How to Create SSM Parameter using CloudFormation

Dear Reader, Hope you are doing well :). In this post, I will help you create SSM parameter using CloudFormation. In addition to that, I will also share the permissions that are required to create an SSM parameter using CloudFormation.

You can also check out my post on how to use ssm parameter in CloudFormation to understand how to use the created SSM parameter in CloudFormation.

Basically, You will need a AWS::SSM::Parameter resource which will create an SSM parameter in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store.

What is a Systems Manager Parameter Store?

• SSM parameter store lets you store key-value pairs that can be your application configuration data or environment variables, your database string or even passwords.
• You can store those as plain text or encrypted
• You can find detailed information about them here.

You may also like:

• Create S3 bucket using CloudFormation
• Create DynamoDB table using CloudFormation
• Create API Gateway Custom Domain using CloudFormation
• Provision ACM certificate using CloudFormation

Things Needed to Create SSM Parameter using CloudFormation

As a beginner, I always faced issues in finding the correct set of permissions and a minimal template to create a resource using CloudFormation. So, I will help you with both of them in this post.

However, if you want to know how to create a CloudFormation stack, please feel free to check these articles out.

• Create a CloudFormation stack using console
• Create a CloudFormation stack using CLI

Permissions:

If you are an admin user you can simply go ahead to the template section, save that and create an SSM parameter.

However, if you are not an admin user or you are using a service-linked role to create this SSM parameter, make sure you or your role have the below permissions apart from cloudformation:* and iam:passrole .

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": [
                ssm:PutParameter
		ssm:AddTagsToResource
            ],
            "Resource": [
                "*"
            ],
            "Effect": "Allow"
        }
    ]
}

Template Example to Create SSM Parameter using CloudFormation in YAML

Let’s look at the simplest template below which creates a parameter with the name WebsiteBucket and the value of the parameter DevBucketName of type String.

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Parameters:
  DevBucketName:
    Type: String
    Default: dev-bucket

Resources:
  #Create Bucket name in SSM Parameter Store    
  BucketNameParamater:
    Type: AWS::SSM::Parameter
    Properties: 
      Description: WebsiteBucket S3 bucket
      Name: WebsiteBucket
      Type: String
      Value: !Ref DevBucketName

As you can see from above all the fields are self-explanatory. I will still explain about type below.

As of now allowed values of Type are: String | StringList

In other words, you can have String and StringList for your single string parameter and multiple parameters respectively

Type: String

or 

Type: StringList

SecureString is not supported at the time I am writing this.

Additionally, You can use the below template for storing a list of strings or StringList Type.

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Parameters:
  Bucket1:
    Type: String
    Default: dev-bucket
  Bucket2:
    Type: String
    Default: test-bucket

Resources:
  #Create BucketNameList in SSM Parameter Store    
  BucketListParamater:
    Type: AWS::SSM::Parameter
    Properties: 
      Description: WebsiteBucket S3 bucket
      Name: BucketList
      Type: StringList
      Value: 
        Fn::Join:
          - ','
          - - Ref: Bucket1
            - Ref: Bucket2

Template Example to Create SSM Parameter using CloudFormation in JSON

Once you have the template in YAML or JSON, you can convert it to JSON or YAML. I have got you covered here: Convert a CloudFormation Template from YAML to JSON and Vice Versa

String type parameter:

{
    "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
    "Parameters": {
        "DevBucketName": {
            "Type": "String",
            "Default": "dev-bucket"
        }
    },
    "Resources": {
        "BucketNameParamater": {
            "Type": "AWS::SSM::Parameter",
            "Properties": {
                "Description": "WebsiteBucket S3 bucket",
                "Name": "WebsiteBucket",
                "Type": "String",
                "Value": {
                    "Ref": "DevBucketName"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

StringList type parameter

{
    "AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
    "Parameters": {
        "Bucket1": {
            "Type": "String",
            "Default": "dev-bucket"
        },
        "Bucket2": {
            "Type": "String",
            "Default": "test-bucket"
        }
    },
    "Resources": {
        "BucketListParamater": {
            "Type": "AWS::SSM::Parameter",
            "Properties": {
                "Description": "WebsiteBucket S3 bucket",
                "Name": "BucketList",
                "Type": "StringList",
                "Value": {
                    "Fn::Join": [
                        ",",
                        [
                            {
                                "Ref": "Bucket1"
                            },
                            {
                                "Ref": "Bucket2"
                            }
                        ]
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Conclusion:

To sum up, we discussed how to create an SSM parameter using CloudFormation. We also discussed the permission required to do the same.

You can also check out my post on how to deploy a CloudFormation template to AWS using AWS CLI.

Apart from that, I shared the template to create SSM parameters in YML and JSON both for parameter type String and StringList.

If you find any issues while creating the SSM parameter, please leave a comment below. I would be happy to help.

Enjoyed the content?

Subscribe to our newsletter below to get awesome AWS learning materials delivered straight to your inbox.

Don’t forget to motivate me by-

• Adding a comment below on what you liked and what can be improved.
• Follow us on
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  •  LinkedIn
  •  Instagram
• Share this post with your friends

Suggested Read:

• AWS Serverless Application Model(SAM): All You Need to Know
• Serverless Services on S3: Complete List With Explanation
• How to Create an EC2 Instance in an existing VPC using CloudFormation
• Attach an IAM Role to an EC2 Instance using CloudFormation
• Automated Deployment of a react App from CodeCommit to S3
• Basics Of Cyber Security for Beginners
• Most common cyber attacks in 2020
• This is why S3 bucket names are unique globally
• Things You Should Know about AWS SQS Dead Letter Queue
• Basics of Serverless Computing
• Hello and Welcome to CloudKatha(First Post)