Merge pull request #1291 from guardian/aa-stateful-resource

docs: Add documentation on stateful resources

docs/stateful-resources.md

@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+# Stateful Resources
+We'll define a stateful resource as one that will cause downtime for users of the application if accidentally deleted.
+
+This may include, for example:
+- Databases
+- Messaging streams (Kinesis, SNS, SQS)
+- S3 Buckets
+
+The recommendation is to employ CD via Riff-Raff with your CDK stack. See [here](setting-up-a-gucdk-project.md) for more detail.
+
+One of the benefits this brings is Riff-Raff, by default, will not perform a deployment if it will result in the removal of a [stateful resource](https://github.com/guardian/riff-raff/blob/9d3f994e0e4f78dd7d2d4c37588a94ac5b45636f/magenta-lib/src/main/scala/magenta/tasks/SetStackPolicyTask.scala#L29-L71). That is, Riff-Raff protects stateful resources.
+
+However, we should not depend on Riff-Raff as there's no guarantee that it's exhaustive.
+
+For this reason, it's important to understand why a resource (stateful or otherwise) might be deleted from a stack.
+
+## Why a stateful resource might be deleted
+### Changes to a resource's Logical ID
+Within the anatomy of a CloudFormation template, logical IDs are used to uniquely identify resources.
+
+Indeed, from the [AWS CloudFormation docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/resources-section-structure.html):
+
+> The logical ID must be alphanumeric (A-Za-z0-9) and unique within the template. Use the logical name to reference the resource in other parts of the template.
+
+A change to a logical ID is viewed as a deletion of one resource, and creation of a new one.
+
+From the [AWS CDK docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/identifiers.html#identifiers_logical_ids):
+
+> Avoid changing the logical ID of a resource after it has been created. Since AWS CloudFormation identifies resources by their logical ID, if you change the logical ID of a resource, AWS CloudFormation deletes the existing resource, and then creates a new resource with the new logical ID, which may cause service interruption or data loss.
+
+### Property updates
+When updating the properties of some [resources](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-template-resource-type-ref.html), AWS is unable to perform the update in place. This is indicated by the "Update requires" section of the property definition, and further described [here](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-updating-stacks-update-behaviors.html).
+
+In most instances, replacement is expected:
+- [S3 bucket name](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-properties-s3-bucket.html#cfn-s3-bucket-name)
+- [DynamoDB table key schema](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-resource-dynamodb-table.html#cfn-dynamodb-table-keyschema)
+
+In some instances, replacement is expected but not destructive:
+- [EC2 launch configuration user data](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-resource-autoscaling-launchconfiguration.html#cfn-autoscaling-launchconfiguration-userdata)
+
+In some instances, replacement is unexpected:
+- [Security group description](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-properties-ec2-security-group.html#cfn-ec2-securitygroup-groupdescription)
+- [Application load balancer type](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-resource-elasticloadbalancingv2-loadbalancer.html#cfn-elasticloadbalancingv2-loadbalancer-type)
+
+## What can be done
+At a minimum, CD of your infrastructure with RIff-Raff should be configured. To provide a shorter feedback loop, the following can be used.
+
+### Logical ID
+When authoring a stack using GuCDK every resource will be added to a `GuStack`:
+
+```typescript
+class MyStack extends GuStack {
+  constructor(app: App, id: string, props: GuStackProps) {
+    super(app, id, props);
+
+    // resources for my stack
+    new Bucket(this, "DataBucket");
+  }
+}
+```
+
+When `MyStack` is synthesized into a CloudFormation template, we'll have a resource with a logical ID of `DataBucket<GUID>` as AWS CDK attempts to create uniqueness.
+
+When wanting to preserve the logical ID for a resource, one can call `overrideLogicalId` on `GuStack`:
+
+```typescript
+class MyStack extends GuStack {
+  constructor(app: App, id: string, props: GuStackProps) {
+    super(app, id, props);
+
+    // resources for my stack
+    const dataBucket = new Bucket(this, "DataBucket");
+    this.overrideLogicalId(dataBucket, {
+      logicalId: "DataBucket",
+      reason: "Retaining a stateful resource previously defined in YAML"
+    });
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Now, the synthesized template will have a resource with a logical ID of `DataBucket` (the `reason` is purely used to communicate to other developers why we're using a static logical ID).
+
+### Property updates
+AWS CDK wants to apply sensible default values to resource properties, for example retention policies on DynamoDB tables.
+
+Sometimes, however, it sets an optional property which, when changed, triggers a replacement. An example of this is the `ApplicationLoadBalancer` construct's setting of the `Type` property.
+
+GuCDK provides some constructs that essentially unset these properties. For example `GuApplicationLoadBalancer`. Please consult the [docs](https://guardian.github.io/cdk/) for more examples.
+
+### Use the CDK CLI
+We can perform a diff on a CDK stack and the template of a running CloudFormation stack using the [CDK CLI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/cli.html).
+
+When using the GuCDK project generator, this has been wrapped in the `diff` script:
+
+```shell
+npm run diff -- --profile <AWS PROFILE NAME> <STACK ID FROM bin/cdk.ts>
+```
+
+We can also use the CDK CLI to create a [change set](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-updating-stacks-changesets.html):
+
+```shell
+npx cdk deploy --no-execute --profile <AWS PROFILE NAME> <STACK ID FROM bin/cdk.ts>
+```
+
+The `--no-execute` flag is critical here, without it the change set will be [applied](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/using-cfn-updating-stacks-changesets-execute.html)!
+
+This will print a detailed, colour coded, summary of changes:
+  - Red for resource deletion
+  - Yellow for resource update
+  - Green for resource creation