Examples for creating and managing CloudFormation stacks with the Amazon CLI and PowerShell

To cancel a stack update that is in progress

The following cancel-update-stack command cancels a stack update on the myteststack stack:

aws cloudformation cancel-update-stack --stack-name myteststack

Example 1: Cancels an update on the specified stack.

Stop-CFNUpdateStack -StackName "myStack"

To retry an update rollback

The following continue-update-rollback example resumes a rollback operation from a previously failed stack update.

aws cloudformation continue-update-rollback \
    --stack-name my-stack

This command produces no output.

Example 1: Continues rollback of the named stack, which should be in the state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_FAILED'. If the continued rollback is successful, the stack will enter state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_COMPLETE'.

Resume-CFNUpdateRollback -StackName "myStack"

To create an Amazon CloudFormation stack

The following create-stacks command creates a stack with the name myteststack using the sampletemplate.json template:

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name myteststack --template-body file://sampletemplate.json --parameters ParameterKey=KeyPairName,ParameterValue=TestKey ParameterKey=SubnetIDs,ParameterValue=SubnetID1\\,SubnetID2

Output:

{
    "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896"
}

For more information, see Stacks in the Amazon CloudFormation User Guide.

Example 1: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will not be rolled back.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" }) `
             -DisableRollback $true

Example 2: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back.

$p1 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p1.ParameterKey = "PK1"
$p1.ParameterValue = "PV1"

$p2 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p2.ParameterKey = "PK2"
$p2.ParameterValue = "PV2"

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( $p1, $p2 ) `
             -OnFailure "ROLLBACK"

Example 3: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false).

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/mytemplates/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }

Example 4: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false). The specified notification AENs will receive published stack-related events.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/mytemplates/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" } `
             -NotificationARN @( "arn1", "arn2" )

To delete a stack

The following delete-stack example deletes the specified stack.

aws cloudformation delete-stack \
    --stack-name my-stack

This command produces no output.

Example 1: Deletes the specified stack.

Remove-CFNStack -StackName "myStack"

To describe stack events

The following describe-stack-events example displays the 2 most recent events for the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-events \
    --stack-name my-stack \
    --max-items 2

{
    "StackEvents": [
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "EventId": "4e1516d0-e4d6-xmpl-b94f-0a51958a168c",
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "LogicalResourceId": "my-stack",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::CloudFormation::Stack",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:29.556Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE"
        },
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "EventId": "4dd3c810-e4d6-xmpl-bade-0aaf8b31ab7a",
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "LogicalResourceId": "my-stack",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::CloudFormation::Stack",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:29.127Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE_CLEANUP_IN_PROGRESS"
        }
    ],
    "NextToken": "eyJOZXh0VG9XMPLiOiBudWxsLCAiYm90b190cnVuY2F0ZV9hbW91bnQiOiAyfQ=="
}

Example 1: Returns all stack related events for the specified stack.

Get-CFNStackEvent -StackName "myStack"

Example 2: Returns all stack related events for the specified stack using manual paging starting at the specified token. The starting token for the next page is retrieved after every call with $null indicating no more events remain to be retrieved.

$nextToken = $null
do {
    Get-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" -NextToken $nextToken
    $nextToken = $AWSHistory.LastServiceResponse.NextToken
} while ($nextToken -ne $null)

To get information about a stack resource

The following describe-stack-resource example displays details for the resource named MyFunction in the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-resource \
    --stack-name MyStack \
    --logical-resource-id MyFunction

Output:

{
    "StackResourceDetail": {
        "StackName": "MyStack",
        "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-2:123456789012:stack/MyStack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
        "LogicalResourceId": "MyFunction",
        "PhysicalResourceId": "my-function-SEZV4XMPL4S5",
        "ResourceType": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
        "LastUpdatedTimestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:27.989Z",
        "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE",
        "Metadata": "{}",
        "DriftInformation": {
            "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
        }
    }
}

Example 1: Returns the description of a resource identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "MyDBInstance".

Get-CFNStackResource -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "MyDBInstance"

To get information about a stack resource

The following describe-stack-resources example displays details for the resources in the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-resources \
    --stack-name my-stack

Output:

{
    "StackResources": [
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "bucket",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-stack-bucket-1vc62xmplgguf",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:11.345Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "function",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-function-SEZV4XMPL4S5",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:27.989Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "functionRole",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-functionRole-HIZXMPLEOM9E",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::IAM::Role",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:06.350Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Example 1: Returns the Amazon resource descriptions for up to 100 resources associated with the specified stack. To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack"

Example 2: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "Ec2Instance".

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"

Example 3: Returns the description of up to 100 resources associated with the stack containing an Amazon EC2 instance identified by instance ID "i-123456". To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456"

Example 4: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified by the logical ID "Ec2Instance" in the template for a stack. The stack is identified using the physical resource ID of a resource it contains, in this case also an Amazon EC2 instance with instance ID "i-123456". A different physical resource could also be used to identify the stack depending on the template content, for example an Amazon S3 bucket.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"

To describe Amazon CloudFormation stacks

The following describe-stacks command shows summary information for the myteststack stack:

aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name myteststack

Output:

{
    "Stacks":  [
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896",
            "Description": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.",
            "Tags": [],
            "Outputs": [
                {
                    "Description": "Name of S3 bucket to hold website content",
                    "OutputKey": "BucketName",
                    "OutputValue": "myteststack-s3bucket-jssofi1zie2w"
                }
            ],
            "StackStatusReason": null,
            "CreationTime": "2013-08-23T01:02:15.422Z",
            "Capabilities": [],
            "StackName": "myteststack",
            "StackStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DisableRollback": false
        }
    ]
}

For more information, see Stacks in the Amazon CloudFormation User Guide.

// StackOutputs defines a map of outputs from a specific stack.
type StackOutputs map[string]string

type CloudFormationActions struct {
	CfnClient *cloudformation.Client
}

// GetOutputs gets the outputs from a CloudFormation stack and puts them into a structured format.
func (actor CloudFormationActions) GetOutputs(stackName string) StackOutputs {
	output, err := actor.CfnClient.DescribeStacks(context.TODO(), &cloudformation.DescribeStacksInput{
		StackName: aws.String(stackName),
	})
	if err != nil || len(output.Stacks) == 0 {
		log.Panicf("Couldn't find a CloudFormation stack named %v. Here's why: %v\n", stackName, err)
	}
	stackOutputs := StackOutputs{}
	for _, out := range output.Stacks[0].Outputs {
		stackOutputs[*out.OutputKey] = *out.OutputValue
	}
	return stackOutputs
}

Example 1: Returns a collection of Stack instances describing all of the user's stacks.

Get-CFNStack

Example 2: Returns a Stack instance describing the specified stack

Get-CFNStack -StackName "myStack"

Example 3: Returns a collection of Stack instances describing all of the user's stacks using manual paging. The starting token for the next page is retrieved after every call with $null indicating no more details remain to be retrieved.

$nextToken = $null
do {
    Get-CFNStack -NextToken $nextToken
    $nextToken = $AWSHistory.LastServiceResponse.NextToken
} while ($nextToken -ne $null)

To view the template body for an Amazon CloudFormation stack

The following get-template command shows the template for the myteststack stack:

aws cloudformation get-template --stack-name myteststack

Output:

{
    "TemplateBody": {
        "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
        "Outputs": {
            "BucketName": {
                "Description": "Name of S3 bucket to hold website content",
                "Value": {
                    "Ref": "S3Bucket"
                }
            }
        },
        "Description": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.",
        "Resources": {
            "S3Bucket": {
                "Type": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
                "Properties": {
                    "AccessControl": "PublicRead"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Example 1: Returns the template associated with the specified stack.

Get-CFNTemplate -StackName "myStack"

To list resources in a stack

The following command displays the list of resources in the specified stack.

aws cloudformation list-stack-resources \
    --stack-name my-stack

Output:

{
    "StackResourceSummaries": [
        {
            "LogicalResourceId": "bucket",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-stack-bucket-1vc62xmplgguf",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
            "LastUpdatedTimestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:11.345Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "LogicalResourceId": "function",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-function-SEZV4XMPL4S5",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
            "LastUpdatedTimestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:27.989Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "LogicalResourceId": "functionRole",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-functionRole-HIZXMPLEOM9E",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::IAM::Role",
            "LastUpdatedTimestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:06.350Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Example 1: Returns descriptions of all the resources associated with the specified stack.

Get-CFNStackResourceSummary -StackName "myStack"

Example 2: Returns descriptions of all the resources associated with the specified stack using manual paging of the results. The starting token for the next page is retrieved after every call with $null indicating no more details remain to be retrieved.

$nextToken = $null
do {
  Get-CFNStackResourceSummary -StackName "myStack" -NextToken $nextToken
  $nextToken = $AWSHistory.LastServiceResponse.NextToken
} while ($nextToken -ne $null)

To list Amazon CloudFormation stacks

The following list-stacks command shows a summary of all stacks that have a status of CREATE_COMPLETE:

aws cloudformation list-stacks --stack-status-filter CREATE_COMPLETE

Output:

[
    {
        "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896",
        "TemplateDescription": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.",
        "StackStatusReason": null,
        "CreationTime": "2013-08-26T03:27:10.190Z",
        "StackName": "myteststack",
        "StackStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE"
    }
]

Example 1: Returns summary information for all stacks.

Get-CFNStackSummary

Example 2: Returns summary information for all stacks that are currently being created.

Get-CFNStackSummary -StackStatusFilter "CREATE_IN_PROGRESS"

Example 3: Returns summary information for all stacks that are currently being created or updated.

Get-CFNStackSummary -StackStatusFilter @("CREATE_IN_PROGRESS", "UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS")

Example 4: Returns summary information for all stacks that are currently being created or updated using manual paging of the results. The starting token for the next page is retrieved after every call with $null indicating no more details remain to be retrieved.

$nextToken = $null
do {
  Get-CFNStackSummary -StackStatusFilter @("CREATE_IN_PROGRESS", "UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS") -NextToken $nextToken
  $nextToken = $AWSHistory.LastServiceResponse.NextToken
} while ($nextToken -ne $null)

To update Amazon CloudFormation stacks

The following update-stack command updates the template and input parameters for the mystack stack:

aws cloudformation update-stack --stack-name mystack --template-url https://s3.amazonaws.com/sample/updated.template --parameters ParameterKey=KeyPairName,ParameterValue=SampleKeyPair ParameterKey=SubnetIDs,ParameterValue=SampleSubnetID1\\,SampleSubnetID2

The following update-stack command updates just the SubnetIDs parameter value for the mystack stack. If you don't specify a parameter value, the default value that is specified in the template is used:

aws cloudformation update-stack --stack-name mystack --template-url https://s3.amazonaws.com/sample/updated.template --parameters ParameterKey=KeyPairName,UsePreviousValue=true ParameterKey=SubnetIDs,ParameterValue=SampleSubnetID1\\,UpdatedSampleSubnetID2

The following update-stack command adds two stack notification topics to the mystack stack:

aws cloudformation update-stack --stack-name mystack --use-previous-template --notification-arns "arn:aws:sns:use-east-1:123456789012:mytopic1" "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:mytopic2"

For more information, see Amazon CloudFormation stack updates in the Amazon CloudFormation User Guide.

Example 1: Updates the stack 'myStack' with the specified template and customization parameters. 'PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template and 'PV1' represents its value. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'.

Update-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
                -TemplateBody "{Template Content Here}" `
                -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }

Example 2: Updates the stack 'myStack' with the specified template and customization parameters. 'PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represents their requested values. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'.

Update-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
                -TemplateBody "{Template Content Here}" `
                -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" } )

Example 3: Updates the stack 'myStack' with the specified template and customization parameters. 'PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template and 'PV2' represents its value. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'.

Update-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" -TemplateBody "{Template Content Here}" -Parameters @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }

Example 4: Updates the stack 'myStack' with the specified template, obtained from Amazon S3, and customization parameters. 'PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represents their requested values. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'.

Update-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
                -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/mytemplates/templatefile.template `
                -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" } )

Example 5: Updates the stack 'myStack', which is assumed in this example to contain IAM resources, with the specified template, obtained from Amazon S3, and customization parameters. 'PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represents their requested values. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. Stacks containing IAM resources require you to specify the -Capabilities "CAPABILITY_IAM" parameter otherwise the update will fail with an 'InsufficientCapabilities' error.

Update-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
                -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/mytemplates/templatefile.template `
                -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" } ) `
                -Capabilities "CAPABILITY_IAM"

To validate an Amazon CloudFormation template

The following validate-template command validates the sampletemplate.json template:

aws cloudformation validate-template --template-body file://sampletemplate.json

Output:

{
    "Description": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.",
    "Parameters": [],
    "Capabilities": []
}

For more information, see Working with Amazon CloudFormation Templates in the Amazon CloudFormation User Guide.

Example 1: Validates the specified template content. The output details the capabilities, description and parameters of the template.

Test-CFNTemplate -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}"

Example 2: Validates the specified template accessed via an Amazon S3 URL. The output details the capabilities, description and parameters of the template.

Test-CFNTemplate -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/mytemplates/templatefile.template