aws-cloudformation-auto-scaling

AWS CloudFormation Auto Scaling

Overview

Create production-ready Auto Scaling infrastructure using AWS CloudFormation templates. This skill covers Auto Scaling Groups for EC2, ECS, and Lambda, launch configurations, launch templates, scaling policies, lifecycle hooks, and best practices for high availability and cost optimization.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Creating Auto Scaling Groups for EC2 instances
• Configuring Launch Configurations or Launch Templates
• Implementing scaling policies (step, target tracking, simple)
• Adding lifecycle hooks for lifecycle management
• Creating scaling for ECS services
• Implementing Lambda provisioned concurrency scaling
• Organizing templates with Parameters, Outputs, Mappings, Conditions
• Implementing cross-stack references with export/import
• Using mixed instances policies for diversity

Instructions

Follow these steps to create Auto Scaling infrastructure with CloudFormation:

1. Define Parameters

Specify capacity and instance settings with AWS-specific parameter types:

Parameters:
  MinSize:
    Type: Number
    Default: 2
    Description: Minimum number of instances

  MaxSize:
    Type: Number
    Default: 10
    Description: Maximum number of instances

  DesiredCapacity:
    Type: Number
    Default: 2
    Description: Desired number of instances

  InstanceType:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Instance::Type
    Default: t3.micro
    Description: EC2 instance type

  AmiId:
    Type: AWS::EC2::Image::Id
    Description: AMI ID for instances

  SubnetIds:
    Type: List<AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id>
    Description: Subnets for Auto Scaling group

2. Create Launch Configuration

Define instance launch settings:

Resources:
  MyLaunchConfiguration:
    Type: AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration
    Properties:
      LaunchConfigurationName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-lc"
      ImageId: !Ref AmiId
      InstanceType: !Ref InstanceType
      KeyName: !Ref KeyName
      SecurityGroups:
        - !Ref InstanceSecurityGroup
      InstanceMonitoring: Enabled
      UserData:
        Fn::Base64: |
          #!/bin/bash
          yum update -y
          yum install -y httpd
          systemctl start httpd