CloudFormer(beta)能否保留启动配置用户数据？及反馈渠道咨询

Question #

I recently tried out AWS CloudFormer (beta), which generates CloudFormation templates from existing infrastructure. It runs as a standalone stack—you create a stack using the CloudFormer template, then log into the instance with the credentials set during setup. The workflow went smoothly overall, following the official guide.

For my test, I selected resources from a simple web app setup that includes a VPC, an Auto Scaling Group connected to S3, RDS, and DynamoDB. This exercise was based on Ryan Lewis's excellent AWS course content on Pluralsight.

When I ran the generated CloudFormation template, I hit two issues:

• I had to change AWS::RDS::DBSecurityGroup to AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup to get past validation—after that, the stack created successfully.
• The app still didn't run properly. Upon checking, I found the Launch Configuration was missing user data, which is critical for configuring instances on boot. CloudFormer seems to have omitted this entirely.

Has anyone else run into these exact issues with CloudFormer? Are there any workarounds to get the user data included in the generated template?

Also, since this is a beta tool, what's the preferred way to report these problems to the AWS team?

Here's a snippet from the generated Launch Configuration that's missing user data:

"lcpizzalauncherdyn4": {
  "Type": "AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration",
  "Properties": {
    "AssociatePublicIpAddress": true,
    "ImageId": "ami-0661a53fb3b1e117a",
    "InstanceType": "t2.micro",
    "KeyName": "pizza-keys",
    "IamInstanceProfile": "pizza-ec2-role",
    "SecurityGroups": [
      {
        "Ref": "sgpizzaec2sg"
      }
    ],
    "BlockDeviceMappings": [
      {
        "DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
        "Ebs": {
          "SnapshotId": "snap-0cad60faa1e33e22b",
          "VolumeSize": 8
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Answer #

Hey there, I’ve seen a few folks run into these exact issues with CloudFormer’s beta version, so you’re not alone! Let’s break this down:

Common Issues & Workarounds #

First, that AWS::RDS::DBSecurityGroup vs AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup problem is a known quirk—CloudFormer sometimes references older resource types that are no longer valid for newer RDS setups. Your fix of swapping the resource type is exactly the right call here.

For the missing user data:

• Manual Template Update: The easiest fix is to pull the original user data from your existing launch configuration (you can grab this via the AWS Console under Auto Scaling > Launch Configurations, or using the AWS CLI) and add it to the generated template. User data needs to be base64-encoded in CloudFormation, so use the Fn::Base64 function like this:

  "lcpizzalauncherdyn4": {
    "Type": "AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration",
    "Properties": {
      "AssociatePublicIpAddress": true,
      "ImageId": "ami-0661a53fb3b1e117a",
      "InstanceType": "t2.micro",
      "KeyName": "pizza-keys",
      "IamInstanceProfile": "pizza-ec2-role",
      "SecurityGroups": [
        {
          "Ref": "sgpizzaec2sg"
        }
      ],
      "BlockDeviceMappings": [
        {
          "DeviceName": "/dev/xvda",
          "Ebs": {
            "SnapshotId": "snap-0cad60faa1e33e22b",
            "VolumeSize": 8
          }
        }
      ],
      "UserData": {
        "Fn::Base64": "#!/bin/bash\n# Paste your original user data script here"
      }
    }
  }
  

• Post-Stack Adjustment: If you don’t want to edit the template, you can update the launch configuration after the stack is created. Just note that this will trigger new instances to spin up with the correct user data, so you’ll need to replace any existing instances in the Auto Scaling Group to apply the fix.

Reporting Feedback to AWS #

Since CloudFormer is in beta, AWS is actively seeking user input to improve the tool. Here are the best ways to report issues:

• In-Console Feedback: Look for the "Send Feedback" button (usually a smiley face icon) in the CloudFormer interface or the CloudFormation console. This sends your feedback directly to the engineering team working on the tool.
• AWS Support Case: If you have an AWS support plan, open a support case and tag it as a CloudFormer beta issue. Include details like your template snippet, steps to reproduce, and any error messages you encountered—this helps the team debug and resolve the issue faster.
• AWS Community Forums: Post your experience in the official AWS CloudFormation community forum. Other beta users and AWS staff monitor these threads, so you might get both community workarounds and official responses from the team.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者titusn