AWS OpsWorks is a configuration management service that provides managed instances of Chef and Puppet, allowing users to automate the configuration of their AWS infrastructure. OpsWorks was designed to simplify the deployment, management, and scaling of applications by providing abstraction layers for managing infrastructure stacks. However, AWS announced the sunset of OpsWorks, with the service reaching its end of life on May 26, 2024. As a result, users are advised to migrate their applications and stacks to other AWS services, particularly AWS Systems Manager, or consider alternatives.
In this guide, we will cover the key features of OpsWorks, reasons for its discontinuation, the sunset timeline, migration strategies, and relevant use cases for developers and engineers who previously relied on OpsWorks.
Before diving into the sunset details, it’s important to understand what made AWS OpsWorks popular for configuration management:
• Chef and Puppet Integration: OpsWorks allowed users to run Chef or Puppet recipes to configure and automate instances.
• Stack and Layer Abstraction: Users could define stacks (groups of resources) and layers (specific roles for instances, such as a database layer) to manage infrastructure as code.
• Load-Based and Time-Based Scaling: OpsWorks provided automatic scaling capabilities based on server load or schedules.
• Application Deployment: OpsWorks enabled continuous deployment by managing code versions and application deployments.
• Monitoring and Logging: Users could track deployments, failures, and monitor resource usage through integrated AWS CloudWatch and logging services.
AWS OpsWorks officially reaches its end of life on May 26, 2024. Here is the timeline and what users need to know:
March 2024: AWS ceased accepting new customers for OpsWorks. Only existing customers can still create new stacks.
May 26, 2024: Full termination of the service. On this date, OpsWorks-related resources like the console, API, CLI, and CloudFormation templates will no longer be available.
Migration Tools Released: AWS has provided migration tools to help existing OpsWorks users move their workloads to AWS Systems Manager and other services.
After the sunset date, customers will retain access to their EC2 instances, but they will no longer be managed through the OpsWorks interface. Instead, AWS Systems Manager is recommended for ongoing instance management and configuration.