07-CloudFormation Basics

Question 1

What is CloudFormation?

Answer 1

A tool used to create, update, and delete infrastructure in a consistent and repeatable way using templates. It keeps the logical and physical resources in sync by adding, updating, or deleting resources as defined in the template.

Question 2

What formats are used for CloudFormation templates?

Answer 2

YAML or JSON

Question 3

What are the components of CloudFormation?

Answer 3

Resources, Stacks, Description, Template Format Version, Metadata, Parameters, Mappings, Conditions, and Outputs.

Question 4

What parts of a CloudFormation template are mandatory?

Answer 4

Only the resource section is mandatory.

Question 5

What is the Resource portion of a CloudFormation template?

Answer 5

Defines the infrastructure resources to be created, updated, or deleted.

Question 6

What are logical resources in a template?

Answer 6

Representations of infrastructure components (e.g., AWS::EC2::Instance).

Question 7

What purpose do logical resources provide when deploying a template?

Answer 7

The translate to the physical resources that are created.

Question 8

What happens to a resource if it is removed from a template?

Answer 8

The corresponding physical resource is deleted when the updated template is deployed.

Question 9

What are Stacks?

Answer 9

A collection of logical resources managed by CloudFormation? Stacks are created when deploying the template for the first time.

Question 10

What is the Description of a template?

Answer 10

Optional text field that provides details about the template.

Question 11

If a Description is used alongside a Template Format Version, which one goes first?

Answer 11

The Template Format Version and the Description must immediately follow.

Question 12

What is a Template Format Version?

Answer 12

Specifies the version of the template structure.

Question 13

What is the Metadata of a template?

Answer 13

Controls how a template is presented in the Console and is used to enhance the user experience, especially in larger templates.

Question 14

What are Parameters in a template?

Answer 14

User inputs that can be promoted for when applying a template. Parameters can also have default values and created for valid entries.

Question 15

What is an example of a Parameter?

Answer 15

instance size, AZ

Question 16

NAME?

Answer 16

Optional section used to create lookup tables.

Question 17

What is an example of a Mapping?

Answer 17

Mapping regions and instance types to specific AMIs based on the environment, such a test or production.

Question 18

What are Conditions in a template?

Answer 18

Allows for conditional logic in a template, can be created based on parameters and used to control resource creation.

Question 19

What is an example of a Condition?

Answer 19

Creating resources only in production environments if a parameter equals “prod”.

Question 20

What are Outputs?

Answer 20

Return information after the stack creation or update, such as an instance ID or a WordPress URL.

Question 21

Why are Outputs useful?

Answer 21

Useful to retrieving important information about the resources created.