Deployment Strategy for JIRA Datacenter on AWS

Question

We are required to deploy Jira datacenter on AWS using Cloudformation scripts

In 2nd & subsequent instances that gets spinned via Automatic Scaling Group in AWS, we are required to deploy using one of he below
Option 1:  Copy the Jira Home & Installation folders from 1st instance? 
Option 2:  To run installer as usual, configure only cluster.properties & config files via script ?

This question is because, from Atlassian documentation https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver073/installing-jira-data-center-861253059.html > Installing JIRA Data Center > Add a new JIRA node to the cluster, Copying of folders is mentioned as in Option 1 above.

Seemingly, our choice is Option 1,

So, we are seeking if someone who may have deployed on aws, best practice/approach

Do advise if any info missed.

Thanks much in advance

Daniel Eads · Answer

Since you're on AWS, a quick option might be to use the Atlassian-built Cloud Formation template. This takes care of scaling for you so all you need to do is define the minimum number of instances and triggers for scaling.

Check out the Quick Start guide for this template. Under the "Step 5: Add Nodes to the Cluster" heading on page 16 is where you can find details about spinning up more nodes. The template will take care of the installation/copying of install & home directories for you.

If you need to custom-build your own Cloud Formation template for some reason, I'd recommend copying the existing Atlassian-built ones and using those as the starting point.

Cheers,

Daniel