AWS CloudFormation is an infrastructure-as-code (IaC) service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows you to define and provision AWS infrastructure resources in a safe, predictable, and efficient manner. With CloudFormation, you can use a template to describe the AWS resources and properties needed for your applications, and CloudFormation takes care of the rest, handling the provisioning and updating of the infrastructure.
Key Features:
- Infrastructure as Code: CloudFormation allows you to define and provision infrastructure using a template, which is written in JSON or YAML format. This template becomes a version-controlled artifact that defines your infrastructure in a human-readable and machine-readable format.
- Declarative Language: CloudFormation templates use a declarative language to specify the desired state of the infrastructure. You describe what resources you need, and CloudFormation figures out how to create and configure them.
- Stacks: A CloudFormation stack is a set of AWS resources that you can manage as a single unit. You create, update, and delete a collection of resources by creating, updating, and deleting stacks.
- Change Sets: Before making changes to your infrastructure, CloudFormation allows you to preview the changes with a Change Set. This helps you understand the impact of changes and avoids unexpected modifications.
- Resource Dependencies: CloudFormation automatically handles dependencies between resources, ensuring they are created and configured in the correct order.
Usage:
AWS CloudFormation is used for various scenarios, including:
- Application Provisioning: Defining and deploying the infrastructure needed for your applications.
- Infrastructure Orchestration: Managing the lifecycle of AWS resources as a single, coordinated unit.
- Environment Replication: Creating identical environments for development, testing, and production.
- Infrastructure as Code Best Practices: Implementing best practices for version control, code reviews, and collaboration in infrastructure development.
For more detailed information, refer to the official AWS CloudFormation documentation.