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CloudFormation – How to validate ACM SSL certificate

Andrei Maksimov

Andrei Maksimov

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Table of contents

In this article I’ll show you, how to use CloudFormation custom resources to automate ACM SSL certificate validation using DNS.

Here’s the list of technologies to be used:

  • Python 3.
  • boto3.
  • CloudFormation.

Final version of CloudFormation template is available at GitHub.

Automation process

Let’s start automating our task from simple CloudFormation template with, which creates ACM Certificate resource.

ACM Certificate resource

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Description: >
  This CloudFormation template validates ACM certificate
  using AWS Route53 DNS service.  

Parameters:
  Route53HostedZoneName:
    Type: String
  DomainName:
    Type: String

Resources:
  ACMCertificate:
    Type: AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate
    Properties:
      DomainName: !Ref DomainName
      SubjectAlternativeNames:
        - !Sub "*.${DomainName}"
      ValidationMethod: DNS

Outputs:
  ACMCertificateArn:
    Value: !Ref ACMCertificate

As soon as we try to create a stack from this template, we’ll immidiately see, that in Events section of our stack there’s a Status reason field for ACMCertificate resource, which contains the following message:

Content of DNS Record is: {Name: _8c764e0f4e100a01c2d710674388e7d7.awsam.hands-on.cloud.,Type: CNAME,Value: _f10faf50b877f1c7d80cf6c26535acd8.kirrbxfjtw.acm-validations.aws.}

This message can be used to automate Route53 records creation during stack deployment. And CloudFormation custom resources will help us at this part.

CloudFormation custom resource

To solve the problem in general, we need the following information:

  • Stack name – we’ll use Python boto3 library to get access to CloudFormation stack events to parse for required DNS record.
  • Route53 Hosted Zone name – we’ll use Python boto3 library to create necessary DNS records in our Hosted Zone.

Let’s extend our template with required resources:

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Description: >
  This CloudFormation template validates ACM certificate
  using AWS Route53 DNS service.  

Parameters:
  Route53HostedZoneName:
    Type: String
  DomainName:
    Type: String

Resources:
  ACMCertificate:
    Type: AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate
    Properties:
      DomainName: !Ref DomainName
      SubjectAlternativeNames:
        - !Sub "*.${DomainName}"
      ValidationMethod: DNS

  ACMCertificateValidationResource:
    Type: Custom::ACMCertificateValidation
    Properties:
      ServiceToken: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunction.Arn
      Route53HostedZoneName: !Ref Route53HostedZoneName
      StackName: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'

  ACMLambdaFunctionRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: '2012-10-17'
        Statement:
        - Effect: Allow
          Principal:
            Service:
              - lambda.amazonaws.com
          Action:
            - sts:AssumeRole
      Path: "/"
      Policies:
      - PolicyName: root
        PolicyDocument:
          Version: '2012-10-17'
          Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Action:
              - logs:CreateLogGroup
              - logs:CreateLogStream
              - logs:PutLogEvents
            Resource: '*'
          - Effect: Allow
            Action:
              - route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets
              - route53:ListHostedZonesByName
              - cloudformation:DescribeStackEvents
            Resource: '*'

  ACMLambdaFunction:
    Type: AWS::Lambda::Function
    Properties:
      Runtime: python3.7
      Timeout: '300'
      Handler: index.handler
      Role: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunctionRole.Arn
      Code:
        ZipFile:
          !Sub
            - |-
              #!/usr/bin/env python3

              import cfnresponse
              import boto3
              import logging
              import traceback

              CFN_CLIENT = boto3.client('cloudformation')

              LOGGER = logging.getLogger()
              LOGGER.setLevel(logging.INFO)

              def handler(event, context):
                try:
                  LOGGER.info('Event structure: %s', event)

                except Exception as e:
                  LOGGER.error(e)
                  traceback.print_exc()
                finally:
                  cfnresponse.send(event, context, cfnresponse.SUCCESS, {})              
            -
              stack_name: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'
              acm_certificate_resource_arn: !Ref ACMCertificate


Outputs:
  ACMCertificateArn:
    Value: !Ref ACMCertificate

Creating CloudFormation Stack from this template will create a custom resource ACMCertificateValidationResource backed by ACMLambdaFunction, which right now has very basic logic – instantiate required libraries, CloudFormation boto3 client and print us event object, which handles parameters passed to ACMLambdaFunction.

{
    "RequestType": "Create",
    "ServiceToken": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:819962779546:function:cfm-r53-test-ACMLambdaFunction-NI4EAH0T5OUM",
    "ResponseURL": "https://cloudformation-custom-resource-response-useast1.s3.amazonaws.com/arn%3Aaws%3Acloudformation%3Aus-east-1%3A819962779546%3Astack/cfm-r53-test/14c784d0-1631-11ea-adc9-0ed2247e0ea9%7CACMCertificateValidationResource%7Cbd5a9206-7029-4608-9083-724a292bc51a?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20191204T005812Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=7200&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6L7Q4OWT5LA3SVU2%2F20191204%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=37dbeb173ca5d32c899371aaf13da19cb73a2ec4a9f5945820b7bf64f265357c",
    "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-east-1:819962779546:stack/cfm-r53-test/14c784d0-1631-11ea-adc9-0ed2247e0ea9",
    "RequestId": "bd5a9206-7029-4608-9083-724a292bc51a",
    "LogicalResourceId": "ACMCertificateValidationResource",
    "ResourceType": "Custom::ACMCertificateValidation",
    "ResourceProperties": {
        "ServiceToken": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:819962779546:function:cfm-r53-test-ACMLambdaFunction-NI4EAH0T5OUM",
        "Route53HostedZoneName": "awsam.hands-on.cloud",
        "StackName": "cfm-r53-test"
    }
}

You may take a look on your own Event object at CloudWatch Logs.

Every single time ACMCertificateValidationResource resource is created, our Lambda function is called. So, all we need to do now, is to automate Route53 DNS record creation.

Let’s get access to CloudFormation stack event and grab Route53 DNS records information:

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Description: >
  This CloudFormation template validates ACM certificate
  using AWS Route53 DNS service.  

Parameters:
  Route53HostedZoneName:
    Type: String
  DomainName:
    Type: String

Resources:
  ACMCertificate:
    Type: AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate
    Properties:
      DomainName: !Ref DomainName
      SubjectAlternativeNames:
        - !Sub "*.${DomainName}"
      ValidationMethod: DNS

  ACMCertificateValidationResource:
    Type: Custom::ACMCertificateValidation
    Properties:
      ServiceToken: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunction.Arn
      Route53HostedZoneName: !Ref Route53HostedZoneName
      StackName: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'

  ACMLambdaFunctionRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: '2012-10-17'
        Statement:
        - Effect: Allow
          Principal:
            Service:
              - lambda.amazonaws.com
          Action:
            - sts:AssumeRole
      Path: "/"
      Policies:
      - PolicyName: root
        PolicyDocument:
          Version: '2012-10-17'
          Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Action:
              - logs:CreateLogGroup
              - logs:CreateLogStream
              - logs:PutLogEvents
            Resource: '*'
          - Effect: Allow
            Action:
              - route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets
              - route53:ListHostedZonesByName
              - cloudformation:DescribeStackEvents
            Resource: '*'

  ACMLambdaFunction:
    Type: AWS::Lambda::Function
    Properties:
      Runtime: python3.7
      Timeout: '300'
      Handler: index.handler
      Role: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunctionRole.Arn
      Code:
        ZipFile:
          !Sub
            - |-
              #!/usr/bin/env python3

              import cfnresponse
              import boto3
              import logging
              import traceback

              CFN_CLIENT = boto3.client('cloudformation')

              LOGGER = logging.getLogger()
              LOGGER.setLevel(logging.INFO)

              def get_route53_record_from_stack_events():
                status_reason_text = ''
                params = {'StackName': '${stack_name}'}

                while True:
                  cfn_response = CFN_CLIENT.describe_stack_events(**params)

                  LOGGER.info('Stack events: %s', cfn_response)

                  for event in cfn_response['StackEvents']:
                    if (
                      event['ResourceType'] == 'AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate' and
                      event['ResourceStatus'] == 'CREATE_IN_PROGRESS' and
                      'ResourceStatusReason' in event and
                          'Content of DNS Record' in event['ResourceStatusReason']
                    ):
                      status_reason_text = event['ResourceStatusReason']
                    if 'NextToken' in cfn_response:
                      params['NextToken'] = cfn_response['NextToken']

                  if status_reason_text != '':
                    break

                _dns_request_text=status_reason_text[status_reason_text.find("{")+1:status_reason_text.find("}")]
                _name_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[0]
                _type_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[1]
                _value_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[2]

                return {
                  'Name': _name_text.split(': ')[1],
                  'Type': _type_text.split(': ')[1],
                  'Value': _value_text.split(': ')[1]
                }

              def handler(event, context):
                try:
                  LOGGER.info('Event structure: %s', event)

                  LOGGER.info('Route 53 record: %s', get_route53_record_from_stack_events())

                except Exception as e:
                  LOGGER.error(e)
                  traceback.print_exc()
                finally:
                  cfnresponse.send(event, context, cfnresponse.SUCCESS, {})              
            -
              stack_name: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'


Outputs:
  ACMCertificateArn:
    Value: !Ref ACMCertificate

Here we used describe_stack_events() call to get all events from our stack, looped through all of them till we find the right one, which contains Content of DNS Record. Next we parsed the event string and form the following dict:

{
  "Name": "_8c764e0f4e100a01c2d710674388e7d7.awsam.hands-on.cloud.",
  "Type": "CNAME",
  "Value": "_f10faf50b877f1c7d80cf6c26535acd8.kirrbxfjtw.acm-validations.aws."
}

At this point of time, you should see the following line at CloudWatch logs of your Lambda function:

Route 53 record: {'Name': '_8c764e0f4e100a01c2d710674388e7d7.awsam.hands-on.cloud.', 'Type': 'CNAME', 'Value': '_f10faf50b877f1c7d80cf6c26535acd8.kirrbxfjtw.acm-validations.aws.'}

Complete example

Now, all we have to do, is to modify our lambda function and create a Route53 record:

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: 2010-09-09
Description: >
  This CloudFormation template validates ACM certificate using AWS Route53 DNS
  service.  
Parameters:
  Route53HostedZoneName:
    Type: String
  DomainName:
    Type: String
Resources:
  ACMCertificate:
    Type: 'AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate'
    Properties:
      DomainName: !Ref DomainName
      SubjectAlternativeNames:
        - !Sub '*.${DomainName}'
      ValidationMethod: DNS
  ACMCertificateValidationResource:
    Type: 'Custom::ACMCertificateValidation'
    Properties:
      ServiceToken: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunction.Arn
      Route53HostedZoneName: !Ref Route53HostedZoneName
      StackName: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'
  ACMLambdaFunctionRole:
    Type: 'AWS::IAM::Role'
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument:
        Version: 2012-10-17
        Statement:
          - Effect: Allow
            Principal:
              Service:
                - lambda.amazonaws.com
            Action:
              - 'sts:AssumeRole'
      Path: /
      Policies:
        - PolicyName: root
          PolicyDocument:
            Version: 2012-10-17
            Statement:
              - Effect: Allow
                Action:
                  - 'logs:CreateLogGroup'
                  - 'logs:CreateLogStream'
                  - 'logs:PutLogEvents'
                Resource: '*'
              - Effect: Allow
                Action:
                  - 'route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets'
                  - 'route53:ListHostedZonesByName'
                  - 'cloudformation:DescribeStackEvents'
                Resource: '*'
  ACMLambdaFunction:
    Type: 'AWS::Lambda::Function'
    Properties:
      Runtime: python3.7
      Timeout: '300'
      Handler: index.handler
      Role: !GetAtt ACMLambdaFunctionRole.Arn
      Code:
        ZipFile: !Sub
          - |-
            #!/usr/bin/env python3

            import cfnresponse
            import boto3
            import logging
            import traceback

            CFN_CLIENT = boto3.client('cloudformation')
            ROUTE53_CLIENT = boto3.client('route53')

            LOGGER = logging.getLogger()
            LOGGER.setLevel(logging.INFO)

            def get_route53_record_from_stack_events(stack_name):
              status_reason_text = ''
              params = {'StackName': stack_name}

              while True:
                cfn_response = CFN_CLIENT.describe_stack_events(**params)

                LOGGER.info('Stack events: %s', cfn_response)

                for event in cfn_response['StackEvents']:
                  if (
                    event['ResourceType'] == 'AWS::CertificateManager::Certificate' and
                    event['ResourceStatus'] == 'CREATE_IN_PROGRESS' and
                    'ResourceStatusReason' in event and
                        'Content of DNS Record' in event['ResourceStatusReason']
                  ):
                    status_reason_text = event['ResourceStatusReason']
                  if 'NextToken' in cfn_response:
                    params['NextToken'] = cfn_response['NextToken']

                if status_reason_text != '':
                  break

              _dns_request_text=status_reason_text[status_reason_text.find("{")+1:status_reason_text.find("}")]
              _name_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[0]
              _type_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[1]
              _value_text = _dns_request_text.split(',')[2]

              return {
                'Name': _name_text.split(': ')[1],
                'Type': _type_text.split(': ')[1],
                'Value': _value_text.split(': ')[1]
              }

            def handler(event, context):
              try:
                LOGGER.info('Event structure: %s', event)

                if event['RequestType'] == 'Create':

                  stack_name = event['ResourceProperties']['StackName']
                  hosted_zone_name = event['ResourceProperties']['Route53HostedZoneName']

                  route53_record = get_route53_record_from_stack_events(stack_name)
                  LOGGER.info('Route 53 record: %s', route53_record)

                  route53_response = ROUTE53_CLIENT.list_hosted_zones_by_name(DNSName=hosted_zone_name)
                  hosted_zone_id = route53_response['HostedZones'][0]['Id']
                  route53_request_params = {
                    'HostedZoneId': hosted_zone_id,
                    'ChangeBatch': {
                      'Changes': [
                        {
                          'Action': 'UPSERT',
                          'ResourceRecordSet': {
                            'Name': route53_record['Name'],
                            'Type': route53_record['Type'],
                            'TTL': 60,
                            'ResourceRecords': [
                              {
                                'Value': route53_record['Value']
                              }
                            ]
                          }
                        }
                      ]
                    }
                  }
                  LOGGER.info('Route 53 request params: %s', route53_request_params)
                  ROUTE53_CLIENT.change_resource_record_sets(**route53_request_params)

              except Exception as e:
                LOGGER.error(e)
                traceback.print_exc()
              finally:
                cfnresponse.send(event, context, cfnresponse.SUCCESS, {})            
          - stack_name: !Ref 'AWS::StackName'
Outputs:
  ACMCertificateArn:
    Value: !Ref ACMCertificate

And finally, we added boto3 Route53 client, which allowed us to use change_resource_record_sets(**params) call to create and/or modify.

Summary

In this article we walked through step-by-step process of ACM certificate automation in CloudFomation template using custom resource.

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Andrei Maksimov

Andrei Maksimov

I’m a passionate Cloud Infrastructure Architect with more than 15 years of experience in IT. Any of my posts represent my personal experience and opinion about the topic.
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