Creating stacks in AWS - Visual Walkthrough

Process Flow - Creating stacks

Write template file

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Use AWS CLI or Console

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Create stack command

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AWS CloudFormation validates template

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If valid

→Stack creation starts

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Resources are provisioned

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Stack status updates

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Stack creation complete

You write a template, then use AWS tools to create a stack. AWS checks the template, provisions resources, and updates the stack status until done.

Execution Sample

AWS

aws cloudformation create-stack --stack-name MyStack --template-body file://template.yaml

This command creates a stack named MyStack using the template.yaml file.

Process Table

Step	Action	Input	AWS Response	Stack Status
1	Run create-stack command	StackName=MyStack, Template=template.yaml	Template validated	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS
2	Provision resources	Resources from template	Resources being created	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS
3	Wait for resources	N/A	Resources created successfully	CREATE_COMPLETE

💡 Stack creation completes successfully when all resources are provisioned.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	Final
StackName	None	MyStack	MyStack	MyStack
Template	None	template.yaml loaded	template.yaml loaded	template.yaml loaded
StackStatus	None	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	CREATE_COMPLETE

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the stack status show CREATE_IN_PROGRESS after running the create command?

Because AWS starts provisioning resources after validating the template, the stack status updates to CREATE_IN_PROGRESS as shown in execution_table step 1 and 2.

What happens if the template file has errors?

AWS CloudFormation will reject the create-stack command during validation, so the stack will not be created and status will not move to CREATE_IN_PROGRESS.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the stack status immediately after the create-stack command is run?

A CREATE_COMPLETE

B CREATE_IN_PROGRESS

C DELETE_IN_PROGRESS

D ROLLBACK_IN_PROGRESS

💡 Hint

Check the Stack Status column in execution_table row 1.

At which step are the resources actually provisioned?

A Step 1

B Step 3

C Step 2

D After Step 3

💡 Hint

Look at the Action and AWS Response columns in execution_table.

If the template file is missing, what will happen to the stack status?

A It will stay None and no stack is created

B It will become CREATE_COMPLETE

C It will show DELETE_IN_PROGRESS

D It will show ROLLBACK_COMPLETE

💡 Hint

Refer to key_moments about template validation failure.

Concept Snapshot

Creating stacks in AWS CloudFormation:
- Write a template file describing resources
- Run 'aws cloudformation create-stack' with stack name and template
- AWS validates the template
- If valid, stack status becomes CREATE_IN_PROGRESS
- AWS provisions resources
- When done, stack status becomes CREATE_COMPLETE

Full Transcript

To create a stack in AWS, you first write a template file that describes the resources you want. Then you run the AWS CLI command to create the stack, providing the stack name and template file. AWS CloudFormation checks the template for errors. If the template is valid, AWS starts creating the resources and the stack status changes to CREATE_IN_PROGRESS. Once all resources are created successfully, the stack status updates to CREATE_COMPLETE. If the template has errors, the stack creation does not start and no stack is created.