How to Deploy AWS CDK Stacks to Multiple Accounts

AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is a framework that allows you to define and provision your cloud infrastructure using familiar programming languages. You can use AWS CDK to create and manage various AWS resources, such as EC2 instances, S3 buckets, Lambda functions, and more.

However, if you have a complex application that requires multiple environments, such as development, testing, and production, you may need to deploy your AWS CDK stacks to multiple AWS accounts. This can help you isolate your resources, improve your security, and simplify your billing.

In this blog post, we will show you how to deploy AWS CDK stacks to multiple accounts using different tools and methods. We will also explain some of the benefits and limitations of each tool and method.

What are AWS CDK Stacks and Environments?

AWS CDK stacks are the unit of deployment in AWS CDK. A stack is a collection of AWS resources that are created and managed as a single unit. A stack is defined by a class that extends the cdk.Stack construct. You can create multiple stacks in your AWS CDK app to organize your resources logically or functionally.

AWS CDK environments are the target AWS account and region where you want to deploy your stack. An environment is defined by an object that has two properties: account and region. You can specify an environment for each stack in your AWS CDK app explicitly or implicitly.

Explicitly specifying an environment means providing the account and region values when you instantiate your stack class. For example:

This code creates two instances of MyStack class with different environment values.

Implicitly specifying an environment means omitting the account and region values when you instantiate your stack class. For example:

This code creates an instance of MyStack class with an undefined environment value. In this case, the stack will use the default credentials and region from your AWS CLI configuration or environment variables.

How to Deploy AWS CDK Stacks to Multiple Accounts?

To deploy AWS CDK stacks to multiple accounts, you need to have the following:

• An AWS CDK app that defines one or more stacks with explicit or implicit environment values.
• One or more AWS accounts that are configured with AWS SSO or IAM roles for accessing the target environments.
• A tool or process that can obtain, refresh, and use the credentials for each environment. Some examples are:
  • aws-cli: aws-cli is a command-line tool that allows you to interact with AWS services. It supports AWS SSO authentication and credential management since version 2.1.0.
  • cdk-assume-role-credential-plugin: cdk-assume-role-credential-plugin is a third-party plugin that allows the AWS CDK CLI to automatically obtain credentials from a stack’s target account by assuming a role in that account.
  • cdk-pipelines: cdk-pipelines is a construct library that allows you to create continuous delivery pipelines for your AWS CDK apps using CodePipeline.

The steps to deploy AWS CDK stacks to multiple accounts are as follows:

1. Choose a tool or process that suits your needs and preferences. For example, if you want to use aws-cli, you need to install it on your machine or instance. If you want to use cdk-assume-role-credential-plugin or cdk-pipelines, you need to install them using npm or pip.
2. Configure your tool or process with your user identity and permission set information. You can use different commands or methods depending on the tool or process you use. For example, if you use aws-cli, you can use the following command:

This command will prompt you to enter your start URL, region, account ID, permission set name, and profile name for your AWS SSO configuration. 3. Deploy your AWS CDK stacks using the tool or process and the chosen profile or role for each environment. You can use different commands or methods depending on the tool or process you use. For example, if you use aws-cli, you can use the following command:

This command will deploy all the stacks in your app that match the profile’s environment value.

Tips and Best Practices for Deploying AWS CDK Stacks to Multiple Accounts

Here are some tips and best practices to help you deploy AWS CDK stacks to multiple accounts effectively:

• Before deploying your AWS CDK stacks, make sure that you have configured your AWS CDK settings and environments correctly. You can use the AWS CDK console or the AWS CDK API to manage your settings and environments.
• Before deploying your AWS CDK stacks, make sure that you have installed and updated your tool or process to the latest version. You can use the –version command or option to check the version of your tool or process.
• After deploying your AWS CDK stacks, make sure that you monitor and debug your resources using tools like AWS CloudFormation, AWS CloudTrail, or AWS X-Ray. You can also use the cdk diff and cdk destroy commands to compare and delete your stacks.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have shown you how to deploy AWS CDK stacks to multiple accounts using different tools and methods. We have also explained some of the benefits and limitations of each tool and method.

We hope this post has helped you understand how to use AWS CDK to create and manage your cloud infrastructure across multiple environments. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below.