AWS CloudFormation: Working with Nested Stacks and Signal Script

The Amazon CloudFormation service allows users to manage their infrastructure as a group. You can define AWS resources using an infrastructure as code formatted template and don't have to individually create each resource. Similarly, you can make changes in multiple resources by simply changing the template, and also delete the created infrastructure together.

In this CloudLab, you'll start by learning about what CloudFormation templates and stacks are. You'll then use them to provision infrastructure using CloudFormation. The provisioned infrastructure will include an EC2 instance. Once you've set up that infrastructure, you'll integrate the cfn-signal helper script in the CloudFormation template to ensure that the provisioned EC2 instance is fully configured before the stack creation is marked as complete. You'll then learn how to handle complex infrastructures using nested stacks. Moreover, you'll add another EC2 instance in your infrastructure and use nested stacks instead of a simple stack to do so. Finally, you’ll clean up all resources.

By the time you finish this Cloud Lab, you’ll be able to create and maintain infrastructures using CloudFormation templates. You’ll also be able to use cfn-signal helper script to ensure that your EC2 instances are fully configured before the associated stack is marked as completed. You'll also be able to use nested stacks to simplify complex infrastructure by dividing them into multiple stacks.

The following is the high-level architecture diagram of the infrastructure that you’ll create in this Cloud Lab: