Migrating an CloudFormation CodeDeploy blue/green deployment template to an Amazon ECS blue/green CloudFormation template - Amazon Elastic Container Service
Source templateMigration stepsTesting recommendationsTemplate after migration

Migrating an CloudFormation CodeDeploy blue/green deployment template to an Amazon ECS blue/green CloudFormation template

Migrate a CloudFormation template that uses CodeDeploy blue/green deployments for Amazon ECS services to one that uses the native Amazon ECS blue/green deployment strategy. The migration follows the "Reuse the same Elastic Load Balancing resources used for CodeDeploy" approach. For more information, see Migrate CodeDeploy blue/green deployments to Amazon ECS blue/green deployments.

Source template

This template uses the AWS::CodeDeployBlueGreen transform and AWS::CodeDeploy::BlueGreen hook to implement blue/green deployments for an Amazon ECS service.

This is the complete CloudFormation template using CodeDeploy blue/green deployment. For more information, see Blue/green deployment template example in the AWS CloudFormation User Guide:

{
  "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
  "Parameters": {
    "Vpc": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::VPC::Id"
    },
    "Subnet1": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id"
    },
    "Subnet2": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id"
    }
  },
  "Transform": [
    "AWS::CodeDeployBlueGreen"
  ],
  "Hooks": {
    "CodeDeployBlueGreenHook": {
      "Type": "AWS::CodeDeploy::BlueGreen",
      "Properties": {
        "TrafficRoutingConfig": {
          "Type": "TimeBasedCanary",
          "TimeBasedCanary": {
            "StepPercentage": 15,
            "BakeTimeMins": 5
          }
        },
        "Applications": [
          {
            "Target": {
              "Type": "AWS::ECS::Service",
              "LogicalID": "ECSDemoService"
            },
            "ECSAttributes": {
              "TaskDefinitions": [
                "BlueTaskDefinition",
                "GreenTaskDefinition"
              ],
              "TaskSets": [
                "BlueTaskSet",
                "GreenTaskSet"
              ],
              "TrafficRouting": {
                "ProdTrafficRoute": {
                  "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener",
                  "LogicalID": "ALBListenerProdTraffic"
                },
                "TargetGroups": [
                  "ALBTargetGroupBlue",
                  "ALBTargetGroupGreen"
                ]
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "Resources": {
    "ExampleSecurityGroup": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "GroupDescription": "Security group for ec2 access",
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"},
        "SecurityGroupIngress": [
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 80,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          },
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 8080,
            "ToPort": 8080,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          },
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 22,
            "ToPort": 22,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "ALBTargetGroupBlue": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "HealthCheckIntervalSeconds": 5,
        "HealthCheckPath": "/",
        "HealthCheckPort": "80",
        "HealthCheckProtocol": "HTTP",
        "HealthCheckTimeoutSeconds": 2,
        "HealthyThresholdCount": 2,
        "Matcher": {
          "HttpCode": "200"
        },
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP",
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "TargetType": "ip",
        "UnhealthyThresholdCount": 4,
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"}
      }
    },
    "ALBTargetGroupGreen": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "HealthCheckIntervalSeconds": 5,
        "HealthCheckPath": "/",
        "HealthCheckPort": "80",
        "HealthCheckProtocol": "HTTP",
        "HealthCheckTimeoutSeconds": 2,
        "HealthyThresholdCount": 2,
        "Matcher": {
          "HttpCode": "200"
        },
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP",
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "TargetType": "ip",
        "UnhealthyThresholdCount": 4,
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"}
      }
    },
    "ExampleALB": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::LoadBalancer",
      "Properties": {
        "Scheme": "internet-facing",
        "SecurityGroups": [
          {"Ref": "ExampleSecurityGroup"}
        ],
        "Subnets": [
          {"Ref": "Subnet1"},
          {"Ref": "Subnet2"}
        ],
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "Type": "application",
        "IpAddressType": "ipv4"
      }
    },
    "ALBListenerProdTraffic": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener",
      "Properties": {
        "DefaultActions": [
          {
            "Type": "forward",
            "ForwardConfig": {
              "TargetGroups": [
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
                  "Weight": 1
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "LoadBalancerArn": {"Ref": "ExampleALB"},
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP"
      }
    },
    "ALBListenerProdRule": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::ListenerRule",
      "Properties": {
        "Actions": [
          {
            "Type": "forward",
            "ForwardConfig": {
              "TargetGroups": [
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
                  "Weight": 1
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "Conditions": [
          {
            "Field": "http-header",
            "HttpHeaderConfig": {
              "HttpHeaderName": "User-Agent",
              "Values": [
                "Mozilla"
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "ListenerArn": {"Ref": "ALBListenerProdTraffic"},
        "Priority": 1
      }
    },
    "ECSTaskExecutionRole": {
      "Type": "AWS::IAM::Role",
      "Properties": {
        "AssumeRolePolicyDocument": {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
          "Statement": [
            {
              "Sid": "",
              "Effect": "Allow",
              "Principal": {
                "Service": "ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com"
              },
              "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
            }
          ]
        },
        "ManagedPolicyArns": [
          "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AmazonECSTaskExecutionRolePolicy"
        ]
      }
    },
    "BlueTaskDefinition": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition",
      "Properties": {
        "ExecutionRoleArn": {"Fn::GetAtt": ["ECSTaskExecutionRole", "Arn"]},
        "ContainerDefinitions": [
          {
            "Name": "DemoApp",
            "Image": "nginxdemos/hello:latest",
            "Essential": true,
            "PortMappings": [
              {
                "HostPort": 80,
                "Protocol": "tcp",
                "ContainerPort": 80
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "RequiresCompatibilities": [
          "FARGATE"
        ],
        "NetworkMode": "awsvpc",
        "Cpu": "256",
        "Memory": "512",
        "Family": "ecs-demo"
      }
    },
    "ECSDemoCluster": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::Cluster",
      "Properties": {}
    },
    "ECSDemoService": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::Service",
      "Properties": {
        "Cluster": {"Ref": "ECSDemoCluster"},
        "DesiredCount": 1,
        "DeploymentController": {
          "Type": "EXTERNAL"
        }
      }
    },
    "BlueTaskSet": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::TaskSet",
      "Properties": {
        "Cluster": {"Ref": "ECSDemoCluster"},
        "LaunchType": "FARGATE",
        "NetworkConfiguration": {
          "AwsVpcConfiguration": {
            "AssignPublicIp": "ENABLED",
            "SecurityGroups": [
              {"Ref": "ExampleSecurityGroup"}
            ],
            "Subnets": [
              {"Ref": "Subnet1"},
              {"Ref": "Subnet2"}
            ]
          }
        },
        "PlatformVersion": "1.4.0",
        "Scale": {
          "Unit": "PERCENT",
          "Value": 100
        },
        "Service": {"Ref": "ECSDemoService"},
        "TaskDefinition": {"Ref": "BlueTaskDefinition"},
        "LoadBalancers": [
          {
            "ContainerName": "DemoApp",
            "ContainerPort": 80,
            "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"}
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "PrimaryTaskSet": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::PrimaryTaskSet",
      "Properties": {
        "Cluster": {"Ref": "ECSDemoCluster"},
        "Service": {"Ref": "ECSDemoService"},
        "TaskSetId": {"Fn::GetAtt": ["BlueTaskSet", "Id"]}
      }
    }
  }
}

Migration steps

Remove CodeDeploy-specific resources

You no longer need the following properties:

  • The AWS::CodeDeployBlueGreen transform

  • The CodeDeployBlueGreenHook hook

  • The GreenTaskDefinition and GreenTaskSet resources (these will be managed by Amazon ECS)

  • The PrimaryTaskSet resource (Amazon ECS will manage task sets internally)

Reconfigure the load balancer listener

Modify the ALBListenerProdTraffic resource to use a forward action with two target groups:

{
  "DefaultActions": [
    {
      "Type": "forward",
      "ForwardConfig": {
        "TargetGroups": [
          {
            "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
            "Weight": 1
          },
          {
            "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupGreen"},
            "Weight": 0
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Update the deployment properties

Update and add the following:

  • Change the DeploymentController property from EXTERNAL to ECS.

  • Add the Strategy property and set it to BLUE_GREEN.

  • Add the BakeTimeInMinutes property.

    {
  "DeploymentConfiguration": {
    "MaximumPercent": 200,
    "MinimumHealthyPercent": 100,
    "DeploymentCircuitBreaker": {
      "Enable": true,
      "Rollback": true
    },
    "BakeTimeInMinutes": 5,
    "Strategy": "BLUE_GREEN"
  }
}

  • Add the load balancer configuration to the service:

    {
  "LoadBalancers": [
    {
      "ContainerName": "DemoApp",
      "ContainerPort": 80,
      "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
      "AdvancedConfiguration": {
        "AlternateTargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupGreen"},
        "ProductionListenerRule": {"Ref": "ALBListenerProdRule"},
        "RoleArn": {"Fn::GetAtt": ["ECSInfrastructureRoleForLoadBalancers", "Arn"]}
      }
    }
  ]
}

  • Add the task definition reference to the service:

    {
  "TaskDefinition": {"Ref": "BlueTaskDefinition"}
}

Create the AmazonECSInfrastructureRolePolicyForLoadBalancers role

Add a new IAM role that allows Amazon ECS to manage load balancer resources. For more information, see Amazon ECS infrastructure IAM role for load balancers

Testing recommendations

  1. Deploy the migrated template to a non-production environment.

  2. Verify that the service deploys correctly with the initial configuration.

  3. Test a deployment by updating the task definition and observing the blue/green deployment process.

  4. Verify that traffic shifts correctly between the blue and green deployments.

  5. Test rollback functionality by forcing a deployment failure.

Template after migration

This is the complete CloudFormation template using an Amazon ECS blue/green deployment:

{
  "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
  "Parameters": {
    "Vpc": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::VPC::Id"
    },
    "Subnet1": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id"
    },
    "Subnet2": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::Subnet::Id"
    }
  },
  "Resources": {
    "ExampleSecurityGroup": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "GroupDescription": "Security group for ec2 access",
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"},
        "SecurityGroupIngress": [
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 80,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          },
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 8080,
            "ToPort": 8080,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          },
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "FromPort": 22,
            "ToPort": 22,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "ALBTargetGroupBlue": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "HealthCheckIntervalSeconds": 5,
        "HealthCheckPath": "/",
        "HealthCheckPort": "80",
        "HealthCheckProtocol": "HTTP",
        "HealthCheckTimeoutSeconds": 2,
        "HealthyThresholdCount": 2,
        "Matcher": {
          "HttpCode": "200"
        },
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP",
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "TargetType": "ip",
        "UnhealthyThresholdCount": 4,
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"}
      }
    },
    "ALBTargetGroupGreen": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::TargetGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "HealthCheckIntervalSeconds": 5,
        "HealthCheckPath": "/",
        "HealthCheckPort": "80",
        "HealthCheckProtocol": "HTTP",
        "HealthCheckTimeoutSeconds": 2,
        "HealthyThresholdCount": 2,
        "Matcher": {
          "HttpCode": "200"
        },
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP",
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "TargetType": "ip",
        "UnhealthyThresholdCount": 4,
        "VpcId": {"Ref": "Vpc"}
      }
    },
    "ExampleALB": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::LoadBalancer",
      "Properties": {
        "Scheme": "internet-facing",
        "SecurityGroups": [
          {"Ref": "ExampleSecurityGroup"}
        ],
        "Subnets": [
          {"Ref": "Subnet1"},
          {"Ref": "Subnet2"}
        ],
        "Tags": [
          {
            "Key": "Group",
            "Value": "Example"
          }
        ],
        "Type": "application",
        "IpAddressType": "ipv4"
      }
    },
    "ALBListenerProdTraffic": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::Listener",
      "Properties": {
        "DefaultActions": [
          {
            "Type": "forward",
            "ForwardConfig": {
              "TargetGroups": [
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
                  "Weight": 1
                },
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupGreen"},
                  "Weight": 0
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "LoadBalancerArn": {"Ref": "ExampleALB"},
        "Port": 80,
        "Protocol": "HTTP"
      }
    },
    "ALBListenerProdRule": {
      "Type": "AWS::ElasticLoadBalancingV2::ListenerRule",
      "Properties": {
        "Actions": [
          {
            "Type": "forward",
            "ForwardConfig": {
              "TargetGroups": [
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
                  "Weight": 1
                },
                {
                  "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupGreen"},
                  "Weight": 0
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "Conditions": [
          {
            "Field": "http-header",
            "HttpHeaderConfig": {
              "HttpHeaderName": "User-Agent",
              "Values": [
                "Mozilla"
              ]
            }
          }
        ],
        "ListenerArn": {"Ref": "ALBListenerProdTraffic"},
        "Priority": 1
      }
    },
    "ECSTaskExecutionRole": {
      "Type": "AWS::IAM::Role",
      "Properties": {
        "AssumeRolePolicyDocument": {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
          "Statement": [
            {
              "Sid": "",
              "Effect": "Allow",
              "Principal": {
                "Service": "ecs-tasks.amazonaws.com"
              },
              "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
            }
          ]
        },
        "ManagedPolicyArns": [
          "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AmazonECSTaskExecutionRolePolicy"
        ]
      }
    },
    "ECSInfrastructureRoleForLoadBalancers": {
      "Type": "AWS::IAM::Role",
      "Properties": {
        "AssumeRolePolicyDocument": {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",		 	 	 
          "Statement": [
            {
              "Sid": "AllowAccessToECSForInfrastructureManagement",
              "Effect": "Allow",
              "Principal": {
                "Service": "ecs.amazonaws.com"
              },
              "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
            }
          ]
        },
        "ManagedPolicyArns": [
          "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonECSInfrastructureRolePolicyForLoadBalancers"
        ]
      }
    },
    "BlueTaskDefinition": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition",
      "Properties": {
        "ExecutionRoleArn": {"Fn::GetAtt": ["ECSTaskExecutionRole", "Arn"]},
        "ContainerDefinitions": [
          {
            "Name": "DemoApp",
            "Image": "nginxdemos/hello:latest",
            "Essential": true,
            "PortMappings": [
              {
                "HostPort": 80,
                "Protocol": "tcp",
                "ContainerPort": 80
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "RequiresCompatibilities": [
          "FARGATE"
        ],
        "NetworkMode": "awsvpc",
        "Cpu": "256",
        "Memory": "512",
        "Family": "ecs-demo"
      }
    },
    "ECSDemoCluster": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::Cluster",
      "Properties": {}
    },
    "ECSDemoService": {
      "Type": "AWS::ECS::Service",
      "Properties": {
        "Cluster": {"Ref": "ECSDemoCluster"},
        "DesiredCount": 1,
        "DeploymentController": {
          "Type": "ECS"
        },
        "DeploymentConfiguration": {
          "MaximumPercent": 200,
          "MinimumHealthyPercent": 100,
          "DeploymentCircuitBreaker": {
            "Enable": true,
            "Rollback": true
          },
          "BakeTimeInMinutes": 5,
          "Strategy": "BLUE_GREEN"
        },
        "NetworkConfiguration": {
          "AwsvpcConfiguration": {
            "AssignPublicIp": "ENABLED",
            "SecurityGroups": [
              {"Ref": "ExampleSecurityGroup"}
            ],
            "Subnets": [
              {"Ref": "Subnet1"},
              {"Ref": "Subnet2"}
            ]
          }
        },
        "LaunchType": "FARGATE",
        "PlatformVersion": "1.4.0",
        "TaskDefinition": {"Ref": "BlueTaskDefinition"},
        "LoadBalancers": [
          {
            "ContainerName": "DemoApp",
            "ContainerPort": 80,
            "TargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupBlue"},
            "AdvancedConfiguration": {
              "AlternateTargetGroupArn": {"Ref": "ALBTargetGroupGreen"},
              "ProductionListenerRule": {"Ref": "ALBListenerProdRule"},
              "RoleArn": {"Fn::GetAtt": ["ECSInfrastructureRoleForLoadBalancers", "Arn"]}
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}