Manual Operations

Last Updated: 2026-03-06 Sources: README files, scripts directories, docs directories, and workflow configurations across all repositories

Executive Summary

While the NDX:Try ecosystem automates most deployments through GitHub Actions, several critical operations require manual intervention. These include the initial ISB core deployment, Terraform state bootstrapping, SCP import procedures, LZA configuration updates, NDX website emergency deployments, and local development environment setup. This document catalogues all manual procedures discovered across the 15 repositories, organized by frequency and criticality.

Operations Index

One-Time Setup Operations

1. ISB Core Deployment

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws Frequency: One-time initial setup, occasional redeployment Prerequisites: AWS CLI credentials for both org management and hub accounts, Node.js 22, Docker

The upstream Innovation Sandbox on AWS solution has no CI/CD pipeline and must be deployed manually.

Procedure

# 1. Clone and install
git clone <repo-url>
cd innovation-sandbox-on-aws
npm install

# 2. Generate environment configuration
npm run env:init

# 3. Edit .env file with account IDs, regions, and settings
# Required values documented in .env file comments

# 4. Bootstrap CDK in target accounts
npm run bootstrap

# 5a. Single-account deployment
npm run deploy:all

# 5b. Multi-account deployment (recommended for production)
npm run deploy:account-pool   # Org Management Account
npm run deploy:idc            # Hub Account
npm run deploy:data           # Hub Account
npm run deploy:compute        # Hub Account

# 6. Complete post-deployment tasks
# See: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/solutions/latest/innovation-sandbox-on-aws/post-deployment-configuration-tasks.html

Post-Deployment Tasks

After deployment, additional manual configuration is required as described in the AWS implementation guide. These include IAM Identity Center setup, account pool initialization, and user provisioning.

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws/README.md

2. Terraform Backend Bootstrap (SCP)

Repository: ndx-try-aws-scp Frequency: One-time per environment Target Account: 955063685555 (Org Management) Region: eu-west-2

This script creates the S3 bucket and DynamoDB table needed for Terraform remote state.

Procedure

# 1. Ensure you have credentials for the management account (955063685555)
aws sts get-caller-identity

# 2. Run the bootstrap script
cd repos/ndx-try-aws-scp
./scripts/bootstrap-backend.sh

What the Script Creates

Resource	Name	Purpose
S3 Bucket	`ndx-terraform-state-955063685555`	Terraform state storage (versioned, encrypted, TLS enforced)
DynamoDB Table	`ndx-terraform-locks`	Terraform state locking
Bucket Policy	EnforceTLS	Denies non-HTTPS access

The script includes safety checks:

Verifies AWS CLI is configured
Confirms the current account matches expected account (955063685555)
Skips resource creation if already exists
Enables versioning and AES-256 encryption
Blocks public access

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-scp/scripts/bootstrap-backend.sh

3. OIDC Provider Setup

Repository: ndx-try-aws-scp (documentation) Frequency: One-time per AWS account Target Accounts: 568672915267, 955063685555

Procedure

# 1. Check if provider already exists
aws iam list-open-id-connect-providers

# 2. Create the provider if not present
aws iam create-open-id-connect-provider \
  --url https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com \
  --client-id-list sts.amazonaws.com \
  --thumbprint-list 6938fd4d98bab03faadb97b34396831e3780aea1

# 3. Create the IAM role for the repository
aws iam create-role \
  --role-name GitHubActions-NDX-SCPDeploy \
  --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json \
  --description "Role for GitHub Actions to deploy SCP changes"

# 4. Attach the appropriate permission policy
aws iam attach-role-policy \
  --role-name GitHubActions-NDX-SCPDeploy \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::955063685555:policy/GitHubActions-NDX-SCPDeploy-Policy

# 5. Configure GitHub repository secrets
# Settings -> Secrets and variables -> Actions
# Add: AWS_ROLE_ARN = arn:aws:iam::955063685555:role/GitHubActions-NDX-SCPDeploy

# 6. Create GitHub environment with required reviewers
# Settings -> Environments -> New environment -> "production"

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-scp/docs/GITHUB_ACTIONS_SETUP.md

4. SCP Import from ISB CDK

Repository: ndx-try-aws-scp Frequency: One-time (when migrating SCPs from ISB CDK to Terraform) Target Account: 955063685555

Procedure

# 1. Ensure credentials for management account
aws sts get-caller-identity
# Expected: Account 955063685555

# 2. Find existing SCP Policy IDs
aws organizations list-policies --filter SERVICE_CONTROL_POLICY \
  --query 'Policies[?starts_with(Name, `InnovationSandbox`)].{Name:Name,Id:Id}'

# 3. Run the import script
cd repos/ndx-try-aws-scp
./scripts/import-existing-scps.sh

# 4. Review the plan
cd environments/ndx-production
terraform plan

# 5. Apply changes
terraform apply

Known SCP Policy IDs (as of 2026-01-09):

InnovationSandboxAwsNukeSupportedServicesScp: p-7pd0szg9
InnovationSandboxLimitRegionsScp: p-02s3te0u
InnovationSandboxProtectISBResourcesScp: p-gn4fu3co
InnovationSandboxRestrictionsScp: p-6tw8eixp
InnovationSandboxWriteProtectionScp: p-tyb1wjxv

Important warning from script: After applying Terraform, the ISB CDK will show drift on these SCPs. Do NOT re-deploy the ISB Account Pool stack without re-applying Terraform.

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-scp/scripts/import-existing-scps.sh

5. CDK Bootstrap

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws Frequency: One-time per account per region

Before deploying CDK stacks, each target account/region combination must be bootstrapped:

npm run bootstrap

This creates the CDK toolkit stack (CDKToolkit) with an S3 bucket for assets and IAM roles for deployment.

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws/README.md

Recurring Operations

6. LZA Configuration Updates

Repository: ndx-try-aws-lza Frequency: As needed for organization policy changes Deployment: AWS CodePipeline (not GitHub Actions)

The LZA configuration repository contains YAML files that are processed by the AWS Landing Zone Accelerator pipeline. Changes are committed to GitHub and picked up by the AWS-managed CodePipeline.

Files to Edit

File	Purpose
`accounts-config.yaml`	AWS account definitions
`global-config.yaml`	Global LZA settings
`iam-config.yaml`	IAM policies and roles
`network-config.yaml`	VPC, subnets, transit gateway
`organization-config.yaml`	OU structure, SCPs
`security-config.yaml`	GuardDuty, Config, CloudTrail
`replacements-config.yaml`	Variable replacements

Procedure

# 1. Edit the relevant YAML file(s)
# 2. Commit and push to GitHub
# 3. AWS CodePipeline picks up the change automatically
# 4. Monitor pipeline execution in AWS Console

Note on SCP conflicts: LZA may revert SCP changes made by Terraform. If using the ndx-try-aws-scp Terraform alongside LZA, disable SCP revert in security-config.yaml:

scpRevertChangesConfig:
  enable: false

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-lza/README.md, repos/ndx-try-aws-scp/README.md

7. SCP Terraform Apply

Repository: ndx-try-aws-scp Frequency: After merging PRs with SCP changes Trigger: Manual workflow_dispatch in GitHub Actions

While terraform plan runs automatically on PRs, terraform apply must be triggered manually:

Navigate to GitHub Actions for the ndx-try-aws-scp repository
Select "Terraform SCP Management" workflow
Click "Run workflow"
Select action: apply
Approve the deployment in the production environment (requires reviewer approval)

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-scp/.github/workflows/terraform.yaml

8. Billing Separator Deploy

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws-billing-seperator Frequency: After merging changes Trigger: Manual workflow_dispatch

Navigate to GitHub Actions
Select "Deploy" workflow
Click "Run workflow"
Choose environment: dev or prod
Monitor deployment outputs in the step summary

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws-billing-seperator/.github/workflows/deploy.yml

9. Cost Collection Deploy

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws-costs Frequency: After merging changes Trigger: Manual workflow_dispatch

Requires production environment approval. Deploys IsbCostCollectionStack to us-west-2.

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws-costs/.github/workflows/deploy.yml

10. NDX Website Manual Deploy

Repository: ndx Frequency: Emergency or when CI/CD is unavailable

A manual deployment script exists for the NDX website:

# 1. Build the site
yarn build

# 2. Run the deploy script
./scripts/deploy.sh

The script performs:

S3 sync to s3://ndx-static-prod/ using AWS SSO profile NDX/InnovationSandboxHub
File count validation
Smoke tests (index.html, CSS, JS)
CloudFront cache invalidation (distribution E3THG4UHYDHVWP)

Prerequisites: AWS SSO login: aws sso login --profile NDX/InnovationSandboxHub

Source: repos/ndx/scripts/deploy.sh

11. Terraform Org Management Apply

Repository: ndx-try-aws-terraform Frequency: Rarely (for billing access changes) Deployment: Manual from developer workstation

The org-level Terraform (billing roles, state bucket) has validation-only CI. Apply is manual:

cd repos/ndx-try-aws-terraform
terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

State backend: s3://ndx-try-tf-state/state/terraform.tfstate in us-west-2.

Source: repos/ndx-try-aws-terraform/main.tf, repos/ndx-try-aws-terraform/terraform.tf

Development Operations

12. Local Development Setup (NDX Website)

Repository: ndx Purpose: Validate local development environment for NDX Try features

# 1. Run the validation script
./scripts/validate-local-setup.sh

# Checks:
# - mitmproxy installed (CRITICAL)
# - Addon script exists (CRITICAL)
# - Port 8080 available
# - Port 8081 available
# - CA certificate generated

# 2. Install dependencies
yarn install

# 3. Start mitmproxy (Terminal 1)
yarn dev:proxy

# 4. Start dev server (Terminal 2)
yarn start

# 5. Run tests (Terminal 3)
yarn test         # Unit tests
yarn test:e2e     # E2E tests (requires mitmproxy)

Source: repos/ndx/scripts/validate-local-setup.sh, repos/ndx/README.md

13. ISB Private ECR Setup

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws Purpose: Use a custom ECR image for testing AWS Nuke modifications

# 1. Create a private ECR repository in the target account/region
# 2. Set environment variables in .env:
#    PRIVATE_ECR_REPO=innovation-sandbox
#    PRIVATE_ECR_REPO_REGION=us-west-2
# 3. Build and push
npm run docker:build-and-push
# 4. Redeploy the compute stack
npm run deploy:compute

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws/README.md

14. ISB Solution Uninstall

Repository: innovation-sandbox-on-aws Purpose: Complete removal of the ISB solution

# Full uninstall
npm run destroy:all

# Or destroy individual stacks:
npm run destroy:compute
npm run destroy:data
npm run destroy:idc
npm run destroy:account-pool

Source: repos/innovation-sandbox-on-aws/README.md

Emergency Operations

15. Manual AWS Nuke

Repository: aws-sandbox Purpose: Emergency cleanup of sandbox environment (outside the Friday schedule)

Can be triggered manually via GitHub Actions workflow_dispatch:

Navigate to Actions for the aws-sandbox repository
Select "Nuke AWS environment"
Click "Run workflow"

Or run locally:

# Download aws-nuke
wget https://github.com/rebuy-de/aws-nuke/releases/download/v2.25.0/aws-nuke-v2.25.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf aws-nuke-v2.25.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz

# Run (DRY RUN first!)
./aws-nuke-v2.25.0-linux-amd64 -c nuke/config.yml --force --force-sleep 3

# Then with --no-dry-run
./aws-nuke-v2.25.0-linux-amd64 -c nuke/config.yml --force --force-sleep 3 --no-dry-run

Source: repos/aws-sandbox/.github/workflows/aws-nuke.yml

16. Terraform State Unlock

Repository: ndx-try-aws-scp Purpose: Recover from stuck Terraform state lock

If a Terraform operation fails mid-execution, the state lock may be stuck. The gc3-misp-sandbox-ec2 workflow comments suggest this has occurred before:

# Find the lock ID from the error message
terraform force-unlock -force <LOCK_ID>

Source: repos/gc3-misp-sandbox-ec2/.github/workflows/ecs-efs.yml (commented-out unlock command)

Operations Frequency Summary

Runbook Checklist

Operation	Account	Credentials Needed	Documentation
ISB Core Deploy	955063685555 + 568672915267	AWS CLI (both accounts)	ISB README
TF Backend Bootstrap	955063685555	AWS CLI (mgmt account)	bootstrap-backend.sh
OIDC Provider Setup	Per account	AWS CLI (target account)	GITHUB_ACTIONS_SETUP.md
SCP Import	955063685555	AWS CLI (mgmt account)	import-existing-scps.sh
SCP TF Apply	955063685555	GitHub Actions (OIDC)	workflow_dispatch
NDX Website Manual Deploy	568672915267	AWS SSO (`NDX/InnovationSandboxHub`)	deploy.sh
LZA Config Update	Management account	Git push (CodePipeline)	ndx-try-aws-lza README
Billing Separator Deploy	568672915267	GitHub Actions (OIDC)	workflow_dispatch
Cost Collection Deploy	568672915267	GitHub Actions (OIDC)	workflow_dispatch
Org TF Apply	Management account	AWS CLI	Manual terraform

Generated from source analysis. See 52-deployment-flows.md for automated deployment details and 00-repo-inventory.md for full inventory.

Executive Summary​

Operations Index​

One-Time Setup Operations​

1. ISB Core Deployment​

Procedure​

Post-Deployment Tasks​

2. Terraform Backend Bootstrap (SCP)​

Procedure​

What the Script Creates​

3. OIDC Provider Setup​

Procedure​

4. SCP Import from ISB CDK​

Procedure​

5. CDK Bootstrap​

Recurring Operations​

6. LZA Configuration Updates​

Files to Edit​

Procedure​

7. SCP Terraform Apply​

8. Billing Separator Deploy​

9. Cost Collection Deploy​

10. NDX Website Manual Deploy​

11. Terraform Org Management Apply​

Development Operations​

12. Local Development Setup (NDX Website)​

13. ISB Private ECR Setup​

14. ISB Solution Uninstall​

Emergency Operations​

15. Manual AWS Nuke​

16. Terraform State Unlock​

Operations Frequency Summary​

Runbook Checklist​

Executive Summary

Operations Index

One-Time Setup Operations

1. ISB Core Deployment

Procedure

Post-Deployment Tasks

2. Terraform Backend Bootstrap (SCP)

Procedure

What the Script Creates

3. OIDC Provider Setup

Procedure

4. SCP Import from ISB CDK

Procedure

5. CDK Bootstrap

Recurring Operations

6. LZA Configuration Updates

Files to Edit

Procedure

7. SCP Terraform Apply

8. Billing Separator Deploy

9. Cost Collection Deploy

10. NDX Website Manual Deploy

11. Terraform Org Management Apply

Development Operations

12. Local Development Setup (NDX Website)

13. ISB Private ECR Setup

14. ISB Solution Uninstall

Emergency Operations

15. Manual AWS Nuke

16. Terraform State Unlock

Operations Frequency Summary

Runbook Checklist