aws-cloudformation

Create a stack from a template file

$ aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name [stack-name] --region [region] --template-body [file://path/to/file.yml] --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name [stack-name] --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation list-stacks --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation list-stacks --stack-status-filter CREATE_COMPLETE --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name [stack-id] --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation detect-stack-drift --stack-name [stack-id] --profile [profile]

$ aws cloudformation describe-stack-resource-drifts --stack-name [stack-drift-detection-id] --profile [profile]

aws cloudformation <subcommand> [--stack-name value] [global-options] [subcommand-options]

--stack-name
    Name of the stack to operate on.

--template-body
    Template body as a string or file content.

--template-url
    S3 URL location of the template file.

--parameters
    Key-value pairs for stack parameters (JSON or file).

--capabilities
    Capabilities like CAPABILITY_IAM or CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM.

--tags
    Key-value pairs to tag the stack and resources.

--role-arn
    ARN of IAM role for stack execution.

--region
    AWS region (e.g., us-east-1).

--output
    Output format: json|text|table.

--debug
    Turn on debug logging.

create-stack
    Creates a new stack from a template.

delete-stack
    Deletes a specified stack.

update-stack
    Updates an existing stack.

describe-stacks
    Describes one or more stacks.

validate-template
    Validates a template syntax.

The aws cloudformation command is part of the AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) for interacting with AWS CloudFormation, a service that enables modeling and provisioning of AWS resources using declarative templates in JSON or YAML. It allows users to create, update, delete, and monitor stacks—logical units of resources—automating infrastructure as code (IaC).

Key operations include validating templates before deployment, creating change sets for safe updates, managing stack sets across accounts and regions, tagging resources, and handling rollbacks. Supports features like custom resources, macros, modules, and drift detection to ensure infrastructure matches templates. Integrates with CI/CD tools, GitOps, and other AWS services such as IAM, Lambda, and S3.

Ideal for DevOps workflows, it provides detailed outputs on stack events, resources, and exports. Requires AWS credentials with appropriate IAM permissions. Enhances reproducibility, version control, and scalability of cloud deployments.

Requires AWS CLI v2+ installed and configured with valid credentials. Stack operations can incur costs and may take minutes; use --capabilities for IAM resources. Limited to 500 resources per stack by default. No direct support for graphical UIs—use AWS Console for that.

Install via pip install awscli or package managers; run aws configure for setup.

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name myapp --template-body file://template.yaml --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM
Creates stack myapp from local YAML template.

Full list: aws cloudformation help. Includes list-stack-sets, detect-stack-drift, estimate-template-cost.

AWS CloudFormation launched in July 2011. Integrated into AWS CLI v1 (2013); enhanced in v2 (2020) with better performance and pagination. Added StackSets (2017), modules (2021), and drift detection for enterprise IaC.

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