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Welcome — this step-by-step demo shows how to create and delete an AWS CloudFormation stack using a local template file. It’s ideal for beginners who want a quick, practical walkthrough. Prerequisites
  • Download the repository and make sure the file intro.yaml is available locally (this demo uses an intro.yaml file stored on the desktop).
  • An AWS account with permissions to create CloudFormation stacks, EC2 instances, and S3 buckets.
  • The AWS Management Console access for the region you plan to use.
Screenshot of a GitHub repository file list showing several YAML files (including cfn-init.yaml, ec2-instance.yaml and a highlighted intro.yaml) with the right sidebar showing repo stats and a "Releases" section. The Windows taskbar is visible at the bottom with system icons and a 43°C sunny weather indicator.
Overview
  • You will: upload a CloudFormation template, create a stack, verify resources (S3 and EC2), then delete the stack to clean up.
  • CloudFormation automates resource provisioning and lifecycle management using templates written in YAML or JSON.
Step 1 — Open CloudFormation in the Console
  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and search for “CloudFormation”.
  2. Open CloudFormation in a new tab to keep your repository tab available.
Step 2 — Start creating a stack from your template
  • On the CloudFormation console, choose to create a stack from an existing template. A stack represents the set of AWS resources defined in your template (for example, EC2 instances, S3 buckets, IAM roles).
A screenshot of the AWS CloudFormation "Create stack" page showing the "Prerequisite - Prepare template" section with options to choose an existing template or build from Infrastructure Composer. The left stepper highlights "Create stack" as Step 1 and the browser tabs and Windows taskbar are visible.
Step 3 — Upload your template file
  1. Select “Upload a template file”.
  2. Click Choose file and select your local intro.yaml.
  3. When you upload the template, CloudFormation stores it in a temporary, CloudFormation-managed S3 bucket for templates.
Example of the uploaded template information: 
intro.yaml
S3 URL: https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/cf-templates-vzm2aqs09qyo-us-east-2/2025-07-14T111410.871Zxha-intro.yaml
Step 4 — Configure stack options and create
  1. Click Next, and enter a stack name (this demo uses DemoStackIntro).
  2. Continue through Parameters, Tags, Permissions, and Advanced options. For this quick demo there are no parameters to change.
  3. Submit to create the stack.
A screenshot of the AWS CloudFormation "Create stack" console. The Stack name is set to "DemoStackIntro" and the Parameters panel shows "No parameters," with Previous and Next buttons visible at the bottom.
Step 5 — Monitor stack creation
  • After submission CloudFormation will begin provisioning resources defined in the template.
  • Monitor the stack status from the Stacks page. Wait until the stack reaches CREATE_COMPLETE — that indicates resources were created successfully.
A screenshot of the AWS CloudFormation "Stacks" console showing one stack named "DemoStackIntro." The stack status is "CREATE_COMPLETE" with a displayed creation timestamp.
Step 6 — Verify created resources
  • Open the S3 and EC2 consoles in the same AWS Region you used to create the stack (region mismatch is a common cause of “missing” resources).
S3
  • You should see two buckets: the CloudFormation-managed template storage bucket (used internally) and the bucket created by your template (for example, demo-stack-intro-bucket).
A screenshot of the Amazon S3 web console showing a "General purpose buckets" list with two S3 buckets, their names and creation dates. The page also displays controls like Create bucket, Copy ARN, Empty, and Delete.
EC2
  • You should see the EC2 instance launched by the template. Confirm the instance status (running) and the region (US East 2 in this demo).
If you don’t see the resources, confirm the Console’s region matches the region where you created the stack.
Helpful reference — CloudFormation resource types
Resource TypeUse CaseExample
S3 BucketObject storage for application data or templatesAWS::S3::Bucket
EC2 InstanceVirtual servers for compute workloadsAWS::EC2::Instance
IAM RolePermissions for instances or servicesAWS::IAM::Role
CloudFormation StackGroup of resources managed togetherAWS::CloudFormation::Stack
Step 7 — Clean up: delete the stack
  • To remove the resources, select your stack in the CloudFormation console and choose Delete stack.
  • CloudFormation will transition the stack to DELETE_IN_PROGRESS and attempt to remove all resources created by that stack. The process is visible on the Stacks page.
Screenshot of the AWS CloudFormation console showing one stack named "DemoStackIntro" with status "DELETE_IN_PROGRESS" and its creation timestamp. The page displays filter/search controls and stack action buttons at the top.
Important: CloudFormation attempts to delete resources it created, but certain resources may remain if they were modified after creation or have deletion prevention settings. Also, the CloudFormation-managed template storage bucket is retained by AWS and is not deleted with the stack.
When deletion completes:
  • The stack will no longer appear in the Stacks list.
  • The resources created by your template (for example, the template-defined S3 bucket and EC2 instance) should be removed.
Next steps
  • This article provides a high-level, practical demo. To go further:
    • Inspect the intro.yaml template to learn how Resources, Parameters, Outputs, and Metadata are defined.
    • Modify the template to add or change resources (for example, add tags or change instance types).
    • Explore CloudFormation best practices like modular templates, nested stacks, and use of Change Sets.
Links and references That’s the high-level workflow for creating and deleting a CloudFormation stack using a local template file. The next lesson will walk through the intro.yaml contents and explain each template section in detail.

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