Automated Deployments with CFN

Summary

The goal of this project is to leverage AWS CloudFormation to automate and standardize cloud infrastructure deployment. By defining infrastructure as code (IaC), we eliminate manual setup bottlenecks, reduce human error, and ensure reliable, repeatable environments.

Architecture Overview

Technologies and Tools

This project uses the following technologies:

• The AWS CloudFormation and EC2 dashboards
• A CloudFormation template for an EC2 instance
• EC2 Instance Connect

Procedure

To keep this as simple as possible, I’ll use a preconfigured YAML template located at learn-cantrill-labs. The process is simple enough: from the CloudFormation dashboard, 'Create stack' and follow the wizard. Notes:

1. On the 'Create Stack page, select 'Choose an existing template'. Click 'Upload a template file, and navigate to the template.

2. Give the stack a name on the 'Specify stack details' page

3. Ensure the 'I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources under 'Capabilities'.

4. Once the Stack is labeled 'CREATE_COMPLETE', the instance can be accessed from the EC2 dashboard.

5. I verified that I was able to log into the instance using EC2 Instance Connect.

6. Deleting the stack: Back in the Stacks window, select the stack and click Delete. Deleting the stack will delete all logical and physical resources for the stack.

7. Once complete, the Instance will be listed as Terminated in EC2.

References and Resources

• learn-cantrill-labs for the preconfigured YAML
• AWS Cloudformation Documentation

Conclusion

This project demonstrates how to quickly deploy infrastructure using AWS CloudFormation. By automating resource creation, we reduce manual configuration errors and ensure consistent, repeatable deployments. The successful creation and access of the EC2 instance confirms the template works as intended.