aws cloudformation designer tutorial videos

Walkthrough: Use AWS CloudFormation Designer to create a basic web server

AWS CloudFormation Designer graphically represents your templates to help you see the resources in the template and how they're connected. The integrated JSON and YAML editor makes it easy to modify templates directly in the AWS CloudFormation console. To demonstrate how to use both of these components, we'll use AWS CloudFormation Designer to build a basic web server in a VPC. Then, we'll save the template and use it to create a CloudFormation stack.

By the end of the walkthrough, you'll have a template similar to the following sample: https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/designer/home?templateUrl=https://s3.amazonaws.com/cloudformation-examples/sample-ec2-vpc.template&region=us-east-1 .

In the walkthrough, you will complete the following steps:

Add and connect resources.

When you first open AWS CloudFormation Designer, you start with a blank template. We'll use AWS CloudFormation Designer to start populating the template by dragging resources, such as a VPC and an EC2 instance into your template. We'll also create links between them. For example, we'll use AWS CloudFormation Designer to create a connection between the Internet gateway and the VPC.
Add template parameters, mappings, and outputs.

We'll use the AWS CloudFormation Designer integrated editor to add other template components to make the template more useful. For example, we'll add parameters to the template so that you can specify input values when you create a stack. That way you don't have to constantly edit the template for property values that you might commonly change.
Specify resource properties.

We'll use the integrated editor again to specify configuration settings for our resources.
Provision resources

None of your template resources are up and running until you create a stack. We'll use the template that you just created to launch a CloudFormation stack, which will provision all the resources that are defined in your template.

CloudFormation is a free service; however, you are charged for the AWS resources you include in your stacks at the current rate for each. For more information about AWS pricing, see the detail page for each product on http://aws.amazon.com .

Prerequisites

This walkthrough assumes that you have a working knowledge of Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), and CloudFormation. For context, each procedure provides some basic information about each resource.

Also, before you begin, make sure you have an Amazon EC2 key pair in the region in which you're creating your stack. For more information, see Amazon EC2 key pairs in the Amazon EC2 User Guide for Linux Instances.

Step 1: Add and connect resources

We'll use the AWS CloudFormation Designer drag-and-drop interface to add an Amazon EC2 instance and network resources, such as a VPC, subnet, route table, and Internet gateway. After adding all the resources, we'll create connections between them. For example, we'll associate the Internet gateway with a VPC.

To add resources to a template

Open AWS CloudFormation Designer at https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/designer .
In the integrated editor on the lower half of the page, choose Edit ( ).
Change the template name to BasicWebServerInVPC and then press Enter.

Currently, we have a blank template that isn't valid. In the next steps, we'll add resources to make it valid.

In the Resource types pane, from within the EC2 category, drag a VPC resource type onto the Canvas pane.

The resources are organized by resource categories. All of the resources we're adding are in the EC2 category.

AWS CloudFormation Designer immediately modifies your template to include a VPC resource, with the results looking similar to the following JSON snippet.

                                  "Resources":                  {                  "VPC431KO":                  {                  "Type": "AWS::EC2::VPC",       "Properties":                  {},       "Metadata":                  {                  "AWS::CloudFormation::Designer":                  {                  "id": "445730ea-0d11-45ba-b6ac-12345EXAMPLE"         }       }     }   }

The YAML snippet looks similar to the following.

                Resources:   VPC431KO:     Type: 'AWS::EC2::VPC'     Properties:                  {}     Metadata:       'AWS::CloudFormation::Designer':         id: 9430b008-7a03-41ed-b63e-12345EXAMPLE

Note that we still need to specify the VPC properties, such as the VPC's CIDR block. We'll do that later. This is true for all resources that we'll add.

Rename the VPC.

When you rename a resource, you rename its logical ID, which is the name that is referenced in the template (not the name assigned when CloudFormation creates the resource). For more information, see Resources.
1. Choose the VPC resource.
2. In the integrated editor, choose the Edit icon ( ).
3. Change the name to VPC, and then choose Enter.
Next, we'll add resources to the VPC.
Drag a corner of the VPC resource to expand it so that it's large enough to fit several more resources.

We need to add a subnet because you can't add an EC2 instance, which hosts the website, directly into the VPC; instances must be located in a subnet.
Add a Subnet resource type inside the VPC and rename it PublicSubnet.

We will use the subnet to allocate a range of IP addresses in the VPC that you can associate with other AWS resources, such as an Amazon EC2 instance.

When you add the subnet inside the VPC, AWS CloudFormation Designer automatically associates the subnet with the VPC. This association is a container model, where resources inside the container are automatically associated with the container resource.
Add an Instance resource type inside the PublicSubnet resource and rename it WebServerInstance.

The instance is a virtual computing environment where you'll host a basic website. Similar to the way this worked with the subnet and VPC, adding the instance in the subnet automatically associates the instance with the subnet.
Add a SecurityGroup resource type inside the VPC and rename it WebServerSecurityGroup.

The security group is a virtual firewall that controls the inbound and outbound traffic of the web server instance. It's also required for instances in a VPC. We'll need to associate the web server instance with this security group, which we'll do later when we specify the instance's properties.
Add an InternetGateway resource type anywhere outside of the VPC and rename it InternetGateway.

The Internet gateway enables communication between the instance that is inside the VPC and the Internet. Without the Internet gateway, no one can access your website.

Although, you can drag the Internet gateway inside the VPC, this doesn't create an association with the VPC. The Internet gateway doesn't follow the container model; instead, you must drag a connection from the Internet gateway to the VPC, as described in the next step.
Create a connection between the InternetGateway resource and the VPC resource.
1. On the InternetGateway resource, hover over the Internet gateway attachment (AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment).
2. Drag a connection to the VPC.
  
  The border of valid target resources changes color. In this case, the VPC is the only valid target resource. This connection creates an attachment resource that associates the Internet gateway with the VPC.
Next, we need to add a route table and route to specify how to direct network traffic from within a subnet. Add a RouteTable inside the VPC and rename it PublicRouteTable.

This associates a new route table with the VPC.
To add a routing rule to the route table, add a Route resource type inside the PublicRouteTable resource and rename it PublicRoute.

We'll use the route to specify where to direct traffic.
For the public route, we want the Internet gateway to be the destination target. Use GatewayId to create a connection from the PublicRoute resource to the Internet gateway, similar to the way you created a connection between the Internet gateway and the VPC.

CloudFormation can't associate a route with an Internet gateway until you associate the Internet gateway with the VPC. This means we need to create an explicit dependency on the Internet gateway-VPC attachment, as described in the next step. For more information, see DependsOn attribute.
Create an explicit dependency between the PublicRoute resource and the Internet gateway-VPC attachment.
1. On the PublicRoute resource, hover over the DependsOn dot.
2. Drag a connection to the Internet gateway-VPC attachment (AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment).
  
  With DependsOn connections, AWS CloudFormation Designer creates a dependency (a DependsOn attribute), where the originating resource depends on the target resource. In this case, AWS CloudFormation Designer adds a DependsOn attribute to the PublicRoute resource and specifies the gateway-VPC attachment as a dependency.
Create another dependency from the WebServerInstance resource to the PublicRoute resource.

The WebServerInstance resource depends on the public route to route traffic to the Internet. Without the public route, the instance cannot send a signal (using the cfn-signal helper script) to notify CloudFormation when the instance configuration and application deployments are complete.
Drag a connection from the PublicRouteTable resource to the PublicSubnet resource to associate the route table and subnet.

Now the public subnet will use the public route table to direct traffic.
From the AWS CloudFormation Designer toolbar, save the template locally by using the File menu (the file icon).

AWS CloudFormation Designer saves your template on your hard drive. You can use the template later to create a stack. We recommend that you save the template regularly to avoid losing changes.

In this step, we added seven resources to your template and renamed their logical IDs with friendly names. We also established visual connections with most of the resources to create associations and a dependency. However, before we can create a stack with this template, we need to create a few more connections (such as associating the instance with the security group) and to specify properties for each resource. In the next step, we'll walk through modifying other components of your template, such as input parameters, by using the AWS CloudFormation Designer integrated editor.

Step 2: Add parameters, mappings, and outputs

Before we specify resource properties, we need to add other template components to make reusing the template in multiple environments easier. In this step, we'll use the AWS CloudFormation Designer integrated editor to add parameters, mappings, and outputs. Then, we can refer to these parameters and mappings when we specify resource properties. The walkthrough provides sample JSON and YAML that you can use to copy and paste in to the integrated editor.

To add parameters

Parameters are input values that you specify when you create a stack. They're useful for passing in values so that you don't have hard coded values in templates. For example, you don't need to hard code your web server's instance type in your template; instead, you can use a parameter to specify the instance type when you create a stack. That way you can use the same template to create multiple web servers with different instance types. For more information, see Parameters.

Click on an open area in the AWS CloudFormation Designer canvas.

Depending on what you have selected, the integrated editor shows either template-level or resource-level components that you can edit. At the template-level, you can edit all other sections of a template, such as template parameters, mappings, and outputs, except for the Resources section. At the resource-level, you can edit resource properties and attributes.

Clicking on an open area in the canvas allows you to edit template-level components. To edit resource-level components, select a resource.
In the integrated editor pane, choose the Parameters tab in the Components view.

Copy the parameters in the following snippet and paste them into the integrated editor.

The following JSON snippet adds parameters for specifying your web server's instance type, an Amazon EC2 key-pair name for SSH access to the web server, and the IP address range that can be used to access the web server using SSH.

                                  {                  "Parameters":                  {                  "InstanceType" :                  {                  "Description" : "WebServer EC2 instance type",       "Type" : "String",       "Default" : "t2.small",       "AllowedValues" : [          "t1.micro",          "t2.nano",          "t2.micro",          "t2.small",          "t2.medium",          "t2.large",          "m1.small",          "m1.medium",          "m1.large",          "m1.xlarge",          "m2.xlarge",          "m2.2xlarge",          "m2.4xlarge",          "m3.medium",          "m3.large",          "m3.xlarge",          "m3.2xlarge",          "m4.large",          "m4.xlarge",          "m4.2xlarge",          "m4.4xlarge",          "m4.10xlarge",          "c1.medium",          "c1.xlarge",          "c3.large",          "c3.xlarge",          "c3.2xlarge",          "c3.4xlarge",          "c3.8xlarge",          "c4.large",          "c4.xlarge",          "c4.2xlarge",          "c4.4xlarge",          "c4.8xlarge",          "g2.2xlarge",          "g2.8xlarge",          "r3.large",          "r3.xlarge",          "r3.2xlarge",          "r3.4xlarge",          "r3.8xlarge",          "i2.xlarge",          "i2.2xlarge",          "i2.4xlarge",          "i2.8xlarge",          "d2.xlarge",          "d2.2xlarge",          "d2.4xlarge",          "d2.8xlarge",          "hi1.4xlarge",          "hs1.8xlarge",          "cr1.8xlarge",          "cc2.8xlarge",          "cg1.4xlarge"       ],       "ConstraintDescription" : "must be a valid EC2 instance type."     },     "KeyName":                  {                  "Description": "Name of an EC2 KeyPair to enable SSH access to the instance.",       "Type": "AWS::EC2::KeyPair::KeyName",       "ConstraintDescription": "must be the name of an existing EC2 KeyPair."     },     "SSHLocation":                  {                  "Description": " The IP address range that can be used to access the web server using SSH.",       "Type": "String",       "MinLength": "9",       "MaxLength": "18",       "Default": "0.0.0.0/0",       "AllowedPattern": "(\\d{1,3})\\.(\\d{1,3})\\.(\\d{1,3})\\.(\\d{1,3})/(\\d{1,2})",       "ConstraintDescription": "must be a valid IP CIDR range of the form x.x.x.x/x."     }   } }

Here is the same snippet in YAML.

                Parameters:   InstanceType:     Description: WebServer EC2 instance type     Type: String     Default: t2.small     AllowedValues:       - t1.micro       - t2.nano       - t2.micro       - t2.small       - t2.medium       - t2.large       - m1.small       - m1.medium       - m1.large       - m1.xlarge       - m2.xlarge       - m2.2xlarge       - m2.4xlarge       - m3.medium       - m3.large       - m3.xlarge       - m3.2xlarge       - m4.large       - m4.xlarge       - m4.2xlarge       - m4.4xlarge       - m4.10xlarge       - c1.medium       - c1.xlarge       - c3.large       - c3.xlarge       - c3.2xlarge       - c3.4xlarge       - c3.8xlarge       - c4.large       - c4.xlarge       - c4.2xlarge       - c4.4xlarge       - c4.8xlarge       - g2.2xlarge       - g2.8xlarge       - r3.large       - r3.xlarge       - r3.2xlarge       - r3.4xlarge       - r3.8xlarge       - i2.xlarge       - i2.2xlarge       - i2.4xlarge       - i2.8xlarge       - d2.xlarge       - d2.2xlarge       - d2.4xlarge       - d2.8xlarge       - hi1.4xlarge       - hs1.8xlarge       - cr1.8xlarge       - cc2.8xlarge       - cg1.4xlarge     ConstraintDescription: must be a valid EC2 instance type.   KeyName:     Description: Name of an EC2 KeyPair to enable SSH access to the instance.     Type: 'AWS::EC2::KeyPair::KeyName'     ConstraintDescription: must be the name of an existing EC2 KeyPair.   SSHLocation:     Description: ' The IP address range that can be used to access the web server using SSH.'     Type: String     MinLength: '9'     MaxLength: '18'     Default: 0.0.0.0/0     AllowedPattern: '(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})\.(\d{1,3})/(\d{1,2})'     ConstraintDescription: must be a valid IP CIDR range of the form x.x.x.x/x.

To add mappings

Mappings are a set of keys that are associated with a set of name-value pairs. They're useful for specifying values based on an input parameter value. For this walkthrough, we'll use a mapping to specify an AMI ID for an EC2 instance based on the instance type and region in which you create the stack. For more information, see Mappings.

In the integrated editor pane, choose the Mappings tab.

Copy the following JSON mappings and paste them into the integrated editor.

                                  {                  "Mappings" :                  {                  "AWSInstanceType2Arch" :                  {                  "t1.micro"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "t2.nano"     :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "t2.micro"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "t2.small"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "t2.medium"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "t2.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m1.small"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m1.medium"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m1.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m1.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m2.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m2.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m2.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m3.medium"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m3.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m3.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m3.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m4.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m4.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m4.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m4.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "m4.10xlarge" :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c1.medium"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c1.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c3.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c3.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c3.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c3.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c3.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c4.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c4.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c4.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c4.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "c4.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "g2.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVMG2"  },       "g2.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVMG2"  },       "r3.large"    :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "r3.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "r3.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "r3.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "r3.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "i2.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "i2.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "i2.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "i2.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "d2.xlarge"   :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "d2.2xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "d2.4xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "d2.8xlarge"  :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "hi1.4xlarge" :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "hs1.8xlarge" :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "cr1.8xlarge" :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  },       "cc2.8xlarge" :                  {                  "Arch" : "HVM64"  }     },     "AWSRegionArch2AMI" :                  {                  "us-east-1"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0ff8a91507f77f867", "HVMG2" : "ami-0a584ac55a7631c0c"},       "us-west-2"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-a0cfeed8", "HVMG2" : "ami-0e09505bc235aa82d"},       "us-west-1"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0bdb828fd58c52235", "HVMG2" : "ami-066ee5fd4a9ef77f1"},       "eu-west-1"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-047bb4163c506cd98", "HVMG2" : "ami-0a7c483d527806435"},       "eu-west-2"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-f976839e", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "eu-west-3"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0ebc281c20e89ba4b", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "eu-central-1"     :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0233214e13e500f77", "HVMG2" : "ami-06223d46a6d0661c7"},       "ap-northeast-1"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-06cd52961ce9f0d85", "HVMG2" : "ami-053cdd503598e4a9d"},       "ap-northeast-2"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0a10b2721688ce9d2", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "ap-northeast-3"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0d98120a9fb693f07", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "ap-southeast-1"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-08569b978cc4dfa10", "HVMG2" : "ami-0be9df32ae9f92309"},       "ap-southeast-2"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-09b42976632b27e9b", "HVMG2" : "ami-0a9ce9fecc3d1daf8"},       "ap-south-1"       :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0912f71e06545ad88", "HVMG2" : "ami-097b15e89dbdcfcf4"},       "us-east-2"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0b59bfac6be064b78", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "ca-central-1"     :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0b18956f", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "sa-east-1"        :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-07b14488da8ea02a0", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "cn-north-1"       :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-0a4eaf6c4454eda75", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"},       "cn-northwest-1"   :                  {"HVM64" : "ami-6b6a7d09", "HVMG2" : "NOT_SUPPORTED"}     }   } }

Here are the same mappings in YAML.

                Mappings:   AWSInstanceType2Arch:     t1.micro:       Arch: HVM64     t2.nano:       Arch: HVM64     t2.micro:       Arch: HVM64     t2.small:       Arch: HVM64     t2.medium:       Arch: HVM64     t2.large:       Arch: HVM64     m1.small:       Arch: HVM64     m1.medium:       Arch: HVM64     m1.large:       Arch: HVM64     m1.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m2.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m2.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m2.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m3.medium:       Arch: HVM64     m3.large:       Arch: HVM64     m3.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m3.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m4.large:       Arch: HVM64     m4.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m4.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m4.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     m4.10xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c1.medium:       Arch: HVM64     c1.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c3.large:       Arch: HVM64     c3.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c3.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c3.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c3.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c4.large:       Arch: HVM64     c4.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c4.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c4.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     c4.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     g2.2xlarge:       Arch: HVMG2     g2.8xlarge:       Arch: HVMG2     r3.large:       Arch: HVM64     r3.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     r3.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     r3.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     r3.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     i2.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     i2.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     i2.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     i2.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     d2.xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     d2.2xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     d2.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     d2.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     hi1.4xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     hs1.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     cr1.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64     cc2.8xlarge:       Arch: HVM64   AWSRegionArch2AMI:     us-east-1:       HVM64: ami-0ff8a91507f77f867       HVMG2: ami-0a584ac55a7631c0c     us-west-2:       HVM64: ami-a0cfeed8       HVMG2: ami-0e09505bc235aa82d     us-west-1:       HVM64: ami-0bdb828fd58c52235       HVMG2: ami-066ee5fd4a9ef77f1     eu-west-1:       HVM64: ami-047bb4163c506cd98       HVMG2: ami-0a7c483d527806435     eu-west-2:       HVM64: ami-f976839e       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     eu-west-3:       HVM64: ami-0ebc281c20e89ba4b       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     eu-central-1:       HVM64: ami-0233214e13e500f77       HVMG2: ami-06223d46a6d0661c7     ap-northeast-1:       HVM64: ami-06cd52961ce9f0d85       HVMG2: ami-053cdd503598e4a9d     ap-northeast-2:       HVM64: ami-0a10b2721688ce9d2       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     ap-northeast-3:       HVM64: ami-0d98120a9fb693f07       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     ap-southeast-1:       HVM64: ami-08569b978cc4dfa10       HVMG2: ami-0be9df32ae9f92309     ap-southeast-2:       HVM64: ami-09b42976632b27e9b       HVMG2: ami-0a9ce9fecc3d1daf8     ap-south-1:       HVM64: ami-0912f71e06545ad88       HVMG2: ami-097b15e89dbdcfcf4     us-east-2:       HVM64: ami-0b59bfac6be064b78       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     ca-central-1:       HVM64: ami-0b18956f       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     sa-east-1:       HVM64: ami-07b14488da8ea02a0       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     cn-north-1:       HVM64: ami-0a4eaf6c4454eda75       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED     cn-northwest-1:       HVM64: ami-6b6a7d09       HVMG2: NOT_SUPPORTED

To add outputs

Outputs declare values that you want available to a describe stacks API call or through the CloudFormation console stack Outputs tab. For this walkthrough, we'll output the website URL so that you can easily view the website after we create it. For more information, see Outputs.

In the integrated editor pane, select the Outputs tab.

Copy the following JSON output and paste it into the integrated editor.

The output uses an Fn::GetAtt intrinsic function to get the public IP of the web server instance.

                                  {                  "Outputs":                  {                  "URL":                  {                  "Value":                  {                  "Fn::Join": [           "",           [             "http://",                  {                  "Fn::GetAtt": [                 "WebServerInstance",                 "PublicIp"               ]             }           ]         ]       },       "Description": "Newly created application URL"     }   } }

Here is the same output in YAML.

                Outputs:   URL:     Value: !Join        - ''       - - 'http://'         - !GetAtt            - WebServerInstance           - PublicIp     Description: Newly created application URL

Save your template again so that you don't lose your changes. You can safely save your changes to the same file that you created in the previous section.

Now that the template parameters, mappings, and outputs are in place, we can specify resource properties.

Step 3: Specify resource properties

Many resources have required properties that define their configurations or settings, such as which instance type to use for the web server. Similar to what we did in the previous step, we'll use the AWS CloudFormation Designer integrated editor to specify resource properties. We provide sample JSON and YAML that you can copy and paste into the integrated editor.

To specify resource properties

On the AWS CloudFormation Designer canvas, choose the VPC resource.

The integrated editor shows the resource-level components that you can edit, such as the resource properties and attributes.
In the integrated editor pane, choose the Properties tab.
Copy the following JSON snippet and paste it into the integrated editor between the Properties braces ( {}).

This snippet specifies DNS settings and the CIDR block of the VPC.
```
                                  "EnableDnsSupport": "true",         "EnableDnsHostnames": "true",         "CidrBlock": "10.0.0.0/16"              
```
For YAML, type a new line after Properties: and paste the following snippet.
```
                                  EnableDnsSupport: 'true'       EnableDnsHostnames: 'true'       CidrBlock: 10.0.0.0/16              
```
For efficiency, we provide JSON and YAML snippets that you can copy and paste. Note, however, that the editor has an auto-complete feature that you can use to manually specify each property. For more information, see Integrated JSON and YAML editor.

Repeat this process for the following resources:

PublicSubnet

Add the following CIDR block property after the VPC ID property. AWS CloudFormation Designer automatically added the VPC ID property when you dragged the subnet inside the VPC.

You'll see a few other associations that AWS CloudFormation Designer automatically created for you. Add just the new properties, which are in bold.

JSON

                                              "VpcId":                        {                        "Ref": "VPC"         },                        "CidrBlock": "10.0.0.0/24"

YAML

                                              VpcId: !Ref VPC                        CidrBlock: 10.0.0.0/24

PublicRoute

Add the following destination CIDR block property, which directs all traffic to the Internet gateway:

JSON

                                              "DestinationCidrBlock": "0.0.0.0/0",                        "RouteTableId":                        {                        "Ref": "PublicRouteTable"         },                 "GatewayId":                        {                        "Ref": "InternetGateway"         }

YAML

                                              DestinationCidrBlock: 0.0.0.0/0                        RouteTableId: !Ref PublicRouteTable       GatewayId: !Ref InternetGateway

WebServerSecurityGroup

Add the following inbound rules that determine what traffic can reach the web server instance. The rules allow all HTTP and certain SSH traffic, which you specify as a parameter value when you create a stack.

JSON

                                              "VpcId":                        {                        "Ref": "VPC"         },         "GroupDescription" : "Allow access from HTTP and SSH traffic",         "SecurityGroupIngress": [                          {                          "IpProtocol": "tcp",             "FromPort": 80,             "ToPort": 80,             "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"           },                          {                          "IpProtocol": "tcp",             "FromPort": 22,             "ToPort": 22,             "CidrIp":                          {                          "Ref": "SSHLocation"             }           }         ]

YAML

                                              VpcId: !Ref VPC                        GroupDescription: Allow access from HTTP and SSH traffic       SecurityGroupIngress:         - IpProtocol: tcp           FromPort: 80           ToPort: 80           CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0         - IpProtocol: tcp           FromPort: 22           ToPort: 22           CidrIp: !Ref SSHLocation

WebServerInstance

You need to specify a number of properties for the web server instance, so we'll highlight just a few for demonstration purposes. The InstanceType and ImageId properties use the parameter and mapping values that we specified in the previous section. When you create a stack, you specify the instance type as a parameter value. The ImageId value is a mapping that is based on your stack's region and the instance type that you specified.

The NetworkInterfaces property specifies network settings for the web server instance. This property allows us to associate the security group and subnet with the instance. Although AWS CloudFormation Designer used the SubnetId property to associate the instance with the subnet, we need to use the NetworkInterfaces property because that's the only way to give the web server a public IP. And when you specify the NetworkInterfaces property, you are required to specify the subnet and security group within that property.

In the UserData property, we specify configuration scripts that run after the instance is up and running. All of the configuration information is defined in the instance's metadata, which we'll add in the next step.

Replace all properties with the following snippet:

Don't append this snippet to existing properties.

JSON

                                                                        "InstanceType":                          {                          "Ref": "InstanceType"         },         "ImageId":                          {                          "Fn::FindInMap": [             "AWSRegionArch2AMI",                          {                          "Ref": "AWS::Region"             },                          {                          "Fn::FindInMap": [                 "AWSInstanceType2Arch",                          {                          "Ref": "InstanceType"                 },                 "Arch"               ]             }           ]         },         "KeyName":                          {                          "Ref": "KeyName"         },         "NetworkInterfaces": [                          {                          "GroupSet": [                          {                          "Ref": "WebServerSecurityGroup"               }             ],             "AssociatePublicIpAddress": "true",             "DeviceIndex": "0",             "DeleteOnTermination": "true",             "SubnetId":                          {                          "Ref": "PublicSubnet"             }           }         ],         "UserData":                          {                          "Fn::Base64":                          {                          "Fn::Join": [               "",               [                 "#!/bin/bash -xe\n",                 "yum install -y aws-cfn-bootstrap\n",                 "# Install the files and packages from the metadata\n",                 "/opt/aws/bin/cfn-init -v ",                 "         --stack ",                          {                          "Ref": "AWS::StackName"                 },                 "         --resource WebServerInstance ",                 "         --configsets All ",                 "         --region ",                          {                          "Ref": "AWS::Region"                 },                 "\n",                 "# Signal the status from cfn-init\n",                 "/opt/aws/bin/cfn-signal -e $? ",                 "         --stack ",                          {                          "Ref": "AWS::StackName"                 },                 "         --resource WebServerInstance ",                 "         --region ",                          {                          "Ref": "AWS::Region"                 },                 "\n"               ]             ]           }         }

YAML

                                                                        InstanceType: !Ref InstanceType       ImageId: !FindInMap          - AWSRegionArch2AMI         - !Ref 'AWS::Region'         - !FindInMap            - AWSInstanceType2Arch           - !Ref InstanceType           - Arch       KeyName: !Ref KeyName       NetworkInterfaces:         - GroupSet:             - !Ref WebServerSecurityGroup           AssociatePublicIpAddress: 'true'           DeviceIndex: '0'           DeleteOnTermination: 'true'           SubnetId: !Ref PublicSubnet       UserData: !Base64          'Fn::Join':           - ''           - - |               #!/bin/bash -xe             - |               yum install -y aws-cfn-bootstrap             - |               # Install the files and packages from the metadata             - '/opt/aws/bin/cfn-init -v '             - '         --stack '             - !Ref 'AWS::StackName'             - '         --resource WebServerInstance '             - '         --configsets All '             - '         --region '             - !Ref 'AWS::Region'             - |+              - |               # Signal the status from cfn-init             - '/opt/aws/bin/cfn-signal -e $? '             - '         --stack '             - !Ref 'AWS::StackName'             - '         --resource WebServerInstance '             - '         --region '             - !Ref 'AWS::Region'             - |+

Add the web server configuration metadata to the WebServerInstance resource.

Choose the WebServerInstance resource, and then choose the Metadata tab in the integrated editor pane.
If you are authoring your template in JSON: Within the Metadata braces ( {}) and after the AWS::CloudFormation::Designer closing brace, add a comma (,).

After the AWS::CloudFormation::Designer property, add the following snippet, which instructs the cfn-init helper script to start the web server and create a basic web page.

JSON

                                          "AWS::CloudFormation::Init" :                      {                      "configSets" :                      {                      "All" : [ "ConfigureSampleApp" ]           },           "ConfigureSampleApp" :                      {                      "packages" :                      {                      "yum" :                      {                      "httpd" : []               }             },             "files" :                      {                      "/var/www/html/index.html" :                      {                      "content" :                      {                      "Fn::Join" : ["\n", [                   "<h1>Congratulations, you have successfully launched the AWS CloudFormation sample.</h1>"                 ]]},                 "mode"    : "000644",                 "owner"   : "root",                 "group"   : "root"               }             },             "services" :                      {                      "sysvinit" :                      {                      "httpd"    :                      {                      "enabled" : "true", "ensureRunning" : "true" }               }             }           }         }

YAML

                                          'AWS::CloudFormation::Init':         configSets:           All:             - ConfigureSampleApp         ConfigureSampleApp:           packages:             yum:               httpd: []           files:             /var/www/html/index.html:               content: !Join                  - |+                  - - >-                     <h1>Congratulations, you have successfully launched the AWS                     CloudFormation sample.</h1>               mode: '000644'               owner: root               group: root           services:             sysvinit:               httpd:                 enabled: 'true'                 ensureRunning: 'true'

On the AWS CloudFormation Designer toolbar, choose Validate template ( ) to check for syntax errors in your template.

View and fix errors in the Messages pane, and then validate the template again. If you don't see errors, your template is syntactically valid.
Save your completed template to keep all the changes you made.

You now have a complete CloudFormation template that you can use to create a basic web server in a VPC. To create the template, we first added and connected template resources by using the AWS CloudFormation Designer canvas pane. Then, we used the integrated editor to add other template components and to specify resource properties. In the next step, we'll use this template to create a stack.

Step 4: Provision resources

To create a stack, you can launch the CloudFormation Create Stack Wizard from AWS CloudFormation Designer. We'll use the template that we created in the previous steps to create a CloudFormation stack. After CloudFormation provisions all of your resources, you'll have a basic website up and running.

To create the stack

On the AWS CloudFormation Designer toolbar, choose Create Stack (the cloud icon).

AWS CloudFormation Designer saves the open template in an S3 bucket, and then launches the CloudFormation Create Stack Wizard. CloudFormation uses the same S3 bucket that it creates whenever you upload templates.
CloudFormation automatically populates the template URL; choose Next.
In theSpecify Details section, enter a stack name in theStack name field. For this example, useBasicWebServerStack.
In theParameters section, for the KeyName field, enter the name of a valid Amazon EC2 key pair in the same region you are creating the stack.
Keep the other default parameter values and choose Next.
For this walkthrough, you don't need to add tags or specify advanced settings, so choose Next.
Ensure that the stack name and Amazon EC2 key-pair name are correct, and then choose Create.

It can take several minutes for AWS CloudFormation to create your stack. To monitor progress, view the stack events. For more information about viewing stack events, see Viewing AWS CloudFormation stack data and resources on the AWS Management Console. After the stack is created, view the stack outputs and go to the sample website URL to verify that the website is running. For more information, see Viewing AWS CloudFormation stack data and resources on the AWS Management Console.

Now that you've successfully created a template and launched a stack using AWS CloudFormation Designer, you can use the stack in the following walkthrough: Walkthrough: Use AWS CloudFormation Designer to modify a stack's template, which modifies the template to create a scalable web server.