PrestaShop Application Guide

PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform with a storefront, back office, and a marketplace of modules and themes.

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Quick Reference

Property	Value
Application ID	prestashop
Category	E-Commerce
Default Image	prestashop/prestashop:8-8.1-apache
PHP Version	8.1
Application Port	80
Recommended CPU / Memory (Fargate)	2048 / 4096 MB
Recommended Instance Type (EC2)	t3.medium
Health Check Path	/
Supports Fargate	Yes
Supports EC2	Yes
Authentication Modes	alb-oidc, application-oidc, none
Database	Required (MySQL 8.0 default; MariaDB supported)

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Auto-Provisioned Infrastructure

Resource	Provisioned	Purpose
S3 bucket	Yes	Product images and downloadable products
ElastiCache Redis	Yes	Cache layer
CloudFront CDN	Yes	Image and static file delivery
EFS	Yes	Mounted at /var/www/html (access point path /prestashop)
Route53 records	When a hosted zone and domain are configured	A + AAAA alias records

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Authentication

Mode	Description
alb-oidc	Cognito at the ALB. Protects /admin* (which covers PrestaShop's renamed admin folder, such as /admin123abc), /admin-dev/*, and /install/*; the storefront stays public.
application-oidc	PrestaShop handles OIDC itself (PS_OIDC_* environment variables).
none	No authentication in front of PrestaShop.

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Environment Variables

CloudForge sets the following on the Fargate container:

Variable	Value
PS_DB_SERVER, PS_DB_PORT, PS_DB_NAME, PS_DB_USER	RDS connection settings (when provisionDatabase is true)
DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_NAME, DB_USER	Generic copies of the database settings
DATABASE_PASSWORD	From the RDS Secrets Manager secret
PS_DOMAIN	The site FQDN (when a domain is set)
PS_ENABLE_SSL	1 when enableSsl is true, otherwise 0
PS_DEV_MODE	0
PS_INSTALL_AUTO	0 (the web installer runs on first load)

With application-oidc, CloudForge also sets PS_OIDC_CLIENT_ID, PS_OIDC_AUTHORIZE_URL, PS_OIDC_TOKEN_URL, PS_OIDC_USERINFO_URL, PS_OIDC_LOGOUT_URL, and PS_OIDC_SCOPE.

The database password is exposed as DATABASE_PASSWORD, not the DB_PASSWD name the PrestaShop image reads, so enter it in the installer. The Redis endpoint and S3 bucket name are not injected.

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Storage Configuration

Container (Fargate)

Property	Value
Data Path	/var/www/html
EFS Path	/prestashop
Volume Name	prestashopData
Container User	33:33 (www-data)
EFS Permissions	755

EC2

Property	Value
EBS Device	/dev/xvdh (used when EFS is not available)
Data Path	/var/www/html
Log Paths	/var/log/httpd/access_log, /var/log/httpd/error_log, /var/log/php-fpm/error.log, /var/www/html/var/logs/dev.log, /var/www/html/var/logs/prod.log, /var/log/userdata.log
CloudWatch Log Group	/cloudforge/<stackName>/prestashop

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Deployment Context Examples

Set cpu and memory (Fargate) or instanceType (EC2) explicitly; otherwise the framework defaults (1024, 2048, t3.micro) apply.

Development - Minimal

{
  "stackName": "PrestaShop-Dev",
  "runtime": "fargate",
  "securityProfile": "dev",
  "topology": "cms-service",
  "applicationId": "prestashop",

  "networkMode": "public",
  "region": "us-east-1",

  "authMode": "none",

  "cpu": 1024,
  "memory": 2048,

  "provisionDatabase": true,
  "databaseEngine": "mysql",
  "databaseVersion": "8.0",
  "databaseInstanceClass": "db.t3.micro",
  "databaseAllocatedStorageGB": 20,
  "databaseName": "prestashop",

  "enableMonitoring": true,
  "logRetentionDays": "7"
}

Production

{
  "stackName": "PrestaShop-Production",
  "runtime": "fargate",
  "securityProfile": "production",
  "topology": "cms-service",
  "applicationId": "prestashop",

  "domain": "example.com",
  "subdomain": "shop",
  "enableSsl": true,

  "networkMode": "private-with-nat",
  "region": "us-east-1",

  "authMode": "alb-oidc",
  "cognitoAutoProvision": true,
  "cognitoDomainPrefix": "prestashop-prod-yourcompany",
  "cognitoMfaEnabled": true,
  "cognitoMfaMethod": "totp",

  "cpu": 2048,
  "memory": 4096,
  "minInstanceCapacity": 2,
  "maxInstanceCapacity": 6,
  "enableAutoScaling": true,
  "cpuTargetUtilization": 60,

  "provisionDatabase": true,
  "databaseEngine": "mysql",
  "databaseVersion": "8.0",
  "databaseInstanceClass": "db.r6g.large",
  "databaseAllocatedStorageGB": 100,
  "databaseMultiAz": true,
  "databaseBackupRetentionDays": 30,
  "databaseName": "prestashop",

  "wafEnabled": true,
  "albAccessLogging": true,

  "enableMonitoring": true,
  "enableEncryption": true,
  "logRetentionDays": "365",
  "retainStorage": true
}

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Post-Deployment Tasks

1. Complete the Installation

PrestaShop runs its install wizard on first load:

1. Open https://<your-domain>.
2. Follow the installer (license, store information, database, admin account). Use the RDS endpoint and the credentials from the RDS Secrets Manager secret.
3. Remove the /install directory after setup. On Fargate, use ECS Exec; on EC2, use SSM:

rm -rf /var/www/html/install

2. Find the Admin Directory

The installer renames the admin folder to a random name (for example, /admin1234abc). Note the new path; the default alb-oidc rule /admin* still covers it.

3. Configure Redis

1. Find the ElastiCache cluster (named prestashop-<env>-cache) and note its endpoint.
2. Back Office > Advanced Parameters > Performance: set the caching system and add the Redis server on port 6379.

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Troubleshooting

"Oops! An error occurred"

Enable debug mode temporarily in /var/www/html/config/defines.inc.php:

define('_PS_MODE_DEV_', true);

Check the logs in /var/www/html/var/logs/.

Admin panel not accessible after install

Check the renamed admin directory:

ls /var/www/html/ | grep admin

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Related Documentation

• CMS Guides Index
• Magento Guide
• WooCommerce Guide: WordPress-based e-commerce
• CMS Topology Reference