• The AWS Systems Manager CloudWatch Dashboard will no longer be available after April 30, 2026. Customers can continue to use Amazon CloudWatch console to view, create, and manage their Amazon CloudWatch dashboards, just as they do today. For more information, see [Amazon CloudWatch Dashboard documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Dashboards.html). # Working with CloudFormation templates and stacks in Application Manager Application Manager, a tool in AWS Systems Manager, helps you provision and manage resources for your applications by integrating with AWS CloudFormation. You can create, edit, and delete CloudFormation templates and stacks in Application Manager. A *stack* is a collection of AWS resources that you can manage as a single unit. This means you can create, update, or delete a collection of AWS resources by using CloudFormation stacks. A *template* is a formatted text file in JSON or YAML that specifies the resources you want to provision in your stacks. Application Manager also includes a template library where you can clone, create, and store templates. Application Manager and CloudFormation display the same information about the current status of a stack. Templates and template updates are stored in Systems Manager until you provision the stack, at which time the changes are also displayed in CloudFormation. After you create a stack in Application Manager, the **CloudFormation stacks** page displays helpful information about it. This includes the template used to create it, a count of [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/OpsCenter.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/OpsCenter.html) for resources in your stack, the [stack status](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/cfn-console-view-stack-data-resources.html#cfn-console-view-stack-data-resources-status-codes), and [drift status](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-stack-drift.html). **About Cost Explorer** Application Manager is integrated with AWS Cost Explorer, a feature of [AWS Cost Management](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/account-billing/index.html), through the **Cost** widget. After you enable Cost Explorer in the Cost Management console, the **Cost** widget in Application Manager shows cost data for a specific non-container application or application component. You can use filters in the widget to view cost data according to different time periods, granularities, and cost types in either a bar or line chart. You can enable this feature by choosing the **Go to AWS Cost Management console** button. By default, the data is filtered to the past three months. For a non-container application, if you choose the **View all** button, Application Manager opens the **Resources** tab. For container applications, the **View all** button opens the AWS Cost Explorer console. **Note** Cost Explorer uses tags to track your application costs. If your CloudFormation stack-based application isn't configured with the `AppManagerCFNStackKey` tag key, Cost Explorer fails to present accurate cost data in Application Manager. When the `AppManagerCFNStackKey` tag key is not detected, you will be prompted in the console to add the tag to your CloudFormation stack to enable cost tracking. Adding it maps the tag key to the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of your stack and enables the **Cost** widget to display accurate cost data. **Important** Adding the `AppManagerCFNStackKey` tag will trigger a stack update. Any manual configurations that were performed after the stack was originally deployed will not be reflected after the user tag is added. For more information about resource update behaviors, see [Update behaviors of stack resources](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/ using-cfn-updating-stacks-update-behaviors.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide* ## Before you begin Use the following links to learn about CloudFormation concepts before you create, edit, or delete CloudFormation templates and stacks by using Application Manager. + [What is AWS CloudFormation?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/Welcome.html) + [CloudFormation best practices](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/best-practices.html) + [Learn template basics](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/gettingstarted.templatebasics.html) + [Working with AWS CloudFormation stacks](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/stacks.html) + [Working with AWS CloudFormation templates](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/template-guide.html) + [Sample templates](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/cfn-sample-templates.html) **Topics** + [Before you begin](#application-manager-working-stacks-before-you-begin) + [Using Application Manager to manage CloudFormation templates](application-manager-working-templates-overview.md) + [Using Application Manager to manage CloudFormation stacks](application-manager-working-stacks-overview.md) # Using Application Manager to manage CloudFormation templates Application Manager, a tool in AWS Systems Manager, includes a template library and other tools to help you manage AWS CloudFormation templates. This section includes the following information. **Topics** + [Working with the template library](#application-manager-working-stacks-template-library-working) + [Creating a template](#application-manager-working-stacks-creating-template) + [Editing a template](#application-manager-working-stacks-editing-template) ## Working with the template library The Application Manager template library provides tools to help you view, create, edit, delete, and clone templates. You can also provision stacks directly from the template library. Templates are stored as Systems Manager (SSM) documents of type `CloudFormation`. By storing templates as SSM documents, you can use version controls to work with different versions of a template. You can also set permissions and share templates. After you successfully provision a stack, the stack and template are available in Application Manager and CloudFormation. **Before you begin** We recommend that you read the following topics to learn more about SSM documents before you start working with CloudFormation templates in Application Manager. + [AWS Systems Manager Documents](documents.md) + [Sharing SSM documents](documents-ssm-sharing.md) + [Best practices for shared SSM documents](documents-ssm-sharing.md#best-practices-shared) **To view the template library in Application Manager** 1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Application Manager**. 1. Choose **CloudFormation Template Library**. ## Creating a template The following procedure describes how to create a CloudFormation template in Application Manager. When you create a template, you enter the stack details of the template in either JSON or YAML. If you're unfamiliar with JSON or YAML, you can use AWS Infrastructure Composer, a tool for visually creating and modifying templates. For more information, see [Create templates visually with Infrastructure Composer](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/infrastructure-composer-for-cloudformation.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. For information about the structure and syntax of a template, see [CloudFormation template sections](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/template-anatomy.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. You can also construct a template from multiple template snippets. Template snippets are examples that demonstrate how to write templates for a particular resource. For example, you can view snippets for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) domains, CloudFormation mappings, and more. Snippets are grouped by resource. You can find general-purpose CloudFormation snippets in the [General template snippets](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/quickref-general.html) section of the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. ### Creating a CloudFormation template in Application Manager (console) Use the following procedure to create a CloudFormation template in Application Manager by using the AWS Management Console. **To create a CloudFormation template in Application Manager** 1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Application Manager**. 1. Choose **CloudFormation Template Library**, and then either choose **Create template** or choose an existing template and then choose **Actions**, **Clone**. 1. For **Name**, enter a name for the template that helps you identify the resources it creates or the purpose of the stack. 1. (Optional) For **Version name**, enter a name or a number to identity the template version. 1. In the **Code editor** section, choose either **YAML** or **JSON** and then either enter or copy and paste your template code. 1. (Optional) In the **Tags** section, apply one or more tag key name/value pairs to the template. 1. (Optional) In the **Permissions** section, enter an AWS account ID and choose **Add account**. This action provides read permission to the template. The account owner can provision and clone the template, but they can't edit or delete it. 1. Choose **Create**. The template is saved in the Systems Manager (SSM) Document service. ### Creating a CloudFormation template in Application Manager (command line) After you create the content of your CloudFormation template in JSON or YAML, you can use the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) or AWS Tools for PowerShell to save the template as an SSM document. Replace each *example resource placeholder* with your own information. **Before you begin** Install and configure the AWS CLI or the AWS Tools for PowerShell, if you have not already. For information, see [Installing or updating the latest version of the AWS CLI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html) and [Installing the AWS Tools for PowerShell](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/pstools-getting-set-up.html). ------ #### [ Linux & macOS ] ``` aws ssm create-document \ --content file://path/to/template_in_json_or_yaml \ --name "a_name_for_the_template" \ --document-type "CloudFormation" \ --document-format "JSON_or_YAML" \ --tags "Key=tag-key,Value=tag-value" ``` ------ #### [ Windows ] ``` aws ssm create-document ^ --content file://C:\path\to\template_in_json_or_yaml ^ --name "a_name_for_the_template" ^ --document-type "CloudFormation" ^ --document-format "JSON_or_YAML" ^ --tags "Key=tag-key,Value=tag-value" ``` ------ #### [ PowerShell ] ``` $json = Get-Content -Path "C:\path\to\template_in_json_or_yaml | Out-String New-SSMDocument ` -Content $json ` -Name "a_name_for_the_template" ` -DocumentType "CloudFormation" ` -DocumentFormat "JSON_or_YAML" ` -Tags "Key=tag-key,Value=tag-value" ``` ------ If successful, the command returns a response similar to the following. ``` { "DocumentDescription": { "Hash": "c1d9640f15fbdba6deb41af6471d6ace0acc22f213bdd1449f03980358c2d4fb", "HashType": "Sha256", "Name": "MyTestCFTemplate", "Owner": "428427166869", "CreatedDate": "2021-06-04T09:44:18.931000-07:00", "Status": "Creating", "DocumentVersion": "1", "Description": "My test template", "PlatformTypes": [], "DocumentType": "CloudFormation", "SchemaVersion": "1.0", "LatestVersion": "1", "DefaultVersion": "1", "DocumentFormat": "YAML", "Tags": [ { "Key": "Templates", "Value": "Test" } ] } ``` ## Editing a template Use the following procedure to edit a CloudFormation template in Application Manager. Template changes are available in CloudFormation after you provision a stack that uses the updated template. **To edit a CloudFormation template in Application Manager** 1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Application Manager**. 1. Choose **CloudFormation Template Library** 1. Choose a template, and then choose **Actions**, **Edit**. You can't change the name of a template, but you can change all other details. 1. Choose **Save**. The template is saved in the Systems Manager Document service. # Using Application Manager to manage CloudFormation stacks Application Manager, a tool in AWS Systems Manager, helps you provision and manage resources for your applications by integrating with AWS CloudFormation. You can create, edit, and delete CloudFormation templates and stacks in Application Manager. A *stack* is a collection of AWS resources that you can manage as a single unit. This means you can create, update, or delete a collection of AWS resources by using CloudFormation stacks. A *template* is a formatted text file in JSON or YAML that specifies the resources you want to provision in your stacks. This section includes the following information. **Topics** + [Creating a stack](#application-manager-working-stacks-creating-stack) + [Updating a stack](#application-manager-working-stacks-editing-stack) ## Creating a stack The following procedures describe how to create a CloudFormation stack by using Application Manager. A stack is based on a template. When you create a stack, you can either choose an existing template or create a new one. After you create the stack, the system immediately attempts to create the resources identified in the stack. After the system successfully provisions the resources, the template and the stack are available to view and edit in Application Manager and CloudFormation. **Note** There is no charge to use Application Manager to create a stack, but you are charged for AWS resources created in the stack. ### Creating a CloudFormation stack by using Application Manager (console) Use the following procedure to create a stack by using Application Manager in the AWS Management Console. **To create a CloudFormation stack** 1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Application Manager**. 1. Choose ** Create Application, CloudFormation Stack**. 1. In the **Prepare a template** section, choose an option. If you choose **Use an existing template**, you can use the tabs in the **Choose a template** section to locate the template you want. (If you choose one of the other options, complete the wizard to prepare a template.) 1. Select the button beside a template name, and then choose **Next**. 1. On the **Specify template details** page, verify the details of the template to ensure the process creates the resources you want. + (Optional) In the **Tags** section, apply one or more tag key name/value pairs to the template. + Tags are optional metadata that you assign to a resource. By using tags, you can categorize a resource in different ways, such as by purpose, owner, or environment. + Choose **Next**. 1. On the **Edit stack details** page, for **Stack name**, enter a name that helps you identify the resources created by the stack or its purpose. + The **Parameters** section includes all optional and required parameters specified in the template. Enter one or more parameters in each field. + (Optional) In the **Tags** section, apply one or more tag key name/value pairs to the stack. + (Optional) In the **Permissions** section, specify an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role name or an IAM Amazon Resource Name (ARN). The system uses the specified service role to create all resources specified in your stack. If you don't specify an IAM role, then CloudFormation uses a temporary session that the system generates from your user credentials. For more information about this IAM role, see [CloudFormation service role](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-iam-servicerole.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. + Choose **Next**. 1. On the **Review and provision** page, review all the details of the stack. Choose an **Edit** button on this page to make change. 1. Choose **Provision stack**. Application Manager displays the **CloudFormation stacks** page and the status of the stack creation and deployment. If CloudFormation fails to create and provision the stack, see the following topics in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. + [Stack status codes](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-describing-stacks.html#w2ab1c23c15c17c11) + [Troubleshooting CloudFormation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/troubleshooting.html) After your stack resources are provisioned and running, users can edit resources directly by using the underlying service that created the resource. For example, a user can use the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) console to update a server instance that was created as part of a CloudFormation stack. Some changes may be accidental, and some may be made intentionally to respond to time-sensitive operational events. Regardless, changes made outside of CloudFormation can complicate stack update or deletion operations. You can use drift detection or *drift status* to identify stack resources to which configuration changes have been made outside of CloudFormation management. For information about drift status, see [Detecting unmanaged configuration changes to stacks and resources](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-stack-drift.html). ### Creating a CloudFormation stack by using Application Manager (command line) Use the following AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) procedure to provision a stack by using a CloudFormation template that is stored as an SSM document in Systems Manager. Replace each *example resource placeholder* with your own information. For information about other AWS CLI procedures for creating stacks, see [Creating a stack](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-cli-creating-stack.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. **Before you begin** Install and configure the AWS CLI or the AWS Tools for PowerShell, if you have not already. For information, see [Installing or updating the latest version of the AWS CLI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html) and [Installing the AWS Tools for PowerShell](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/pstools-getting-set-up.html). ------ #### [ Linux & macOS ] ``` aws cloudformation create-stack \ --stack-name a_name_for_the_stack \ --template-url "ssm-doc://arn:aws:ssm:Region:account_ID:document/template_name" \ ``` ------ #### [ Windows ] ``` aws cloudformation create-stack ^ --stack-name a_name_for_the_stack ^ --template-url "ssm-doc://arn:aws:ssm:Region:account_ID:document/template_name" ^ ``` ------ #### [ PowerShell ] ``` New-CFNStack ` -StackName "a_name_for_the_stack" ` -TemplateURL "ssm-doc://arn:aws:ssm:Region:account_ID:document/template_name" ` ``` ------ ## Updating a stack You can deploy updates to a CloudFormation stack by directly editing the stack in Application Manager. With a direct update, you specify updates to a template or input parameters. After you save and deploy the changes, CloudFormation updates the AWS resources according to the changes you specified. You can preview the changes that CloudFormation will make to your stack before you update it by using change sets. For more information, see [Updating stacks using change sets](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-updating-stacks-changesets.html) in the *AWS CloudFormation User Guide*. **To update a CloudFormation stack in Application Manager** 1. Open the AWS Systems Manager console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Application Manager**. 1. Select the radio button next to an application name, and then choose **Actions**, **Update stack**. 1. On the **Specify template source** page, choose one of the following options, and then choose **Next**. + Choose **Use the template code currently provisioned in the stack** to view a template. Choose a template version in the **Versions** list, and then choose **Next**. + Choose **Switch to a different template** to choose or create a new template for the stack. 1. After you finish making changes to the template, choose **Next**. 1. On the **Edit stack details** page, you can edit parameters, tags, and permissions. You can't change the stack name. Make your changes and choose **Next**. 1. On the **Review and provision** page, review all the details of the stack, and then choose **Provision stack**.