| name | aws-cloudformation-ecs |
| description | Provides AWS CloudFormation patterns for ECS clusters, task definitions, services, container definitions, auto scaling, blue/green deployments, CodeDeploy integration, ALB integration, service discovery, monitoring, logging, template structure, parameters, outputs, and cross-stack references. Use when creating ECS clusters with CloudFormation, configuring Fargate and EC2 launch types, implementing blue/green deployments, managing auto scaling, integrating with ALB and NLB, and implementing ECS best practices. |
| metadata | {"author":"giuseppe-trisciuoglio"} |
AWS CloudFormation ECS
Overview
Provides CloudFormation patterns for ECS clusters, task definitions, services, container definitions, auto scaling, blue/green deployments, ALB integration, monitoring, and cross-stack references.
When to Use
- Creating or updating ECS clusters with CloudFormation
- Configuring Fargate/EC2 launch types and capacity providers
- Deploying services with ALB/NLB integration or blue/green deployments
- Implementing auto scaling for ECS services
- Setting up monitoring with Container Insights
Instructions
Follow these steps to create ECS infrastructure with CloudFormation:
1. Define ECS Cluster Parameters
Specify launch type, networking, and capacity settings:
Parameters:
LaunchType:
Type: String
Default: FARGATE
AllowedValues:
- EC2
- FARGATE
Description: ECS launch type
ContainerPort:
Type: Number
Default: 80
Description: Container port
TaskCPU:
Type: String
Default: 256
AllowedValues:
- 256
- 512
- 1024
- 2048
- 4096
Description: Task CPU units
TaskMemory:
Type: String
Default: 512
AllowedValues:
- 512
- 1024
- 2048
- 3072
- 4096
- 5120
- 6144
- 7168
- 8192
- 9216
- 10240
Description: Task memory in MB
2. Create ECS Cluster
Define the cluster infrastructure:
Resources:
ECSCluster:
Type: AWS::ECS::Cluster
Properties:
ClusterName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-cluster"
ClusterSettings:
- Name: containerInsights
Value: enabled
CapacityProviders:
- FARGATE
- FARGATE_SPOT
DefaultCapacityProviderStrategy:
- CapacityProvider: FARGATE
Weight: 1
- CapacityProvider: FARGATE_SPOT
Weight: 0
3. Create Task Definition
Define container configurations:
Resources:
TaskDefinition:
Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
Properties:
Family: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-task"
NetworkMode: awsvpc
RequiresCompatibilities:
- FARGATE
Cpu: !Ref TaskCPU
Memory: !Ref TaskMemory
ExecutionRoleArn: !Ref ExecutionRole
TaskRoleArn: !Ref TaskRole
ContainerDefinitions:
- Name: application
Image: !Ref ImageUrl
PortMappings:
- ContainerPort: !Ref ContainerPort
Protocol: tcp
Environment:
- Name: LOG_LEVEL
Value: INFO
LogConfiguration:
LogDriver: awslogs
Options:
awslogs-group: !Ref LogGroup
awslogs-region:
Validate task definition syntax before proceeding:
aws cloudformation validate-template --template-body file://template.yaml
4. Configure Execution Roles
Set up IAM roles for task execution:
Resources:
ExecutionRole:
Type: AWS::IAM::Role
Properties:
AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
Version: "2012-10-17"
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Principal:
Service: ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com
Action: sts:AssumeRole
ManagedPolicyArns:
- arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AmazonECSTaskExecutionRolePolicy
TaskRole:
Type: AWS::IAM::Role
Properties:
AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
Version: "2012-10-17"
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Principal:
Service: ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com
Action: sts:AssumeRole
Policies:
- PolicyName: S3Access
PolicyDocument:
Version: "2012-10-17"
Statement:
- Effect: Allow
Action:
- s3:GetObject
5. Create ECS Service
Define the service configuration:
Resources:
ECSService:
Type: AWS::ECS::Service
Properties:
ServiceName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-service"
Cluster: !Ref ECSCluster
TaskDefinition: !Ref TaskDefinition
DesiredCount: 2
LaunchType: FARGATE
NetworkConfiguration:
AwsvpcConfiguration:
Subnets:
- !Ref PrivateSubnet1
- !Ref PrivateSubnet2
SecurityGroups:
- !Ref SecurityGroup
AssignPublicIp: DISABLED
LoadBalancers:
- TargetGroupArn: !Ref TargetGroup
ContainerName: application
ContainerPort: !Ref ContainerPort
6. Configure Load Balancer
Set up ALB for traffic distribution:
Resources:
LoadBalancer:
Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::LoadBalancer
Properties:
Name: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-alb"
Scheme: internet-facing
Type: application
Subnets:
- !Ref PublicSubnet1
- !Ref PublicSubnet2
SecurityGroups:
- !Ref ALBSecurityGroup
TargetGroup:
Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup
Properties:
Port: 80
Protocol: HTTP
VpcId: !Ref VPC
TargetType: ip
Listener:
Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener
Properties:
DefaultActions:
- TargetGroupArn: !Ref TargetGroup
Type: forward
LoadBalancerArn: !Ref LoadBalancer
Port: 80
Protocol:
7. Implement Auto Scaling
Configure Application Auto Scaling:
Resources:
ScalableTarget:
Type: AWS::ApplicationAutoScaling::ScalableTarget
Properties:
MaxCapacity: 10
MinCapacity: 1
ResourceId: !Sub "service/${ECSCluster}/${ECSService}"
ScalableDimension: ecs:service:DesiredCount
ServiceNamespace: ecs
ScalingPolicy:
Type: AWS::ApplicationAutoScaling::ScalingPolicy
Properties:
PolicyName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-scaling"
PolicyType: TargetTrackingScaling
ScalingTargetId: !Ref ScalableTarget
TargetTrackingScalingPolicyConfiguration:
TargetValue: 70.0
PredefinedMetricSpecification:
PredefinedMetricType: ECSServiceAverageCPUUtilization
8. Configure Monitoring
Enable CloudWatch Container Insights:
Resources:
LogGroup:
Type: AWS::Logs::LogGroup
Properties:
LogGroupName: !Sub "/ecs/${AWS::StackName}"
RetentionInDays: 7
Before deployment: Create a change set to preview changes:
aws cloudformation create-change-set \
--stack-name my-ecs-stack \
--template-body file://template.yaml \
--change-set-type CREATE
aws cloudformation execute-change-set --change-set-name <arn>
Best Practices
Task Definition
- Use
Family naming for version tracking and immutable deployments
- Keep task definition under 1 KB (CloudFormation limit) by referencing external configs
- Configure
HealthCheck in container definitions for ECS health monitoring
- Set both
Cpu and Memory at task level for Fargate
Service Deployment
- Enable
DeploymentCircuitBreaker for automatic rollback on failures
- Use
HealthCheckGracePeriodSeconds matching application startup time
- Configure
MinimumHealthyPercent (100) and MaximumPercent (200) for zero-downtime updates
- Reference task definition by logical ID only—ECS automatically uses latest revision
Networking
- Always use
awsvpc network mode for Fargate
- Place tasks in private subnets with NAT gateway for outbound access
- Configure security groups to allow only required ports (not 0.0.0.0/0)
Scaling
- Use Fargate Spot with base capacity of 1 on-demand for cost optimization
- Set
MaxHealthyDuration on capacity provider strategy for Spot interruption handling
- Monitor
STEADY_STATE failures in CloudWatch for task startup issues
Constraints and Warnings
Resource Limits
- Task definition size limit: 1 KB when using CloudFormation (use ParameterStore/Secrets Manager for large configs)
- Maximum 10 containers per task definition in Fargate
- CPU must be specified for Fargate tasks (256-4096 units, in 1024 increments)
- Memory must be allocated (512-30720 MB depending on CPU)
Operational Limits
- ENI limits apply per subnet—plan for at least 1 ENI per task in each AZ
- Fargate Spot tasks receive 2-minute interruption notice—implement graceful shutdown signals (SIGTERM)
- Service updates require new task definition revision—cannot modify existing versions
DesiredCount updates during deployment may conflict with auto scaling policies
CloudFormation-Specific
- Cross-stack references required for VPC IDs, Subnet IDs, and Security Group IDs passed between stacks
- Use
!GetAtt for referencing stack outputs in same template
- Ensure IAM role ARNs use
Fn::Sub with stack name for portability
Examples
Minimal Fargate Service
AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09"
Description: Minimal ECS Fargate service
Resources:
Cluster:
Type: AWS::ECS::Cluster
Properties:
ClusterName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-cluster"
TaskDefinition:
Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
Properties:
Family: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-task"
NetworkMode: awsvpc
RequiresCompatibilities: [FARGATE]
Cpu: 256
Memory: 512
ContainerDefinitions:
- Name: app
Image: nginx:latest
PortMappings:
- ContainerPort: 80
Service:
Type: AWS::ECS::Service
Properties:
Cluster: !Ref Cluster
ServiceName: !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-svc"
TaskDefinition: !Ref TaskDefinition
ECS with ALB Integration
Resources:
Service:
Type: AWS::ECS::Service
Properties:
Cluster: !Ref ECSCluster
TaskDefinition: !Ref TaskDefinition
DesiredCount: 2
LaunchType: FARGATE
HealthCheckGracePeriodSeconds: 30
NetworkConfiguration:
AwsvpcConfiguration:
Subnets: [!Ref PrivateSubnet1, !Ref PrivateSubnet2]
SecurityGroups: [!Ref TaskSecurityGroup]
LoadBalancers:
- TargetGroupArn: !Ref TargetGroup
ContainerName: app
ContainerPort: 8080
TargetGroup:
Type: AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup
Properties:
Port: 80
Protocol: HTTP
VpcId: !Ref VPC
TargetType: ip
HealthCheckPath: /health
References
For detailed implementation guidance, see:
- constraints.md - Resource limits (task definition size, container limits, memory limits, CPU limits), operational constraints (service updates, ENI limits, task start time, scaling delays), security constraints (IAM roles, network mode, security groups, secrets rotation), cost considerations (Fargate pricing, data transfer, ECR storage, monitoring), deployment constraints (blue/green requirements, CodeDeploy integration, rollbacks, task drift), and availability constraints (Fargate Spot, multi-AZ, health checks, service discovery)
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