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Condition functions
You can use intrinsic functions, such as Fn::If or Fn::Equals, to
create and configure stack resources based on conditional logic. These conditions evaluate
during stack creation or updates. After you define all your conditions, you can associate them
with resources or resource properties in the Resources and Outputs
sections of a template.
For advanced scenarios, you can combine conditions using Fn::And or
Fn::Or functions, or use Fn::Not to negate a condition's value. You
can also nest conditions to create more complex conditional logic.
If you're new to using conditions in your templates, we recommend you first review the CloudFormation template Conditions syntax topic in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide.
Note
You must define all conditions in the Conditions section of a template,
except for Fn::If conditions. You can use the Fn::If condition in
the Metadata attribute, UpdatePolicy attribute, and property values
in the Resources and Outputs sections.
Fn::And
Returns true if all the specified conditions evaluate to true, or returns
false if any one of the conditions evaluates to false. Fn::And
acts as an AND operator. The minimum number of conditions that you can include is 2, and the
maximum is 10.
Declaration
JSON
"Fn::And": [{condition}, {...}]
YAML
Syntax for the full function name:
Fn::And: [condition]
Syntax for the short form:
!And [condition]
Parameters
- condition
-
A condition that evaluates to
trueorfalse.
Fn::And usage examples
The following MyAndCondition evaluates to true if the referenced security
group name is equal to sg-mysggroup and if SomeOtherCondition
evaluates to true:
JSON
"MyAndCondition": { "Fn::And": [ {"Fn::Equals": ["sg-mysggroup", {"Ref": "ASecurityGroup"}]}, {"Condition": "SomeOtherCondition"} ] }
YAML
MyAndCondition: !And - !Equals ["sg-mysggroup", !Ref ASecurityGroup] - !Condition SomeOtherCondition
Fn::Equals
Compares if two values are equal. Returns true if the two values are equal or
false if they aren't.
Declaration
JSON
"Fn::Equals" : ["value_1", "value_2"]
YAML
Syntax for the full function name:
Fn::Equals: [value_1,value_2]
Syntax for the short form:
!Equals [value_1,value_2]
Parameters
- value
-
A string value that you want to compare.
Fn::Equals usage examples
The following IsProduction condition evaluates to true if the value for the
EnvironmentType parameter is equal to prod:
JSON
"IsProduction" : { "Fn::Equals": [ {"Ref": "EnvironmentType"}, "prod" ] }
YAML
IsProduction: !Equals [!Ref EnvironmentType, prod]
Fn::If
Returns one value if the specified condition evaluates to true and another
value if the specified condition evaluates to false. Currently, CloudFormation
supports the Fn::If intrinsic function in the Metadata attribute,
UpdatePolicy attribute, and property values in the Resources
section and Outputs sections of a template. You can use the
AWS::NoValue pseudo parameter as a return value to remove the corresponding
property.
Declaration
JSON
"Fn::If": [condition_name,value_if_true,value_if_false]
YAML
Syntax for the full function name:
Fn::If: [condition_name,value_if_true,value_if_false]
Syntax for the short form:
!If [condition_name,value_if_true,value_if_false]
Parameters
- condition_name
-
A reference to a condition in the Conditions section. Use the condition's name to reference it.
- value_if_true
-
A value to be returned if the specified condition evaluates to true.
- value_if_false
-
A value to be returned if the specified condition evaluates to
false.
Fn::If usage examples
Topics
Conditionally choosing a resource
The following example uses an Fn::If function in an Amazon EC2 resource
definition to determine which security group resource to associate with the instance. If
the CreateNewSecurityGroup condition evaluates to true, CloudFormation uses the
referenced value of NewSecurityGroup (a security group created elsewhere in
the template) to specify the SecurityGroupIds property. If
CreateNewSecurityGroup is false, CloudFormation uses the referenced value of
ExistingSecurityGroupId (a parameter that references an existing security
group).
JSON
"Resources": { "EC2Instance": { "Type": "AWS::EC2::Instance", "Properties": { "ImageId": "ami-0abcdef1234567890", "InstanceType": "t3.micro", "SecurityGroupIds": { "Fn::If": [ "CreateNewSecurityGroup", [{"Ref": "NewSecurityGroup"}], [{"Ref": "ExistingSecurityGroupId"}] ] }] } } }
YAML
Resources: EC2Instance: Type: AWS::EC2::Instance Properties: ImageId: ami-0abcdef1234567890 InstanceType: t3.micro SecurityGroupIds: !If - CreateNewSecurityGroup - [!Ref NewSecurityGroup] - [!Ref ExistingSecurityGroupId]
Conditional outputs
In the Output section of a template, you can use the Fn::If
function to conditionally output information. In the following snippet, if the
CreateNewSecurityGroup condition evaluates to true, CloudFormation outputs the
security group ID of the NewSecurityGroup resource. If the condition is
false, CloudFormation outputs the security group ID of the ExistingSecurityGroup
resource.
JSON
"Outputs" : { "SecurityGroupId" : { "Description" : "Group ID of the security group used.", "Value" : { "Fn::If" : [ "CreateNewSecurityGroup", {"Ref" : "NewSecurityGroup"}, {"Ref" : "ExistingSecurityGroupId"} ] } } }
YAML
Outputs: SecurityGroupId: Description: Group ID of the security group used. Value: !If [CreateNewSecurityGroup, !Ref NewSecurityGroup, !Ref ExistingSecurityGroupId]
Conditional array values
The following example uses Fn::If to conditionally provide different
array values based on a condition. If the MoreThan2AZs condition evaluates to
true, it uses three public subnets. Otherwise, it uses only two public subnets.
JSON
"Subnets": { "Fn::If": [ "MoreThan2AZs", [ {"Fn::ImportValue": "PublicSubnet01"}, {"Fn::ImportValue": "PublicSubnet02"}, {"Fn::ImportValue": "PublicSubnet03"} ], [ {"Fn::ImportValue": "PublicSubnet01"}, {"Fn::ImportValue": "PublicSubnet02"} ] ] }
YAML
Subnets: Fn::If: - MoreThan2AZs - - Fn::ImportValue: PublicSubnet01 - Fn::ImportValue: PublicSubnet02 - Fn::ImportValue: PublicSubnet03 - - Fn::ImportValue: PublicSubnet01 - Fn::ImportValue: PublicSubnet02
Conditional properties and property values
The following example uses the AWS::NoValue pseudo parameter in an
Fn::If function. The condition uses a snapshot for an Amazon RDS DB instance
only if a snapshot ID is provided. If the UseDBSnapshot condition evaluates
to true, CloudFormation uses the DBSnapshotName parameter value for the
DBSnapshotIdentifier property. If the condition evaluates to false,
CloudFormation removes the DBSnapshotIdentifier property.
It also uses an Fn::If function in the AllocatedStorage
property of the Amazon RDS DB instance. If the IsProduction condition evaluates to
true, the storage size is set to 100. Otherwise, it's set to
20.
JSON
"MyDatabase" : { "Type" : "AWS::RDS::DBInstance", "Properties": { "DBInstanceClass": "db.t3.micro", "AllocatedStorage": { "Fn::If": [ "IsProduction", 100, 20 ] }, "Engine" : "MySQL", "EngineVersion" : "5.5", "MasterUsername" : { "Ref" : "DBUser" }, "MasterUserPassword" : { "Ref" : "DBPassword" }, "DBParameterGroupName" : { "Ref" : "MyRDSParamGroup" }, "DBSnapshotIdentifier" : { "Fn::If" : [ "UseDBSnapshot", {"Ref" : "DBSnapshotName"}, {"Ref" : "AWS::NoValue"} ] } } }
YAML
MyDatabase: Type: AWS::RDS::DBInstance Properties: DBInstanceClass: db.t3.micro AllocatedStorage: !If [IsProduction, 100, 20] Engine: MySQL EngineVersion: 5.5 MasterUsername: !Ref DBUser MasterUserPassword: !Ref DBPassword DBParameterGroupName: !Ref MyRDSParamGroup DBSnapshotIdentifier: !If [UseDBSnapshot, !Ref DBSnapshotName, !Ref "AWS::NoValue"]
Conditional update policies
The following snippet provides an Auto Scaling update policy only if the
RollingUpdates condition evaluates to true. If the condition evaluates to
false, CloudFormation removes the AutoScalingRollingUpdate update policy.
JSON
"UpdatePolicy": { "Fn::If": [ "RollingUpdates", { "AutoScalingRollingUpdate": { "MaxBatchSize": 2, "MinInstancesInService": 2, "PauseTime": "PT0M30S" } }, { "Ref": "AWS::NoValue" } ] }
YAML
UpdatePolicy: !If - RollingUpdates - AutoScalingRollingUpdate: MaxBatchSize: 2 MinInstancesInService: 2 PauseTime: PT0M30S - !Ref "AWS::NoValue"
Fn::Not
Returns true for a condition that evaluates to false or returns
false for a condition that evaluates to true. Fn::Not
acts as a NOT operator.
Declaration
JSON
"Fn::Not": [{condition}]
YAML
Syntax for the full function name:
Fn::Not: [condition]
Syntax for the short form:
!Not [condition]
Parameters
- condition
-
A condition such as
Fn::Equalsthat evaluates totrueorfalse.
Fn::Not usage examples
The following EnvCondition condition evaluates to true if the value for the
EnvironmentType parameter isn't equal to prod:
JSON
"MyNotCondition" : { "Fn::Not" : [{ "Fn::Equals" : [ {"Ref" : "EnvironmentType"}, "prod" ] }] }
YAML
MyNotCondition: !Not [!Equals [!Ref EnvironmentType, prod]]
Fn::Or
Returns true if any one of the specified conditions evaluate to true, or
returns false if all the conditions evaluates to false. Fn::Or acts
as an OR operator. The minimum number of conditions that you can include is 2, and the maximum
is 10.
Declaration
JSON
"Fn::Or": [{condition}, {...}]
YAML
Syntax for the full function name:
Fn::Or: [condition, ...]
Syntax for the short form:
!Or [condition, ...]
Parameters
- condition
-
A condition that evaluates to
trueorfalse.
Fn::Or usage examples
The following MyOrCondition evaluates to true if the referenced security
group name is equal to sg-mysggroup or if SomeOtherCondition
evaluates to true:
JSON
"MyOrCondition" : { "Fn::Or" : [ {"Fn::Equals" : ["sg-mysggroup", {"Ref" : "ASecurityGroup"}]}, {"Condition" : "SomeOtherCondition"} ] }
YAML
MyOrCondition: !Or [!Equals [sg-mysggroup, !Ref ASecurityGroup], Condition: SomeOtherCondition]
Supported functions
You can use the following functions in the Fn::If condition:
-
Fn::Base64 -
Fn::FindInMap -
Fn::GetAtt -
Fn::GetAZs -
Fn::If -
Fn::Join -
Fn::Select -
Fn::Sub -
Ref
You can use the following functions in all other condition functions, such as
Fn::Equals and Fn::Or:
-
Fn::FindInMap -
Ref -
Other condition functions
Sample template
Conditionally create resources for a production, development, or test stack
In some cases, you might want to create stacks that are similar but with minor tweaks. For example, you might have a template that you use for production applications. You want to create the same production stack so that you can use it for development or testing. However, for development and testing, you might not require all the extra capacity that's included in a production-level stack. Instead, you can use an environment type input parameter to conditionally create stack resources that are specific to production, development, or testing, as shown in the following sample:
You can specify prod, dev, or test for the
EnvType parameter. For each environment type, the template specifies a
different instance type. The instance types can range from a large, compute-optimized
instance type to a small general purpose instance type. In order to conditionally specify
the instance type, the template defines two conditions in the Conditions
section of the template: CreateProdResources, which evaluates to true if the
EnvType parameter value is equal to prod and
CreateDevResources, which evaluates to true if the parameter value is equal
to dev.
In the InstanceType property, the template nests two Fn::If
intrinsic functions to determine which instance type to use. If the
CreateProdResources condition is true, the instance type is
c5.xlarge. If the condition is false, the CreateDevResources
condition is evaluated. If the CreateDevResources condition is true, the
instance type is t3.medium or else the instance type is
t3.small.
In addition to the instance type, the production environment creates and attaches an
Amazon EC2 volume to the instance. The MountPoint and NewVolume
resources are associated with the CreateProdResources condition so that the
resources are created only if the condition evaluates to true.
Example JSON
{ "AWSTemplateFormatVersion" : "2010-09-09", "Parameters" : { "EnvType" : { "Description" : "Environment type.", "Default" : "test", "Type" : "String", "AllowedValues" : ["prod", "dev", "test"], "ConstraintDescription" : "must specify prod, dev, or test." } }, "Conditions" : { "CreateProdResources" : {"Fn::Equals" : [{"Ref" : "EnvType"}, "prod"]}, "CreateDevResources" : {"Fn::Equals" : [{"Ref" : "EnvType"}, "dev"]} }, "Resources" : { "EC2Instance" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Instance", "Properties" : { "ImageId" : "ami-1234567890abcdef0", "InstanceType" : { "Fn::If" : [ "CreateProdResources", "c5.xlarge", {"Fn::If" : [ "CreateDevResources", "t3.medium", "t3.small" ]} ]} } }, "MountPoint" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::VolumeAttachment", "Condition" : "CreateProdResources", "Properties" : { "InstanceId" : { "Ref" : "EC2Instance" }, "VolumeId" : { "Ref" : "NewVolume" }, "Device" : "/dev/sdh" } }, "NewVolume" : { "Type" : "AWS::EC2::Volume", "Condition" : "CreateProdResources", "Properties" : { "Size" : "100", "AvailabilityZone" : { "Fn::GetAtt" : [ "EC2Instance", "AvailabilityZone" ]} } } } }
Example YAML
AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09" Parameters: EnvType: Description: Environment type. Default: test Type: String AllowedValues: [prod, dev, test] ConstraintDescription: must specify prod, dev, or test. Conditions: CreateProdResources: !Equals [!Ref EnvType, prod] CreateDevResources: !Equals [!Ref EnvType, "dev"] Resources: EC2Instance: Type: AWS::EC2::Instance Properties: ImageId: ami-1234567890abcdef0 InstanceType: !If [CreateProdResources, c5.xlarge, !If [CreateDevResources, t3.medium, t3.small]] MountPoint: Type: AWS::EC2::VolumeAttachment Condition: CreateProdResources Properties: InstanceId: !Ref EC2Instance VolumeId: !Ref NewVolume Device: /dev/sdh NewVolume: Type: AWS::EC2::Volume Condition: CreateProdResources Properties: Size: 100 AvailabilityZone: !GetAtt EC2Instance.AvailabilityZone
Note
For more complext examples of using conditions to create resources, see the Condition attribute topic.