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Examples of CloudFormation stack operation commands for the AWS CLI and PowerShell - AWS CloudFormation
CancelUpdateStackContinueUpdateRollbackCreateStackDeployDeleteStackDescribeStackEventsDescribeStackResourceDescribeStackResourcesDescribeStacksGetTemplateListStackResourcesListStacksUpdateStackValidateTemplate

Examples of CloudFormation stack operation commands for the AWS CLI and PowerShell

The following command line examples demonstrate how to perform individual CloudFormation actions with the AWS CLI and PowerShell. These examples include only the most commonly used actions. For a complete list, see cloudformation in the AWS CLI Command Reference.

The examples in this guide use the convention of a backslash (\) to indicate that a long command line continues on the next line.

Topics

Cancel a stack update

Use the cancel-update-stack command command to cancel a stack update. For more information, see Cancel a stack update.

CLI
AWS CLI

To cancel a stack update that is in progress

The following cancel-update-stack command cancels a stack update on the myteststack stack:

aws cloudformation cancel-update-stack --stack-name myteststack
PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Cancels an update on the specified stack.

Stop-CFNUpdateStack -StackName "myStack"

  • For API details, see CancelUpdateStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V4).

Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Cancels an update on the specified stack.

Stop-CFNUpdateStack -StackName "myStack"

  • For API details, see CancelUpdateStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V5).

Continue rolling back an update

Use the continue-update-rollback command to continue rolling back an update. For more information, see Continue rolling back an update.

CLI
AWS CLI

To retry an update rollback

The following continue-update-rollback example resumes a rollback operation from a previously failed stack update.

aws cloudformation continue-update-rollback \
    --stack-name my-stack

This command produces no output.

PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Continues rollback of the named stack, which should be in the state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_FAILED'. If the continued rollback is successful, the stack will enter state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_COMPLETE'.

Resume-CFNUpdateRollback -StackName "myStack"
Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Continues rollback of the named stack, which should be in the state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_FAILED'. If the continued rollback is successful, the stack will enter state 'UPDATE_ROLLBACK_COMPLETE'.

Resume-CFNUpdateRollback -StackName "myStack"

Create a stack

Use the create-stack command to create a stack. You must provide the stack name, the location of a valid template, and any input parameters. The parameter key names are case sensitive. If you mistype a parameter key name, CloudFormation doesn't create the stack and reports that the template doesn't contain that parameter.

The following examples show how to create a new stack with the specified name, template, and input parameters.

CLI
AWS CLI

To create an AWS CloudFormation stack

The following create-stacks command creates a stack with the name myteststack using the sampletemplate.json template:

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name myteststack --template-body file://sampletemplate.json --parameters ParameterKey=KeyPairName,ParameterValue=TestKey ParameterKey=SubnetIDs,ParameterValue=SubnetID1\\,SubnetID2

Output:

{
    "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896"
}

For more information, see Stacks in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide.

  • For API details, see CreateStack in AWS CLI Command Reference.

PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will not be rolled back.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" }) `
             -DisableRollback $true

Example 2: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back.

$p1 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p1.ParameterKey = "PK1"
$p1.ParameterValue = "PV1"

$p2 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p2.ParameterKey = "PK2"
$p2.ParameterValue = "PV2"

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( $p1, $p2 ) `
             -OnFailure "ROLLBACK"

Example 3: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false).

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/amzn-s3-demo-bucket/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }

Example 4: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false). The specified notification AENs will receive published stack-related events.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/amzn-s3-demo-bucket/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" } `
             -NotificationARN @( "arn1", "arn2" )

  • For API details, see CreateStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V4).

Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will not be rolled back.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }, @{ ParameterKey="PK2"; ParameterValue="PV2" }) `
             -DisableRollback $true

Example 2: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is parsed from the supplied content with customization parameters ('PK1' and 'PK2' represent the names of parameters declared in the template content, 'PV1' and 'PV2' represent the values for those parameters. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back.

$p1 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p1.ParameterKey = "PK1"
$p1.ParameterValue = "PV1"

$p2 = New-Object -Type Amazon.CloudFormation.Model.Parameter
$p2.ParameterKey = "PK2"
$p2.ParameterValue = "PV2"

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateBody "{TEMPLATE CONTENT HERE}" `
             -Parameter @( $p1, $p2 ) `
             -OnFailure "ROLLBACK"

Example 3: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false).

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/amzn-s3-demo-bucket/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" }

Example 4: Creates a new stack with the specified name. The template is obtained from the Amazon S3 URL with customization parameters ('PK1' represents the name of a parameter declared in the template content, 'PV1' represents the value for the parameter. The customization parameters can also be specified using 'Key' and 'Value' instead of 'ParameterKey' and 'ParameterValue'. If creation of the stack fails, it will be rolled back (same as specifying -DisableRollback $false). The specified notification AENs will receive published stack-related events.

New-CFNStack -StackName "myStack" `
             -TemplateURL https://s3.amazonaws.com/amzn-s3-demo-bucket/templatefile.template `
             -Parameter @{ ParameterKey="PK1"; ParameterValue="PV1" } `
             -NotificationARN @( "arn1", "arn2" )

  • For API details, see CreateStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V5).

Note

You can use the AWS CLI --template-url option to specify a template file location in Amazon S3 or AWS Systems Manager.

For Amazon S3, the URL must begin with https://. S3 static website URLs are not supported.

--template-url https://s3.region-code.amazonaws.com/bucket-name/template-name

For AWS Systems Manager, use the following format:

--template-url "ssm-doc://arn:aws:ssm:region-code:account-id:document/document-name"
Express mode

To create a stack using express mode, add the --deployment-config parameter. Express mode completes the stack operation as soon as CloudFormation applies the resource configuration. For more information, see Express mode.

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name myteststack \
    --template-body file://sampletemplate.json \
    --deployment-config '{"mode": "EXPRESS"}'

Create a stack that includes transforms

Use the deploy command to create a stack that includes transforms. When you create a stack from a template that includes transforms, you must use a change set. The deploy command combines two steps (creating a change set and executing it) into a single command.

AWS CLI

The following deploy command creates a stack with the specified name, template, and input parameters.

aws cloudformation deploy --stack-name myteststack \
  --template /path_to_template/my-template.json \
  --parameter-overrides Key1=Value1 Key2=Value2

Delete a stack

Use the delete-stack command to delete a stack. For more information, see Delete a stack.

CLI
AWS CLI

To delete a stack

The following delete-stack example deletes the specified stack.

aws cloudformation delete-stack \
    --stack-name my-stack

This command produces no output.

  • For API details, see DeleteStack in AWS CLI Command Reference.

PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Deletes the specified stack.

Remove-CFNStack -StackName "myStack"

  • For API details, see DeleteStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V4).

Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Deletes the specified stack.

Remove-CFNStack -StackName "myStack"

  • For API details, see DeleteStack in AWS Tools for PowerShell Cmdlet Reference (V5).

If the deletion fails and returns a DELETE_FAILED state, you can choose to delete the stack by force using the --deletion-mode option. These are the following values that can be used with deletion-mode:

  • STANDARD: Deletes the stack normally. This is the default deletion mode.

  • FORCE_DELETE_STACK: Deletes the stack and skips all resources that are failing to delete.

AWS CLI

The following delete-stack command force deletes the myteststack stack using the FORCE_DELETE_STACK value with the deletion-mode parameter:

aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name myteststack \
    --deletion-mode FORCE_DELETE_STACK

This command produces no output.

After using FORCE_DELETE_STACK, you can use the list-stack-resources command to list the resources that were skipped during the stack deletion process. The retained resources will show a DELETE_SKIPPED status. For more information, see List stack resources.

Express mode

To delete a stack using express mode, add the --deployment-config parameter:

aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name myteststack \
    --deployment-config '{"mode": "EXPRESS"}'

For more information, see Express mode.

Describe stack events

Use the describe-stack-events command to describe stack events. For more information, see Monitor stack progress.

CLI
AWS CLI

To describe stack events

The following describe-stack-events example displays the 2 most recent events for the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-events \
    --stack-name my-stack \
    --max-items 2

{
    "StackEvents": [
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "EventId": "4e1516d0-e4d6-xmpl-b94f-0a51958a168c",
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "LogicalResourceId": "my-stack",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::CloudFormation::Stack",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:29.556Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE"
        },
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "EventId": "4dd3c810-e4d6-xmpl-bade-0aaf8b31ab7a",
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "LogicalResourceId": "my-stack",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::CloudFormation::Stack",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:29.127Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE_CLEANUP_IN_PROGRESS"
        }
    ],
    "NextToken": "eyJOZXh0VG9XMPLiOiBudWxsLCAiYm90b190cnVuY2F0ZV9hbW91bnQiOiAyfQ=="
}
PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Returns all stack related events for the specified stack.

Get-CFNStackEvent -StackName "myStack"
Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Returns all stack related events for the specified stack.

Get-CFNStackEvent -StackName "myStack"

Describe a stack resource

CLI
AWS CLI

To get information about a stack resource

The following describe-stack-resource example displays details for the resource named MyFunction in the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-resource \
    --stack-name MyStack \
    --logical-resource-id MyFunction

Output:

{
    "StackResourceDetail": {
        "StackName": "MyStack",
        "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-2:123456789012:stack/MyStack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
        "LogicalResourceId": "MyFunction",
        "PhysicalResourceId": "my-function-SEZV4XMPL4S5",
        "ResourceType": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
        "LastUpdatedTimestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:27.989Z",
        "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE",
        "Metadata": "{}",
        "DriftInformation": {
            "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
        }
    }
}
PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Returns the description of a resource identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "MyDBInstance".

Get-CFNStackResource -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "MyDBInstance"
Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Returns the description of a resource identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "MyDBInstance".

Get-CFNStackResource -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "MyDBInstance"

Describe stack resources

CLI
AWS CLI

To get information about a stack resource

The following describe-stack-resources example displays details for the resources in the specified stack.

aws cloudformation describe-stack-resources \
    --stack-name my-stack

Output:

{
    "StackResources": [
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "bucket",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-stack-bucket-1vc62xmplgguf",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::S3::Bucket",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:11.345Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "function",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-function-SEZV4XMPL4S5",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::Lambda::Function",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T05:34:27.989Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "UPDATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        },
        {
            "StackName": "my-stack",
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:123456789012:stack/my-stack/d0a825a0-e4cd-xmpl-b9fb-061c69e99204",
            "LogicalResourceId": "functionRole",
            "PhysicalResourceId": "my-functionRole-HIZXMPLEOM9E",
            "ResourceType": "AWS::IAM::Role",
            "Timestamp": "2019-10-02T04:34:06.350Z",
            "ResourceStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DriftInformation": {
                "StackResourceDriftStatus": "IN_SYNC"
            }
        }
    ]
}
PowerShell
Tools for PowerShell V4

Example 1: Returns the AWS resource descriptions for up to 100 resources associated with the specified stack. To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack"

Example 2: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "Ec2Instance".

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"

Example 3: Returns the description of up to 100 resources associated with the stack containing an Amazon EC2 instance identified by instance ID "i-123456". To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456"

Example 4: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified by the logical ID "Ec2Instance" in the template for a stack. The stack is identified using the physical resource ID of a resource it contains, in this case also an Amazon EC2 instance with instance ID "i-123456". A different physical resource could also be used to identify the stack depending on the template content, for example an Amazon S3 bucket.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"
Tools for PowerShell V5

Example 1: Returns the AWS resource descriptions for up to 100 resources associated with the specified stack. To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack"

Example 2: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified in the template associated with the specified stack by the logical ID "Ec2Instance".

Get-CFNStackResourceList -StackName "myStack" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"

Example 3: Returns the description of up to 100 resources associated with the stack containing an Amazon EC2 instance identified by instance ID "i-123456". To obtain details of all resources associated with a stack use the Get-CFNStackResourceSummary, which also supports manual paging of the results.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456"

Example 4: Returns the description of the Amazon EC2 instance identified by the logical ID "Ec2Instance" in the template for a stack. The stack is identified using the physical resource ID of a resource it contains, in this case also an Amazon EC2 instance with instance ID "i-123456". A different physical resource could also be used to identify the stack depending on the template content, for example an Amazon S3 bucket.

Get-CFNStackResourceList -PhysicalResourceId "i-123456" -LogicalResourceId "Ec2Instance"

Describe stacks

CLI
AWS CLI

To describe AWS CloudFormation stacks

The following describe-stacks command shows summary information for the myteststack stack:

aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name myteststack

Output:

{
    "Stacks":  [
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:123456789012:stack/myteststack/466df9e0-0dff-08e3-8e2f-5088487c4896",
            "Description": "AWS CloudFormation Sample Template S3_Bucket: Sample template showing how to create a publicly accessible S3 bucket. **WARNING** This template creates an S3 bucket. You will be billed for the AWS resources used if you create a stack from this template.",
            "Tags": [],
            "Outputs": [
                {
                    "Description": "Name of S3 bucket to hold website content",
                    "OutputKey": "BucketName",
                    "OutputValue": "myteststack-s3bucket-jssofi1zie2w"
                }
            ],
            "StackStatusReason": null,
            "CreationTime": "2013-08-23T01:02:15.422Z",
            "Capabilities": [],
            "StackName": "myteststack",
            "StackStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DisableRollback": false
        }
    ]
}

For more information, see Stacks in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide.

Go
SDK for Go V2
Note

There's more on GitHub. Find the complete example and learn how to set up and run in the