trippingtarballs / aws-cf-templates

Project of Possible AWS CloudFormation Templates

aws-cf-templates

Project of Possible AWS CloudFormation Templates.

Getting Started

Use the following commands once the shell has been opened to ensure the environment is correctly configured.

$ type -f awsl

awsl () {
  source /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_aws
  export AWS_ROOT_OATH_KEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  alias aws-iotp="oathtool --totp --base32 ${AWS_ROOT_OATH_KEY}"
}

# Load keys and completions.
$ awsl

There is a load time penalty associated with the loading of CLI completions for aws. As such it is preferential to load AWS environment configuration through a custom shell function. In this way, only when the user intends to work with aws is the load time penalty incurred. This is a kind of lazy shell loading of environment configuration.

Helpful Commands

Please note that for the following set of aws commands the CLI switch and value, --region eu-central-1, has been dropped. This is because the region value is assumed to be set by the options nominated in ~/.aws/config. It is in ~/.aws/config where the definition of --profile arcadia.digital can be found.

Describe Stacks

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital cloudformation describe-stacks

The above command seems to only return information regarding the currently active Stack.

List Stacks

However, working with this command appears to list all previously executed CloudFormation configuration scripts that were intended to create a Stack, even if that Stack has since been destroyed. Additionally, the returned information includes values for the date and time of when each Stack was created and destroyed.

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital cloudformation list-stacks

Create Stack

# Create a new Stack from a template file.
$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation create-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///path/to/aws.cf.template.json

Update Stack

# Update a Stack from a template file.
$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation update-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///path/to/aws.cf.template.json

Delete Stack

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation delete-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-group

Progress of a Stack being destroyed can be found by viewing the CloudFormation console in the AWS UI.

List Stack Resources

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation list-stack-resources \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital

List EC2 KeyPairs

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital ec2 describe-key-pairs

Use this command to help identify a possible EC2 KeyPair which can be used to bind to a new EC2 instance and enable SSH access.

Consuming Templates

VPC and Bastion Server

Create a VPC

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation create-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///`pwd`/vpc/1.vpc.json

Add a Bastion Server

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation update-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///`pwd`/vpc/2.bs.json \
      --parameters ParameterKey=KeyName,ParameterValue=arcadia-digital-bs \
                   ParameterKey=Subnet,ParameterValue=subnet-8484f6ec \
                   ParameterKey=VPC,ParameterValue=vpc-abdf6dc3

VPC with Multiple Availability Zones and Bastion Server

Create a VPC

Start by first creating a VPC. This VPC shall serve as the bases of the infrastructure to follow.

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation create-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///`pwd`/vpc-az/1.vpc.json

Add a Bastion Server

Next, provision the requirements for the Bastion Server within the newly created VPC.

$ aws --profile arcadia.digital \
      cloudformation update-stack \
      --stack-name arcadia-digital \
      --template-body file:///`pwd`/vpc-az/2.bs.json \
      --parameters ParameterKey=KeyName,ParameterValue=arcadia-digital-bs \
                   ParameterKey=Subnet,ParameterValue=subnet-8484f6ec \
                   ParameterKey=VPC,ParameterValue=vpc-abdf6dc3

Note the use of the update-stack sub-command in the above snippet - 2.bs.json configuration extends 1.vpc.json. To find the set of available EC2 KeyPairs refer to List EC2 KeyPairs.

Additionally, the above command expects the following parameters to be provided when working with 2.bs.json; KeyName, Subnet, VPC. For both the Subnet and VPC, use the value for subnetId and vpcId which are listed within Output from running the 1.vpc.json configuration. See the section on Describe Stacks for further information.