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CloudFormation Template Library

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Overview

The Template Library provides a centralized catalog of CloudFormation templates for common AWS resources and architectures. Access curated templates from public repositories, AWS samples, and custom team libraries all from within WatchTower.

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Planned Features

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Public Template Collections

AWS Sample Templates

• Official AWS CloudFormation sample templates
• Best practice architectures
• Common infrastructure patterns
• Direct links to AWS samples repository

AWS Control Tower Customizations

• Control Tower customization templates
• Account Factory customizations
• Guardrail configurations
• Links to AWS Control Tower solutions

Community Templates

• Popular open-source CloudFormation templates
• Community-contributed solutions
• Verified and tested templates

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Custom Template Libraries

Team Repositories

• Link to internal Git repositories
• Private template collections
• Team-specific infrastructure patterns
• Organization-standard templates

Template Management

• Browse templates by category
• Search templates by resource type
• Preview template contents
• Quick deploy to selected accounts

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Template Categories

Templates will be organized by use case: Networking

• VPC architectures
• Transit Gateway configurations
• Network security groups
• VPN and Direct Connect setups

Security

• IAM policies and roles
• Security Hub configurations
• GuardDuty setups
• Config rules

Compute

• EC2 instance patterns
• Auto Scaling groups
• ECS/EKS clusters
• Lambda functions

Storage

• S3 bucket configurations
• EBS volume setups
• EFS file systems
• Backup configurations

Database

• RDS instances and clusters
• DynamoDB tables
• Aurora configurations
• Database migration patterns

Monitoring & Observability

• CloudWatch dashboards
• Alarms and metrics
• SNS notification setups
• EventBridge rules

CI/CD

• CodePipeline configurations
• CodeBuild projects
• CodeDeploy applications
• GitHub Actions integrations

Compliance & Governance

• Config conformance packs
• Security baselines
• Compliance frameworks (CIS, PCI, HIPAA)
• Audit logging setups

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Curated Public Libraries

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AWS CloudFormation Samples

Direct access to official AWS sample templates:

• Repository: github.com/aws-samples/aws-cloudformation-templates
• Categories: Comprehensive collection of AWS service templates
• Maintenance: Officially maintained by AWS

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AWS Control Tower Customizations

Control Tower customization resources:

• Repository: github.com/aws-samples/aws-control-tower-customizations
• Purpose: Account Factory customizations and guardrails
• Use Cases: Enterprise landing zone configurations

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AWS Security Reference Architecture

Security best practice templates:

• Repository: github.com/aws-samples/aws-security-reference-architecture-examples
• Focus: Security controls and compliance
• Frameworks: CIS, NIST, PCI-DSS baselines

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AWS Well-Architected Labs

Hands-on templates from AWS Well-Architected framework:

• Repository: github.com/aws-samples/aws-well-architected-labs
• Focus: Best practices across all pillars
• Content: Security, reliability, performance, cost optimization

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AWS Solutions Library

Pre-built AWS solutions:

• Repository: github.com/aws-solutions
• Solutions: Production-ready deployments
• Categories: Various industry and use case solutions

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Custom Repository Integration

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Link Team Repositories

Connect your organization’s Git repositories: Supported Platforms:

• GitHub (public and private)
• GitLab
• Bitbucket
• AWS CodeCommit

Configuration:

• Repository URL
• Access credentials (tokens, SSH keys)
• Branch selection
• Template directory paths
• Auto-sync settings

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Template Discovery

Automatically discover templates in connected repositories:

• Scan for .yaml and .json CloudFormation files
• Parse template metadata
• Extract parameters and descriptions
• Categorize by resource types

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Version Control

Track template versions from Git:

• Display commit history
• Show template changes over time
• Pin to specific versions or branches
• Rollback to previous versions

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Template Deployment

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Quick Deploy

Deploy templates directly to accounts:

1. Browse template library
2. Select template
3. Choose target account(s)
4. Configure parameters
5. Deploy as CloudFormation stack

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Batch Deployment

Deploy templates to multiple accounts:

• Select template once
• Choose multiple target accounts
• Configure parameters per account or use defaults
• Monitor deployment progress across accounts

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StackSet Integration

Convert templates to StackSets:

• Deploy organization-wide
• Automatic inclusion of new accounts
• Centralized parameter management
• Update all instances simultaneously

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Use Cases

For MSPs:

• Maintain standard infrastructure templates
• Deploy consistent configurations across customers
• Quick setup of new customer accounts
• Version-controlled infrastructure patterns

For Enterprises:

• Centralize approved CloudFormation templates
• Enforce infrastructure standards
• Accelerate project setup
• Maintain compliance baselines

For Platform Teams:

• Share infrastructure patterns across teams
• Document infrastructure as code
• Enable self-service infrastructure deployment
• Maintain golden templates

For DevOps Teams:

• Quick access to common infrastructure patterns
• Test templates across multiple accounts
• Standardize deployment processes
• Reduce infrastructure drift

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Security & Compliance

Template Validation:

• Syntax validation before deployment
• IAM permission analysis
• Security best practice checks
• Cost estimation

Access Control:

• Role-based access to template libraries
• Approval workflows for deployments
• Audit logging of template usage
• Deployment authorization requirements

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Future Enhancements

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Template Builder

• Visual template designer
• Drag-and-drop resource configuration
• Parameter validation
• Real-time preview

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Template Marketplace

• Share templates across organizations
• Rate and review templates
• Download usage statistics
• Community contributions

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AI-Assisted Templates

• Template recommendations based on requirements
• Auto-generate templates from descriptions
• Suggest optimizations
• Security posture improvements

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Related Documentation

For role deployment templates, see:

• Organization Inventory Roles - Deploy organization access roles
• Account Access Roles - Deploy account access roles
• Service Catalog - Self-service role deployment

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Coming Soon

This feature is being actively developed. The Template Library will provide centralized access to CloudFormation templates from public repositories and custom team libraries, streamlining infrastructure deployment across your AWS accounts. Documentation will be updated as the feature becomes available.