Add the following **policy** to the **S3 bucket** to make all objects public by default:

Next, enable **static website hosting** on the S3 bucket:

> aws s3 website s3://slowcoder.com — index-document index.html

In order to automate the process of deployment of the blog to production each time a new article is been published. We will setup a **CI/CD** pipeline using **CircleCI**.

Sign in to [CircleCI](https://circleci.com/) using your **GitHub** account, then add the _circle.yml_ file to your project:

Note: Make sure to set the **AWS Access Key ID** and **Secret Access Key** in your Project’s Settings page on **CircleCI** (_s3:PutObject_ permission).

Now every time you push changes to your **GitHub** repo, **CircleCI** will automatically deploy the changes to **S3**. Here’s a passing build:

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*dkTJjHSTQAGENEl0.)

Finally, to make our blog user-friendly, we will setup a custom domain name in **Route53** as below:

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*EbePGgVR7oD6TP_A.)

Note: You can go further and setup a **CloudFront Distribution** in front of the **S3** bucket to optimize delivery of blog assets.

You can test your brand new blog now by typing the following adress: [http://slowcoder.com](http://slowcoder.com/) :

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/0*ebPs7tKhxtUcqCkt.)

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