Question

A SysOps administrator manages a production application defined in an AWS CloudFormation stack. The stack includes an EC2 instance with an attached EBS data volume defined as a separate AWS::EC2::Volume resource, plus an AWS::EC2::VolumeAttachment. The team wants to change the EC2 instance type from t3.medium to m5.large by updating the template. During a change set review, they notice the instance will be replaced. The administrator must ensure that the data on the EBS data volume is NOT lost during this stack update. Which approach meets this requirement with the least risk?

Accepted Answer

The separate EBS Volume resource is not replaced by the instance-type change, so the data volume persists; verify the change set shows only the instance being replaced and the VolumeAttachment being updated, then proceed with the update.

Answer

Add a DeletionPolicy of Retain to the EC2 instance resource so CloudFormation preserves the instance and its attached data during the update.

Answer

Change the instance type in the console outside of CloudFormation to avoid triggering a replacement, then update the template afterward to match.

Answer

Add an UpdateReplacePolicy of Snapshot to the EC2 instance resource so the data volume is snapshotted before the instance is replaced.