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About Workloads

Workloads are packages of infrastructure-as-code that can be deployed to one or more AWS accounts from a single location. You can define your AWS resources and Stax will manage the orchestration of deployment, versioning and termination. Once uploaded, Workloads are added to the Catalog, available for other users in your Organization to use, provided they have the required permissions. Stax acts as a buffer between build tools and AWS, ensuring secure deployment of infrastructure.

Stax Workloads allow you to deploy CloudFormation stack deployments across your AWS Accounts while ensuring repeatability and reliable replication using its robust versioning functionality.

How To Use Workloads​

Workloads are accessible programmatically via the API or via the Console. Within the Console, Workloads is divided into two sections:

  1. All Workloads lists all the deployed workloads in your Stax accounts. A card is displayed for each deployed instance of a workload. You can deploy workloads into your accounts as many times as you like, and a card will be shown on the All Workloads page for each deployment

  2. Catalog lists all the workloads available for deployment into your Stax Accounts. Selecting a workload from the catalog allows for deployment into a Stax Account of either the latest or a previous version of the workload.

What is the Workload Catalog?​

The Workload Catalog is an inventory of all Workloads that can be deployed into your Stax-managed AWS Accounts. It shows both Workloads created, defined, and verified by Stax (indicated with a blue checkmark), and Workloads created by you or someone in your organization.

Each item in the catalog represents a Workload that can be deployed into your accounts. It includes all deployable versions of the Workload, defaulting to showing the latest or "current" version.

What is a Workload Manifest?​

A Workload Manifest is a definition file for a Workload. It is a YAML file that describes one or more CloudFormation templates which deploy the resources within your workload. The manifest is interpreted by Stax, transformed into a Workload Catalog Item, and made available within the Workload Catalog for deployment.

You can find more information on manifest files on the Create a Workload Manifest page. Once you have created a manifest file, you should add it to the Workload Catalog.

Deploying a Workload​

Once you have uploaded your manifest file, the new Workload, or Workload version, becomes available for deployment. You can deploy this Workload to any of your Stax-managed AWS accounts, or even to all of them at once using the API.

Updating a Workload​

As you iterate on the resources and specifications of your Workload, you'll likely want to upload new versions. When a new version of a Workload is available in the Catalog, you can update deployed Workloads individually in the Console, or all deployments at once using the API.