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Does Ref Return Arn?

Alexander Ross • • 6 min read
Does Ref Return Arn?

Ref is used to reference other resources or parameters in your template. Depending on the Resource it will return what data is typically needed the most from that resource. For example for a S3 Bucket it returns the bucket name, for an ACM Certificate it will return the ARN.

What does REF do in CloudFormation?

The intrinsic function Ref returns the value of the specified parameter or resource. When you specify a parameter's logical name, it returns the value of the parameter. When you specify a resource's logical name, it returns a value that you can typically use to refer to that resource, such as a physical ID.

What is difference between ref and GetAtt?

GetAtt is essentially the same as the 2nd function of Ref above, it also returns an attribute of the resource that you created within your resource, but while ref returns only a default attribute, GetAtt allows you to choose from different attributes to return.

Alexander Ross
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Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.