Configure Amazon EC2 instances with AWS CloudFormation - AWS CloudFormation
General Amazon EC2 configurationsSpecify the block device mappings for an instance

Configure Amazon EC2 instances with AWS CloudFormation

The following snippets demonstrate how to configure Amazon EC2 instances using AWS CloudFormation.

General Amazon EC2 configurations

The following snippets demonstrate general configurations for Amazon EC2 instances using AWS CloudFormation.

Create an Amazon EC2 instance in a specified Availability Zone

The following snippet creates an Amazon EC2 instance in the specified Availability Zone using an AWS::EC2::Instance resource. The code for an Availability Zone is its Region code followed by a letter identifier. You can launch an instance into a single Availability Zone.

JSON

"Ec2Instance": {
    "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
    "Properties": {
        "AvailabilityZone": "aa-example-1a",
        "ImageId": "ami-1234567890abcdef0"
    }
}

YAML

Ec2Instance:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
  Properties:
    AvailabilityZone: aa-example-1a
    ImageId: ami-1234567890abcdef0

Configure a tagged Amazon EC2 instance with an EBS volume and user data

The following snippet creates an Amazon EC2 instance with a tag, an EBS volume, and user data. It uses an AWS::EC2::Instance resource. In the same template, you must define an AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup resource, an AWS::SNS::Topic resource, and an AWS::EC2::Volume resource. The KeyName must be defined in the Parameters section of the template.

Tags can help you to categorize AWS resources based on your preferences, such as by purpose, owner, or environment. User data allows for the provisioning of custom scripts or data to an instance during launch. This data facilitates task automation, software configuration, package installation, and other actions on an instance during initialization.

For more information about tagging your resources, see Tag your Amazon EC2 resources.

For information about user data, see Use instance metadata to manage your EC2 instance.

JSON

"Ec2Instance": {
  "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
  "Properties": {
    "KeyName": { "Ref": "KeyName" },
    "SecurityGroups": [ { "Ref": "Ec2SecurityGroup" } ],
    "UserData": {
      "Fn::Base64": {
        "Fn::Join": [ ":", [
            "PORT=80",
            "TOPIC=",
            { "Ref": "MySNSTopic" }
          ]
        ]
      }
    },
    "InstanceType": "aa.size",
    "AvailabilityZone": "aa-example-1a",
    "ImageId": "ami-1234567890abcdef0",
    "Volumes": [
      {
        "VolumeId": { "Ref": "MyVolumeResource" },
        "Device": "/dev/sdk"
      }
    ],
    "Tags": [ { "Key": "Name", "Value": "MyTag" } ]
  }
}

YAML

Ec2Instance:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
  Properties:
    KeyName: !Ref KeyName
    SecurityGroups:
      - !Ref Ec2SecurityGroup
    UserData:
      Fn::Base64:
        Fn::Join:
          - ":"
          - - "PORT=80"
            - "TOPIC="
            - !Ref MySNSTopic
    InstanceType: aa.size
    AvailabilityZone: aa-example-1a
    ImageId: ami-1234567890abcdef0
    Volumes:
      - VolumeId: !Ref MyVolumeResource
        Device: "/dev/sdk"
    Tags:
      - Key: Name
        Value: MyTag

Define DynamoDB table name in user data for Amazon EC2 instance launch

The following snippet creates an Amazon EC2 instance and defines a DynamoDB table name in the user data to pass to the instance at launch. It uses an AWS::EC2::Instance resource. You can define parameters or dynamic values in the user data to pass an EC2 instance at launch.

For more information about user data, see Use instance metadata to manage your EC2 instance.

JSON

"Ec2Instance": {
    "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
    "Properties": {
        "UserData": {
            "Fn::Base64": {
                "Fn::Join": [
                    "",
                    [
                        "TableName=",
                        {
                            "Ref": "DynamoDBTableName"
                        }
                    ]
                ]
            }
        },
        "AvailabilityZone": "aa-example-1a",
        "ImageId": "ami-1234567890abcdef0"
    }
}

YAML

Ec2Instance:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
  Properties:
    UserData:
      Fn::Base64:
        Fn::Join:
          - ''
          - - 'TableName='
            - Ref: DynamoDBTableName
    AvailabilityZone: aa-example-1a
    ImageId: ami-1234567890abcdef0

Create an Amazon EBS volume with DeletionPolicy

The following snippets create an Amazon EBS volume using an Amazon EC2 AWS::EC2::Volume resource. You can use the Size or SnapshotID properties to define the volume, but not both. A DeletionPolicy attribute is set to create a snapshot of the volume when the stack is deleted.

For more information about the DeletionPolicy attribute, see DeletionPolicy attribute.

For more information about creating Amazon EBS volumes, see Create an Amazon EBS volume.

JSON

This snippet creates an Amazon EBS volume with a specified size. The size is set to 10, but you can adjust it as needed. The AWS::EC2::Volume resource allows you to specify either the size or a snapshot ID but not both.

"MyEBSVolume": {
    "Type": "AWS::EC2::Volume",
    "Properties": {
        "Size": "10",
        "AvailabilityZone": {
            "Ref": "AvailabilityZone"
        }
    },
    "DeletionPolicy": "Snapshot"
}

This snippet creates an Amazon EBS volume using a provided snapshot ID. The AWS::EC2::Volume resource allows you to specify either the size or a snapshot ID but not both.

"MyEBSVolume": {
    "Type": "AWS::EC2::Volume",
    "Properties": {
        "SnapshotId" : "snap-1234567890abcdef0",
        "AvailabilityZone": {
            "Ref": "AvailabilityZone"
        }
    },
    "DeletionPolicy": "Snapshot"
}

YAML

This snippet creates an Amazon EBS volume with a specified size. The size is set to 10, but you can adjust it as needed. The AWS::EC2::Volume resource allows you to specify either the size or a snapshot ID but not both.

MyEBSVolume:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Volume
  Properties:
    Size: 10
    AvailabilityZone:
      Ref: AvailabilityZone
  DeletionPolicy: Snapshot

This snippet creates an Amazon EBS volume using a provided snapshot ID. The AWS::EC2::Volume resource allows you to specify either the size or a snapshot ID but not both.

MyEBSVolume:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Volume
  Properties:
    SnapshotId: snap-1234567890abcdef0
    AvailabilityZone:
      Ref: AvailabilityZone
  DeletionPolicy: Snapshot

Specify the block device mappings for an instance

A block device mapping defines the block devices, which includes instance store volumes and EBS volumes, to attach to an instance. You can specify a block device mapping when creating an AMI so that the mapping is used by all instances launched from the AMI. Alternatively, you can specify a block device mapping when you launch an instance, so that the mapping overrides the one specified in the AMI from which the instance was launched.

You can use the following template snippets to specify the block device mappings for your EBS or instance store volumes using the BlockDeviceMappings property of an AWS::EC2::Instance resource.

For more information about block device mappings, see Block device mappings in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.

Specify the block device mappings for two EBS volumes

JSON

"Ec2Instance": {
    "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance",
    "Properties": {
      "ImageId": {
        "Fn::FindInMap": [
          "AWSRegionArch2AMI",
          { "Ref": "AWS::Region" },
          {
            "Fn::FindInMap": [
              "AWSInstanceType2Arch",
              { "Ref": "InstanceType" },
              "Arch"
            ]
          }
        ]
      },
      "KeyName": { "Ref": "KeyName" },
      "InstanceType": { "Ref": "InstanceType" },
      "SecurityGroups": [{ "Ref": "Ec2SecurityGroup" }],
      "BlockDeviceMappings": [
        {
          "DeviceName": "/dev/sda1",
          "Ebs": { "VolumeSize": "50" }
        },
        {
          "DeviceName": "/dev/sdm",
          "Ebs": { "VolumeSize": "100" }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

YAML

EC2Instance:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
    Properties:
      ImageId: !FindInMap [AWSRegionArch2AMI, !Ref 'AWS::Region', !FindInMap [AWSInstanceType2Arch, !Ref InstanceType, Arch]]
      KeyName: !Ref KeyName
      InstanceType: !Ref InstanceType
      SecurityGroups:
        - !Ref Ec2SecurityGroup
      BlockDeviceMappings:
        -
          DeviceName: /dev/sda1
          Ebs:
            VolumeSize: 50
        -
          DeviceName: /dev/sdm
          Ebs:
            VolumeSize: 100

Specify the block device mapping for an instance store volume

JSON

"Ec2Instance" : {
  "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Instance", 
  "Properties" : {
    "ImageId" : { "Fn::FindInMap" : [ "AWSRegionArch2AMI", { "Ref" : "AWS::Region" }, "HVM64" ]},
    "KeyName" : { "Ref" : "KeyName" },
    "InstanceType": { "Ref": "InstanceType" },
    "SecurityGroups" : [{ "Ref" : "Ec2SecurityGroup" }],
    "BlockDeviceMappings" : [
      {
        "DeviceName"  : "/dev/sdc",
        "VirtualName" : "ephemeral0"
      }
    ]
  }
}

YAML

EC2Instance:
  Type: AWS::EC2::Instance
  Properties:
    ImageId: !FindInMap
      - AWSRegionArch2AMI
      - !Ref AWS::Region
      - HVM64
    KeyName: !Ref KeyName
    InstanceType: !Ref InstanceType
    SecurityGroups:
      - !Ref Ec2SecurityGroup
    BlockDeviceMappings:
      - DeviceName: /dev/sdc
        VirtualName: ephemeral0