Tasks for AWS 2.16

The Utoolity team is pleased to present Tasks for AWS 2.16 – this release adds a new task for the AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Parameter Store, adds an action to update AWS Step Functions state machines, adds support for the Amazon SQS event source in AWS Lambda, and adds support for Docker volumes and private registry authentication in Amazon ECS. You can now store and query secrets and configuration data remotely via the AWS Systems Manager Parameter task, update state machines via the AWS Step Functions State Machine task, use an SQS queue as event source within the AWS Lambda Event Source Mapping task, and use Docker volumes and private registries in the Amazon ECS Task Definition task.

Highlights

Use the new AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Parameter task to manage secrets and configuration data

You can now use the AWS Systems Manager Parameter task to get, put, and delete a parameter managed by the AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, which provides a centralized store to manage your configuration data, whether plain-text data such as database strings or secrets such as passwords:

This allows you to separate your secrets and configuration data from your code. Parameters can be tagged and organized into hierarchies, helping you manage parameters more easily. For example, you can use the same parameter name, "db-string", with a different hierarchical path, "dev/db-string” or “prod/db-string", to store different values. Systems Manager is integrated with AWS Key Management Service (KMS), allowing you to automatically encrypt the data you store. You can also control user and resource access to parameters using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM). Parameters can be referenced through other AWS services, such as Amazon Elastic Container Service, AWS Lambda, and AWS CloudFormation.

Update AWS Step Functions state machines

You can now also update state machines with the AWS Step Functions State Machine task, which already enables you to create, start, stop, and delete AWS Step Functions state machines:

AWS Step Functions makes it easy to coordinate the components of distributed applications and microservices using visual workflows. Building applications from individual components that each perform a discrete function lets you scale and change applications quickly. Step Functions is a reliable way to coordinate components and step through the functions of your application.

Use Amazon SQS as AWS Lambda event source

You can now use Amazon SQS as an event source with the AWS Lambda Event Source Mapping task – refer to the resp. introductory blog post for more details:

• AWS Lambda Adds Amazon Simple Queue Service to Supported Event Sources

  We can now use Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) to trigger AWS Lambda functions! This is a stellar update with some key functionality that I’ve personally been looking forward to for more than 4 years. I know our customers are excited to take it for a spin so feel free to skip to the walk through section below if you don’t want a trip down memory lane. [...]

Use Docker volumes and private registry authentication with Amazon ECS

You can now use Docker volumes and private registry authentication in the Amazon ECS Task Definition task.

Release notes

For more details about this release, please refer to the Tasks for AWS 2.16 Release Notes.