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AWS OpsWorks - Runbook & Reference

中文 · GitHub source Facts verified against official AWS documentation: 2026-08-19

Overview

AWS OpsWorks (OpsWorks Stacks) was a configuration management service that used Chef to automate the configuration and operation of EC2 instances, including layers, stacks, auto-healing, and deployments. OpsWorks Stacks reached end of life: it stopped accepting new customers and was discontinued for all customers on May 26, 2024. Do not build new workloads on OpsWorks.

Key concepts (historical)

  • Stack: a container for resources and configuration that belongs to one Region.
  • Layer: a group of EC2 instances with the same configuration and recipes (for example, app, web, database layers).
  • Recipes and cookbooks: Chef scripts that configure instances; OpsWorks ran them during lifecycle events (setup, configure, deploy, undeploy, shutdown).
  • Auto healing and scaling: OpsWorks replaced failed instances and scaled layers with load-based or time-based instances.
  • Deployments: deploys updated application code to instances in a layer.
  • Status: service discontinued on May 26, 2024 for new and existing customers; AWS recommends migrating workloads to other solutions.

Common operations

No new OpsWorks resources can be created. If you still operate legacy resources, AWS's end-of-life guidance applies; plan migration using current alternatives:

# Manage the underlying resources directly with current services
aws ec2 describe-instances
aws cloudformation list-stacks
aws ssm describe-instance-information
aws codedeploy list-applications

Migration options

  • Configuration management: use AWS Systems Manager (Run Command, State Manager, Patch Manager) instead of Chef lifecycle recipes.
  • Infrastructure as code: AWS CloudFormation or Terraform for stack/layer-style templates; EC2 user data or custom AMIs for bootstrap.
  • Deployments: AWS CodeDeploy or CI/CD pipelines (CodePipeline) for application releases.
  • Containers: Amazon ECS/EKS or AWS App Runner for containerized workloads that OpsWorks may have hosted.
  • Managed platforms: Elastic Beanstalk for web/worker applications that previously used OpsWorks stacks.

Best practices

  • Do not start new projects on OpsWorks; it is discontinued.
  • Inventory legacy OpsWorks-managed instances and map them to current services (SSM for operations, CloudFormation for infrastructure, CodeDeploy for deployment).
  • Test the migration on a subset of workloads before decommissioning the old stacks.
  • Remove unused OpsWorks IAM roles and resources after migration.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Checks and fixes
Cannot create a stack Expected: OpsWorks Stacks is discontinued (May 26, 2024); use current configuration management services.
Legacy stacks still running Migrate workloads to Systems Manager, CloudFormation, CodeDeploy, and container/managed platforms; then decommission.
Chef recipes in use Port recipes to SSM documents (or user data), and application deployments to CodeDeploy.

Limits

OpsWorks Stacks is discontinued; no new resources can be created. See the AWS OpsWorks end-of-life guidance and current service quotas for migration targets.

Official references