CloudFormation Deployment

This guide covers deploying AxonFlow using AWS CloudFormation through the AWS Marketplace.

Deployment Overview

• Deployment Time: 15-20 minutes
• Deployment Method: AWS CloudFormation (one-click)
• Target: Customer VPC (In-VPC deployment)
• Prerequisites: VPC with public and private subnets

Step 1: Subscribe on AWS Marketplace

1. Navigate to AWS Marketplace
2. Search for "AxonFlow" or use direct link
3. Click "Continue to Subscribe"
4. Review pricing and terms
5. Click "Subscribe"
6. Wait for subscription confirmation (usually instant)

Step 2: Configure Deployment

After subscribing, click "Continue to Configuration":

Select Region

Choose your preferred AWS Region. Consider:

• Proximity to Users: Lower latency
• Data Residency: Compliance requirements
• Service Availability: All regions support ECS/Fargate

Recommended Regions:

• us-east-1 (N. Virginia) - AWS's most feature-complete region
• us-west-2 (Oregon) - West coast alternative
• eu-west-1 (Ireland) - European deployment
• ap-southeast-1 (Singapore) - Asia-Pacific

Software Version

Select the latest version (default). Version format: 1.x.x

Step 3: Launch CloudFormation

Click "Continue to Launch" and select:

• Action: "Launch CloudFormation"
• Click "Launch"

This opens the AWS CloudFormation console.

Step 4: Create Stack

Stack Name

Enter a descriptive stack name:

axonflow-production
axonflow-pilot
axonflow-staging

Naming Guidelines:

• Use lowercase with hyphens
• Include environment (prod/staging/dev)
• Maximum 128 characters
• Must be unique in region

Parameters

Pricing Tier

Select your pricing tier:

Tier	Monthly Cost	Max Requests	MCP Connectors	Max Agents
Pilot	$7,000	50,000	2	100
Growth	$15,000	500,000	5	1,000
Enterprise	$25,000	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited

Recommendation: Start with Pilot for 4-week evaluation.

Network Configuration

VPC ID (VpcId)

• Select your existing VPC
• Must have internet gateway attached
• Minimum CIDR: /24 (256 IP addresses)

Public Subnets (PublicSubnet1, PublicSubnet2)

• For Application Load Balancer
• Must have route to Internet Gateway
• Must be in different Availability Zones
• Minimum /28 (16 IPs each)

Private Subnets (PrivateSubnet1, PrivateSubnet2)

• For ECS tasks and RDS database
• Must be in different Availability Zones
• Minimum /24 (256 IPs each)
• NAT Gateway recommended (for ECR image pulls)

Subnet Requirements:

Subnet Layout Example:
├── Public Subnet AZ1:  10.0.1.0/24 (AZ: us-east-1a)
├── Public Subnet AZ2:  10.0.2.0/24 (AZ: us-east-1b)
├── Private Subnet AZ1: 10.0.10.0/24 (AZ: us-east-1a)
└── Private Subnet AZ2: 10.0.11.0/24 (AZ: us-east-1b)

Database Configuration

Database Password (DBPassword)

• Minimum 16 characters
• Include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols
• Do NOT use: @, /, ", or spaces
• Example: AxonFlow2025!SecureDB#Pass

Store this password securely - you'll need it for database access.

Database Instance Class (DBInstanceClass)

Class	vCPU	RAM	Use Case
db.t3.medium	2	4 GB	Pilot/Development (default)
db.t3.large	2	8 GB	Growth tier
db.r5.large	2	16 GB	High-memory workloads
db.r5.xlarge	4	32 GB	Enterprise (high traffic)

Recommendation: Use default db.t3.medium for Pilot tier.

AxonFlow Configuration

Agent Desired Count (AgentDesiredCount)

• Default: 5 tasks
• Range: 1-50
• Scales automatically based on CPU
• Recommendation: Start with 5

Orchestrator Desired Count (OrchestratorDesiredCount)

• Default: 10 tasks
• Range: 1-50
• Scales automatically based on CPU
• Recommendation: Start with 10

Step 5: Configure Stack Options

Tags

Add tags for organization:

Key: Environment    Value: Production
Key: Project        Value: AI-Platform
Key: CostCenter     Value: Engineering
Key: Owner          Value: ai-team@company.com

Permissions

IAM Role: Leave default (creates new role)

Stack Policy: Not required

Stack Failure Options

Rollback on failure: Enabled (recommended)

Delete newly created resources: Enabled

Step 6: Review and Create

1. Review all parameters carefully
2. Acknowledge IAM capabilities:
   • ☑ "I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources"
   • ☑ "I acknowledge that AWS CloudFormation might create IAM resources with custom names"
3. Click "Submit" or "Create stack"

Step 7: Monitor Deployment

Watch the CloudFormation console for progress:

Expected Timeline

Time	Status	Description
0-2 min	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	Security groups, IAM roles
2-5 min	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	RDS subnet group
5-15 min	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	RDS database (longest step)
15-18 min	CREATE_IN_PROGRESS	ECS cluster, task definitions
18-20 min	CREATE_COMPLETE	All resources created

Events Tab

Monitor detailed progress:

Resource                      Status              Timestamp
AxonFlowDatabase             CREATE_IN_PROGRESS  2025-10-23 10:05:32
AgentSecurityGroup           CREATE_COMPLETE     2025-10-23 10:05:45
DBSecurityGroup              CREATE_COMPLETE     2025-10-23 10:05:47
AxonFlowDatabase             CREATE_COMPLETE     2025-10-23 10:18:22
AgentTaskDefinition          CREATE_COMPLETE     2025-10-23 10:18:55
AgentService                 CREATE_COMPLETE     2025-10-23 10:19:30

Step 8: Retrieve Outputs

After CREATE_COMPLETE, go to Outputs tab:

Key Outputs

AgentEndpoint

https://internal-axonflow-alb-1234567890.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com

• Your AxonFlow API endpoint
• Use for all API calls
• Internal load balancer (VPC-only)

DatabaseEndpoint

axonflow-prod-db.abc123xyz.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com:5432

• PostgreSQL endpoint
• Use for direct database access (if needed)

ClusterName

axonflow-production-cluster

• ECS cluster name
• Use for AWS CLI commands

Save these values in your secrets manager or configuration system.

Common Issues During Deployment

Issue: "Insufficient subnet capacity"

Cause: Private subnets too small for RDS + ECS tasks

Solution:

• Use /24 subnets (256 IPs) for private subnets
• Or reduce Agent/Orchestrator desired counts

Issue: "RDS creation failed - password invalid"

Cause: Password contains invalid characters

Solution:

• Avoid: @, /, ", spaces
• Use: Letters, numbers, !, #, $, %, ^, &, *

Issue: "Stack creation stuck at RDS"

Cause: RDS creation takes 10-15 minutes (normal)

Solution: Wait patiently, this is expected behavior

Issue: "Insufficient permissions"

Cause: IAM user lacks CloudFormation permissions

Solution: Ensure IAM user has:

{
  "Action": [
    "cloudformation:*",
    "ec2:*",
    "rds:*",
    "ecs:*",
    "iam:*",
    "elasticloadbalancing:*",
    "logs:*",
    "secretsmanager:*"
  ],
  "Effect": "Allow",
  "Resource": "*"
}

Post-Deployment Validation

1. Test Health Endpoint

AGENT_ENDPOINT="YOUR_AGENT_ENDPOINT_FROM_OUTPUTS"
curl -k ${AGENT_ENDPOINT}/health

Expected response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "components": {
    "database": "connected",
    "orchestrator": "reachable"
  }
}

2. Check ECS Services

aws ecs describe-services \
  --cluster axonflow-production-cluster \
  --services axonflow-production-agent-service \
  --region us-east-1

Look for runningCount matching desiredCount.

3. Verify Database

DB_ENDPOINT="YOUR_DB_ENDPOINT_FROM_OUTPUTS"
DB_PASSWORD="YOUR_DB_PASSWORD"

psql -h ${DB_ENDPOINT} -U axonflow -d axonflow -c "SELECT version();"

Updating the Stack

To modify parameters after deployment:

1. Go to CloudFormation console
2. Select your stack
3. Click "Update"
4. Choose "Use current template"
5. Modify parameters (e.g., increase Agent count)
6. Review and update

Zero-downtime updates for:

• Agent/Orchestrator desired counts
• Auto-scaling parameters
• Tags

Requires brief downtime for:

• Database instance class changes
• VPC/subnet changes

Deleting the Stack

To remove AxonFlow:

1. Go to CloudFormation console
2. Select your stack
3. Click "Delete"
4. Confirm deletion

Important:

• RDS database creates final snapshot (DeletionPolicy: Snapshot)
• Snapshot name: [stack-name]-db-final-snapshot-[timestamp]
• Restore from snapshot if needed later
• ECS tasks terminate gracefully (connection draining)

Next Steps

1. Post-Deployment Configuration
2. Configure MCP Connectors
3. Set Up Monitoring
4. Create Policies