AWS CloudFormation Designer

5 minutes 5 Questions

AWS CloudFormation Designer (Designer) is a graphical tool for creating, viewing, and modifying AWS CloudFormation templates. With Designer, you can diagram your template resources using a drag-and-drop interface. As you create, update, and arrange your resources, Designer automatically generates t…

AWS CloudFormation Designer Exam Guide

AWS CloudFormation Designer, frequently referred to as the Designer, is a graphic tool for creating, viewing, and modifying CloudFormation templates. This open-source visual tool can be accessed on the AWS Management Console, and it's incorporated into the AWS CloudFormation service.

Why it is important:
With AWS CloudFormation Designer, you can diagrammatically view resources and the relationships between them. This ensures precise, error-free templates which streamlines resource management significantly. The Designer can play an instrumental role in DevOps culture, fostering more efficient collaboration between development and operations teams.

How it works:
The Designer allows you to add, edit, and remove template resources using a drag-features interface. It automatically generates a JSON or YAML file representing your design. Any modifications made in the code are instantly replicated in the graphical interface and vice versa.

Exam Tips:
1. Understand the functionality: It's crucial to understand the comprehensive functionalities of the AWS CloudFormation Designer, including creating and modifying templates, error detection, and automatic updates.
2. Recognize template structure: Familiarize yourself with how AWS CloudFormation Designer structures its JSON and YAML templates. This can assist you in troubleshooting and designing your templates.
3. Know the limits: Be aware of the different limitations, like the maximum number of resources that a single template can manage, and the maximum size of a template file that AWS CloudFormation Designer can handle.
Answering questions on AWS CloudFormation Designer in an exam:
When answering questions, keep in mind the core purpose of the Designer - it allows visual templating for AWS resources that can assist with accurate and efficient deployments. Highlight the key features such as the graphical user interface, automatic template generation, and error-checking capabilities.

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Question 1

You are using AWS CloudFormation Designer to update an existing stack. You want to create the modified template but only update the stack after a thorough review. What is the best approach?

Edit the original template file and hope to fix any issues if they arise. You cannot create a modified template without updating the stack. Apply the changes immediately and perform the review in the stack. Click the Template tab, copy the YAML or JSON code, and save it to a new template file for later review and update.

Correct Answer: Click the Template tab, copy the YAML or JSON code, and save it to a new template file for later review and update.

By clicking the Template tab in CloudFormation Designer, you can access the generated YAML or JSON code for the current design. You can copy this code and save it to a new file for review before applying the update to the actual stack.

Question 2

You are designing an AWS CloudFormation stack using CloudFormation Designer. You want to add new AWS resources without having to edit an existing JSON or YAML template. What should you do?

You must manually edit the JSON or YAML templates only. Create a new stack and combine the resources later. Drag and drop the desired AWS resources from the left sidebar in CloudFormation Designer. Use an external visual editor such as Visio to add new resources.

Correct Answer: Drag and drop the desired AWS resources from the left sidebar in CloudFormation Designer.

AWS CloudFormation Designer allows you to visually design your stack with a simple drag and drop interface, where you can add AWS resources from the left sidebar to the design canvas.

Question 3

In AWS CloudFormation Designer, you want to verify that your template is syntactically correct and that intrinsic references between resources (for example, Ref and Fn::GetAtt) resolve properly before deploying. What should you do?

Manually edit the YAML or JSON file and run it through a third-party validator. Click the Validate Template button on the AWS CloudFormation Designer toolbar. Deploy the stack and see if it creates the resources correctly. You can't validate a template within AWS CloudFormation Designer.

Correct Answer: Click the Validate Template button on the AWS CloudFormation Designer toolbar.

In CloudFormation Designer, the Validate Template action invokes the CloudFormation ValidateTemplate API to check that the template is well-formed, that intrinsic functions and references (such as Ref and Fn::GetAtt) point to defined resources/parameters, and that basic schema rules are met. This helps verify property references and structural correctness before deployment. It does not create resources or guarantee runtime success, but it is the correct way to validate the template within Designer. Deploying to test validation is unnecessary risk, saying you can't validate is incorrect, and third-party YAML/JSON validators do not understand CloudFormation semantics.

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