Introducing AWS CloudFormation

Intro
AWS CloudFormation is a powerful tool that simplifies the process of creating and managing AWS resources through code templates. AWS CloudFormation automates the deployment of infrastructure and provides real-time status updates. It is a service that helps users model and set up their AWS resources, allowing them to spend less time managing resources and more time focusing on their applications

How to use it?
To use AWS CloudFormation in your app, you can create a CloudFormation template that describes all the AWS resources your app requires, such as Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon RDS DB instances, Auto Scaling groups, Elastic Load Balancing load balancers, and more. Once the template is created, you can use it to create a CloudFormation stack, which will provision and configure all the specified resources for you. This allows you to easily manage a collection of resources as a single unit, simplifying infrastructure management and allowing for quick replication of infrastructure. Additionally, you can reuse your CloudFormation template to provision resources consistently and track changes to your infrastructure using version control

How to deploy
To deploy AWS resources using CloudFormation, follow these steps outlined in the provided document:

Step 1: Pick a template
Obtain a template that specifies the resources needed for your stack. You can use a sample template provided in the document or create your own.

Step 2: Make sure you have prepared any required items for the stack
Ensure that all dependent resources required by the template are available. For example, if the template requires an Amazon EC2 key pair, make sure you have a valid key pair name.

Step 3: Create the stack
Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the AWS CloudFormation console.
Choose "Create Stack" and specify the template URL for the sample WordPress template.
Enter a name for the stack and provide values for any parameters that don't have default values, such as DBUser, DBPassword, DBRootPassword, and KeyName.

Step 4: Monitor the progress of stack creation
After initiating the stack creation, monitor the progress of the creation process in the CloudFormation console. Check the status of the stack and view the events to track the creation progress.

Step 5: Use your stack resources
Once the stack status shows "CREATE_COMPLETE," you can start using its resources. For example, in the case of the WordPress stack, you can complete the WordPress installation and start using the website.

Step 6: Clean up
To avoid unwanted charges, delete the stack and its resources once you are done using them. This involves selecting the stack in the CloudFormation console and choosing "Delete Stack."

Following these steps will enable you to deploy AWS resources using CloudFormation as per the provided document.

A simple developer looking to start working with AWS CloudFormation should understand the following key points:

1. CloudFormation Templates: Developers need to understand how to create and modify CloudFormation templates, which describe the AWS resources and their properties.

2. Provisioning and Configuration: Developers should be aware that CloudFormation handles the provisioning and configuration of AWS resources based on the provided template.

3. Infrastructure Management: CloudFormation simplifies infrastructure management by allowing developers to manage a collection of resources as a single unit.

4. Replication of Infrastructure: Developers can use CloudFormation to quickly replicate infrastructure in multiple regions, ensuring availability for their applications.

5. Tracking Changes: CloudFormation templates can be used to track changes to infrastructure using version control, similar to how developers control revisions to source code.

By understanding these points, a simple developer can effectively leverage AWS CloudFormation to manage and provision AWS resources for their applications.