Learn CLOUDFORMATION with Real Code Examples

CloudFormation enables Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) by describing AWS resources and their dependencies declaratively.

Templates are written in JSON or YAML, defining resources, parameters, outputs, and mappings.

CloudFormation automatically provisions and configures resources based on the template.

Supports rollback, drift detection, and stack management for safe deployments.

Integrates with other AWS services like IAM, S3, Lambda, and CodePipeline for complete automation.

Stacks - units of deployment

Resources - AWS services defined in templates

Parameters - user input at deployment time

Outputs - exported values from stacks

Mappings, Conditions, and Transform for dynamic behavior

Template - JSON or YAML file describing resources

Stack - deployed instance of a template

Change Set - preview changes before updating stack

Resource Types - AWS services and their configurations

Outputs - exported information from stack

Templates folder containing JSON/YAML files

Parameters files (optional) for dynamic values

Nested stacks for modularization

Outputs to share values across stacks

Mappings and conditions for environment-specific settings

Write CloudFormation template

Validate template using AWS CLI or Console

Create or update a stack from the template

Monitor stack events and status

Use change sets and drift detection for safe updates

Beginner: Create a single S3 bucket

Intermediate: Multi-service stack with VPC, EC2, and RDS

Advanced: Nested stacks with cross-stack references

Expert: Multi-account, multi-region deployments with StackSets

Architect: Large-scale enterprise infrastructure automation

CloudFormation vs CDK: CFN is declarative templates, CDK is code-first abstraction

CloudFormation vs Terraform: CFN AWS-native, Terraform is multi-cloud

CloudFormation vs Pulumi: Pulumi is code-first multi-cloud, CFN is declarative AWS-only

CloudFormation vs manual console: CFN is automated and repeatable

CloudFormation vs SAM: SAM is CloudFormation extension for serverless

2011 - AWS CloudFormation initial launch

2012–2015 - Added support for new AWS resources and cross-stack references

2016–2018 - Nested stacks, Change Sets, StackSets

2019–2021 - Drift detection, macros, and enhanced template validation

2022–2025 - Continuous support for new AWS services and resource types

Stack - deployed instance of a template

Template - JSON or YAML definition of resources

Change Set - preview of updates to stack

Resource - AWS service configured in a stack

Drift - difference between stack template and deployed resources