Question

How can you make a CloudFormation template work in any region?

a) Specify a single region in the template
b) Use region-independent syntax
c) Utilize global parameters
d) Include region-specific conditional statements

Answer 1

To make a CloudFormation template work in any region, use region-independent syntax, avoid hardcoding region-specific resources, and dynamically reference values through AWS' pseudo parameters and mapping sections.

Step-by-step explanation:

To make a CloudFormation template work in any AWS region, the best approach is b) Use region-independent syntax. This means that rather than hardcoding region-specific resources or values, you utilize AWS' pseudo parameters and mapping sections within your template to dynamically reference region-specific values. For instance, instead of specifying an AMI ID directly, you can create a map that provides the correct AMI ID for the region in which the stack is deployed.

To further enhance the portability of your CloudFormation template across different regions, consider using AWS's NoSQL service, DynamoDB, and object storage service, S3, which offer global endpoints. Additionally, avoid hard-coded resource properties that are region-specific, like VPC IDs and subnet IDs, and instead use parameters and other means to reference or determine those values dynamically.