Use input parameters to be able to re-use CloudFormation templates.

1. Create a CloudFormation template using build-in functions Fn::Base64 and Fn::Sub.
2. Create a CloudFormation stack based on your template.

1. Open stub.yaml with an editor of your choice. The stub file contains a skeleton to start from.
2. Use functions Fn::Base64 and Fn::Sub to combine the following Bash script and inject it into the EC2 instance with the help of UserData. $URL needs to be replaced with the template parameter named URL (see Build-in functions).

Bash script installing httpd-tools and running a small HTTP load test.

#!/bin/bash -ex
yum install -y httpd-tools
ab -n 1000 -c 4 $URL

1. Open CloudFormation in AWS Management Console.
2. Click Create Stack button.
3. Select Upload a template to Amazon S3.
4. Choose the template file you created for this lab.
5. Click Next button.
6. Insert lab3-$usernameas stack name. Replace $usernamewith your username (e.g. lab3-awittig).
7. Select a random subnet as parameter for Subnet.
8. Insert t2.micro as parameter for InstanceType.
9. Insert ami-bff32ccc (eu-west-1) or ami-bc5b48d0(eu-central-1) as parameter for AMI.
10. Insert http://widdix.net/ or a website you own for URL.
11. Click Next button.
12. Skip next step by clicking on Next button.
13. Review your input and click Create button.
14. Wait until your stack reaches status CREATE_COMPLETE.
15. Select your stack by clicking on row of the table.
16. Select Delete Stack from the Actions menu.
17. Confirm the deletion of your stack.
18. Congratulations! You are done with the lab!

Build-in functions

This lab includes a sample solution sample-solution.yaml. Use it if you are stuck during the creation of your template of if you want to review your results.