Template reference - AWS CloudFormation

Template reference

This document is a reference for the different components that you can use when creating CloudFormation templates.

Reference summary

The CloudFormation template reference is divided into the following sections:

  • Resource types and properties – These are the different types of AWS resources that you can create and manage using CloudFormation. Each resource type has its own set of properties that you can specify to customize its configuration. For more information, see the AWS resource and property types reference.

  • Resource attributes – Special settings that determine how a resource behaves and interacts with other resources. For example, the DeletionPolicy attribute lets you control what happens to a resource when deletion actions are performed through CloudFormation. For more information, see the Resource attribute reference.

  • Intrinsic functions – Built-in functions you can use to perform certain tasks like joining strings or referencing other resources. For more information, see the Intrinsic function reference.

  • Pseudo parameters – Pseudo parameters give you a convenient way to get your AWS account ID, Region, and other contextual data into your templates and configuration scripts without hard-coding them. For more information, see the Pseudo parameters reference.

  • Transforms – Macros that CloudFormation provides to simplify certain tasks or operations within your templates. For more information, see the Transform reference.

  • Helper scripts – Python helper scripts that you can use to install software and start services on an EC2 instance created as part of your stack. For more information, see the CloudFormation helper scripts reference.

  • Resource specifications – These files contain machine-readable specifications for each resource type that CloudFormation supports and a combined "resource spec" file containing resource specifications for all resource types. For more information, see CloudFormation resource specification.

  • Resource provider schemas – These files contain schemas provided by AWS and other providers for each resource type to define how their resources are represented and managed through CloudFormation. For more information, see CloudFormation resource provider schemas.

For more information and to see other template options, see Working with CloudFormation templates.