AWS CloudFormation Overview

Introduction

AWS CloudFormation is a service that provides a common language for describing and provisioning all infrastructure resources in your cloud environment. It allows you to use a simple text file (JSON or YAML format) to define the resources you need, making it easier to deploy and manage your applications.

Key Concepts

• **Template**: A JSON or YAML formatted text file that describes the AWS resources you want to create.
• **Stack**: A collection of AWS resources that you create, update, and delete as a single unit.
• **Change Set**: A summary of how proposed changes will impact your running resources.
• **Resource**: An entity you can manage using AWS CloudFormation (e.g., EC2 instance, S3 bucket).

Creating a Stack

To create a stack using AWS CloudFormation, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the CloudFormation service.
3. Click on "Create Stack".
4. Choose "With new resources (standard)".
5. Upload your template file (JSON/YAML) or specify a URL.
6. Fill in the stack details such as stack name and parameters.
7. Configure stack options (tags, permissions, etc.).
8. Review your choices and click "Create Stack".
                

Once the stack creation process is complete, you can view the resources created under the "Resources" tab of your stack.

Best Practices

• Use version control for your templates to track changes.
• Break down templates into smaller, manageable pieces using nested stacks.
• Utilize parameters and outputs to customize your stacks.
• Test your CloudFormation templates in a development environment before deploying to production.