extract-aws-resource-specifications.md

How to extract AWS resource specifications

Former2 creates templates from existing AWS resources. It can be used to reverse engineer an AWS Cloudformation.

Although Former2 can also be run on the internet at former2.com, you may want to run it locally.

Running Former2 locally

1. Clone repository. Example:

   mkdir ~/misc.git
   cd ~/misc.git
   git clone https://github.com/iann0036/former2.git

2. Run docker-compose formation. Example:

   cd ~/misc.git/former2
   docker-compose up

3. Former2 can be viewed at localhost

Extracting

At this point, access former2.com on the internet or locally at localhost.

1. In upper-right, select the appropriate AWS region.
2. In left-hand navigation, expand Setup
   1. Under Setup, select Introduction
      1. Add the browser helper for the specific browser.
   2. Under Setup, select Credentials
      1. Enter your AWS credentials
      2. If successful, Logged in as: will show your account.
   3. Under Setup, select Settings
      1. Turn Enable Related Resources on.
      2. Other changes are optional.
3. In upper-right, click green Scan Account button.
   1. There may be some errors for access errors. In general, they may be ignored.
4. Select Resources to extract.
   1. In left-hand navigation, select Dashboard
      1. Choose AWS resources to extract.
   2. In left-hand navigation, select Search
      1. Search for AWS resources to extract.
      2. Example: "taskdefinition"
5. In upper-left, click blue Generate button.
   1. The result will be a CloudFormation template with the selected AWS resource specifications.
   2. The contents can be copied and pasted into a text file to be shared.