AWS cloudformation with AutoScalingGroup and LaunchConfiguration

Problem

We’re currently looking into such an option to run multiple number of ec2 instances into already running environment(VPC) with launch configurations too.

Solution

       Amazon web services - Cloudformation - AutoScaling

CloudFormation is one of the coolest services from AWS at no additional charge. You can run/start and update a full stack(collection of resources) over aws with the help of a template written in JSON/YAML by using the AWS Management Console, AWS Command Line Interface, or APIs. It gives developers and systems administrators an easy way to create and manage a collection of related AWS resources, provisioning and updating them.

Syntax and Example(s)

This example shows an Auto Scaling AWS::AutoScaling::AutoScalingGroup resource.

{
   "Type" : "AWS::AutoScaling::AutoScalingGroup",
   "Properties" : {
      "AvailabilityZones" : [ String, ... ],
      "Cooldown" : String,
      "DesiredCapacity" : String,
      "HealthCheckGracePeriod" : Integer,
      "HealthCheckType" : String,
      "InstanceId" : String,
      "LaunchConfigurationName" : String,
      "LoadBalancerNames" : [ String, ... ],
      "MaxSize" : String,
      "MetricsCollection" : [ MetricsCollection, ... ],
      "MinSize" : String,
      "NotificationConfigurations" : [ NotificationConfigurations, ... ],
      "PlacementGroup" : String,
      "Tags" : [ Auto Scaling Tag, ... ],
      "TargetGroupARNs" : [ String, ... ],
      "TerminationPolicies" : [ String, ..., ],
      "VPCZoneIdentifier" : [ String, ... ]
   }
}     


"WebServerGroup" : {
   "Type" : "AWS::AutoScaling::AutoScalingGroup",
   "Properties" : {
      "AvailabilityZones" : { "Fn::GetAZs" : "" },
      "LaunchConfigurationName" : { "Ref" : "LaunchConfig" },
      "MinSize" : "2",
      "MaxSize" : "2",
      "LoadBalancerNames" : [ { "Ref" : "ElasticLoadBalancer" } ],
      "MetricsCollection": [
         {
            "Granularity": "1Minute",
            "Metrics": [
               "GroupMinSize",
               "GroupMaxSize"
            ]
         }
      ]
   }
}

This example shows an Auto Scaling AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration resource.

{
   "Type" : "AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration",
   "Properties" : {
      "AssociatePublicIpAddress" : Boolean,
      "BlockDeviceMappings" : [ BlockDeviceMapping, ... ],
      "ClassicLinkVPCId" : String,
      "ClassicLinkVPCSecurityGroups" : [ String, ... ],
      "EbsOptimized" : Boolean,
      "IamInstanceProfile" : String,
      "ImageId" : String,
      "InstanceId" : String,
      "InstanceMonitoring" : Boolean,
      "InstanceType" : String,
      "KernelId" : String,
      "KeyName" : String,
      "PlacementTenancy" : String,
      "RamDiskId" : String,
      "SecurityGroups" : [ SecurityGroup, ... ],
      "SpotPrice" : String,
      "UserData" : String
   }
}


"LaunchConfig" : {
   "Type" : "AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration",
   "Properties" : {
      "KeyName" : { "Ref" : "KeyName" },
      "ImageId" : {
         "Fn::FindInMap" : [
            "AWSRegionArch2AMI",
            { "Ref" : "AWS::Region" },
            {
               "Fn::FindInMap" : [
                  "AWSInstanceType2Arch", { "Ref" : "InstanceType" }, "Arch"
               ]
            }
         ]
      },
      "UserData" : { "Fn::Base64" : { "Ref" : "WebServerPort" }},
      "SecurityGroups" : [ { "Ref" : "InstanceSecurityGroup" } ],
      "InstanceType" : { "Ref" : "InstanceType" },
      "BlockDeviceMappings" : [
         {
           "DeviceName" : "/dev/sda1",
           "Ebs" : { "VolumeSize" : "50", "VolumeType" : "io1", "Iops" : 200 } 
         },
         {
           "DeviceName" : "/dev/sdm",
           "Ebs" : { "VolumeSize" : "100", "DeleteOnTermination" : "true"}
         }
      ]
   }
} 

On the back-ground it will create given number of EC2 instances to current stack following with the launch-configurations.

Still we’re digging into AWS-CloudFormation as beginner level and continue with major-minor details with this blog series.

And if you get stuck… Ask Here

^{email me rajeevsharma86@gmail.com}