Exercise: Working with AWS CloudFormation and AWS CodePipeline

In this exercise, you will use a provided CloudFormation template to set up the backend services such as CodePipeline, CodeCommit, CodeDeploy, and CodeBuild. You will then upload new revisions to the pipeline.

Task 1: Setting up the backend with CloudFormation

In this task, you deploy a CloudFormation stack that will set up the backend architecture for this exercise.

1. Download the following CloudFormation template: final_pipeline.yaml
2. In the AWS Management Console, choose Services, and search for and choose CloudFormation.
3. In the CloudFormation console, choose Create stack and choose With new resources (standard).
4. In the Specify template page, select Upload a template file and select Choose file.
5. Upload the final_pipeline.yaml file by opening the directory where you downloaded it, choosing the final_pipeline.yaml file, and choosing Open.
6. Choose Next.
7. In the Specify stack details page, enter the following values.

• Stack name: final-pipeline
• Parameters > CodePipelineName: final-pipeline

8. Choose Next.

9. Skip Configure stack options by choosing Next.

10. At the bottom of the Review final-pipeline page, select I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources with custom names and choose Create stack.

Creating the stack can take some time to complete. Allow the stack to finish before you continue to the next task.

The template will create a CodeDeploy application (CodePipeBlogSampleApplication), and a deployment group (MyDemoDeploymentGroup). The stack also contains the following resources: * CodeCommit repository (NewsletterRepo) * CodePipeline pipeline (final-pipeline) * S3 bucket for the pipeline artifacts * EC2 instance (CodePipelineBlog) * CodeBuild project (NewsletterBuild)

Task 2: Viewing deployment events in CodePipeline

In this task, you view the deployment events in the pipeline.

1. In the console, use the Services search box to find and open AWS CodePipeline.
2. Under Pipelines, choose final-pipeline.
3. Under Deploy, choose Details.
4. In the details page, scroll to the bottom, and under Deployment lifecycle events, choose the Instance ID.
5. Open the instance details pane by selecting the check box for the CodePipelineBlog instance.
6. In the Instance summary page, copy the Public IPv4 DNS address and paste it in a browser.

You should see the blog, which was deployed automatically using the CloudFormation template.

1. Switch back to the CodeDeploy tab.
2. In the navigation pane, expand Pipeline and choose Pipelines.
3. Choose the final-pipeline link.
4. Under AcceptanceTest, choose Details.

Review the details and note all the acceptance tests (which are in blue). These tests were used to verify that the application was deployed and tested successfully.

In this task, you make a new revision to the blog website and commit those changes.

1. Use the Services search box to find and open CloudShell. Wait for the shell to initialize.
2. Inside the shell, run the following commands:
3. Configure Git and clone the repository:

git config --global user.email "YOUR_EMAIL"
git config --global user.name "YOUR_NAME"
git clone codecommit://NewsletterRepo

Change the color of the horizontal rule (<hr> HTML tag) and the blog version number:

cd NewsletterRepo/
sed -i 's/#0000FF/#800080/g' index.html
sed -i 's/Version 1/Version 2/g' index.html

View the changes:

git diff

Create a commit and push the changes:

git add *
git commit -m "version 2 new hr color"
git push

3. In the console, search for and open CodePipeline.

You should see a pipeline execution that was started by the new commit.

1. View the details by choosing the link for the most recent pipeline execution.

The pipeline execution might take a few minutes to finish.

1. After AcceptanceTest is complete, search for and open EC2.
2. If you are not in the Instances page, from the navigation pane, expand Instances and then choose Instances.
3. Open the instance details section by selecting the check box for the CodePipelineBlog instance.
4. Copy the Public IPv4 address and paste it in a new browser tab.

You should see the new changes that you made reflected in the blog.

Deleting all exercise resources

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the course project. In this task, you delete the AWS resources that you created for this project.

1. Open the Amazon S3 console.

• Empty and delete the bucket that you created for the previous exercise. It might have a name similar to: devops-exercise2-<your_initials>-<random_number>
• Empty and delete the bucket with the name: final-pipeline-codepipelineartifactstores3bucket-<random_string>.

2. Open the AWS CloudFormation console.

• Delete the final-pipeline stack.

3. Open the Amazon EC2 console.

• Terminate the TEST-environment instance that you created in the previous exercise.

4. Open the CodeDeploy console, and from the navigation pane, choose Applications.

• Delete TestApplication that you created in the previous exercise.