Formae Resources Unmanaged: A Synchronization Issue

Nov 25, 2025 by Alex Johnson 52 views

Understanding Formae Resource Synchronization Issues and How to Resolve Them

Have you ever encountered a situation where your managed resources in Formae suddenly revert to an unmanaged state? It's a frustrating issue, especially when you've meticulously configured your infrastructure. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into a specific scenario of Formae resource synchronization issues, explore the root causes, and discuss potential solutions. This article aims to provide practical insights and steps to help you maintain a stable and predictable infrastructure management environment.

The Case of the Vanishing Resources

Imagine this: you've successfully brought three crucial resources under Formae management using the formae apply --mode reconcile command. You verify their managed status with the inventory command, feeling confident in your setup. However, just a few minutes later, you run the command again, only to find that two of the resources have mysteriously returned to the unmanaged state. This perplexing behavior can disrupt your workflow and lead to unexpected infrastructure inconsistencies.

In the specific case we're examining, the following resources were affected:

AWS::EC2::VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)
AWS::EC2::VPCDHCPOptionsAssociation (DHCP Options Set Association)
AWS::EC2::VPCGatewayAttachment (Internet Gateway Attachment)

Initially, all three resources were under management. But after a short period, only the AWS::EC2::VPCDHCPOptionsAssociation remained managed, while the other two were relegated to the unmanaged realm. This situation highlights the core issue: managed resources are inexplicably becoming unmanaged due to the automatic synchronization process.

Dissecting the Problem: A Timeline of Events

To better understand the issue, let's break down the timeline of events. This chronological view will help us pinpoint the exact moment when the resources transitioned from managed to unmanaged.

Initial Discovery and Unmanaged State (2025-11-24 17:53:29)

At the outset, the resources are discovered by Formae but exist in an unmanaged state. This is the expected starting point for new or previously unmanaged infrastructure components. The following log entry captures this state:

uri: formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | managed=f | stack=$unmanaged

Bringing Resources Under Management (2025-11-25 17:26:47)

Next, the forma file is applied using the formae apply --mode reconcile main.pkl command. This action successfully brings the resources under Formae's management, as indicated by the following log:

uri: formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | managed=t | stack=sandbox-core

The Unexplained Reversion (2025-11-25 17:29:19)

Here's where the mystery deepens. A mere 2.5 minutes after being brought under management, the synchronization process automatically moves the resources back to the unmanaged state. This rapid reversion is the crux of the problem, and the log entry confirms this:

uri: formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | managed=f | stack=$unmanaged

This timeline clearly demonstrates that the issue is not with the initial application of the forma file but with the subsequent synchronization process. The resources are being deliberately unmarked as managed, triggering the need to investigate the synchronization mechanism more closely.

Delving into the Database: Querying for Clues

To gain further insights, let's turn to the Formae database and examine the command history and resource version history. These records can provide valuable clues about the synchronization process and the changes being applied to the resources.

Command History Analysis

By querying the formae_commands table, we can see a log of commands executed by Formae, including synchronization commands. The following SQL query retrieves the 10 most recent commands:

SELECT command_id, command, state, timestamp FROM forma_commands ORDER BY timestamp DESC LIMIT 10;

The results reveal that synchronization commands are running approximately every 5-7 minutes:

         command_id          | command |   state    |         timestamp          
-----------------------------+---------+------------+----------------------------
 35yvWR6HiLOsr20GW3ijFT29Fgl | sync    | InProgress | 2025-11-25 18:25:56.632547
 35yuesUGK6qMTND07260voQpSd9 | sync    | Success    | 2025-11-25 18:18:50.915201
 35yub8ECNzVPwIimI3kA68k9 | sync    | Success    | 2025-11-25 18:18:10.497134

This frequent synchronization interval suggests that any drift detection issues will quickly manifest, potentially explaining the rapid reversion of resources to the unmanaged state.

Resource Version History

Next, let's examine the version history of the affected VPC resource. This will show us how the managed and stack properties have changed over time. The following SQL query retrieves the last 5 versions of the resource with URI formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID#:

SELECT uri, label, managed, stack, valid_from FROM resources 
WHERE uri = 'formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID#' ORDER BY valid_from DESC LIMIT 5;

The results clearly show the resource transitioning from unmanaged to managed and back again:

formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | f | $unmanaged   | 2025-11-25 17:29:19.238004
formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | t | sandbox-core | 2025-11-25 17:26:47.495555
formae://35w2HwH5PipP3tqUvcx95ZzDgID# | vpc-f1b2b189 | f | $unmanaged   | 2025-11-24 17:53:29.04208

This database analysis reinforces the timeline of events and highlights the role of the synchronization process in reverting the resources to an unmanaged state.

Root Cause Analysis: The Drift Detection Dilemma

To pinpoint the root cause, we need to compare the resource properties in both the managed and unmanaged states. This will reveal any differences that might be triggering the drift detection mechanism.

Property Comparison: Unmanaged vs. Managed

Let's compare the JSON representations of the VPC resource in its unmanaged and managed states.

Unmanaged State (from AWS sync):

{
  "VpcId": "vpc-f1b2b189",
  "Tags": [
    {"Key": "FormaeStackLabel", "Value": "sandbox-core"},
    {"Key": "FormaeResourceLabel", "Value": "vpc-f1b2b189"}
  ],
  "CidrBlock": "172.31.0.0/16",
  "InstanceTenancy": "default",
  "EnableDnsSupport": true,
  "EnableDnsHostnames": true
}

Managed State (from forma definition):

{
  "Tags": [
    {"Key": "FormaeStackLabel", "Value": "sandbox-core"},
    {"Key": "FormaeResourceLabel", "Value": "vpc-f1b2b189"}
  ],
  "CidrBlock": "172.31.0.0/16",
  "InstanceTenancy": "default",
  "EnableDnsSupport": true,
  "EnableDnsHostnames": true
}

The key difference is the presence of the `