You can use the OpenStack Orchestration service to orchestrate multiple composite cloud applications. It supports the native OpenStack Heat Orchestration Template (HOT) format through a REST API, and the Amazon Web Services (AWS) CloudFormation template format through a Query API that is compatible with CloudFormation.

You use templates to create stacks. A stack configures the automated creation of most OpenStack resource types, including instances, floating IP addresses, volumes, security groups, and users.

With orchestration templates, application developers can define the parameters for automating the deployment of infrastructure, services, and applications. Templates are static files that you can use directly for creating a stack.

You can also create a stack that combines a template with an environment file. An environment file supplies a unique set of values to the parameters defined by the template. By using environment files with templates, you can create many unique stacks from a single template.

For information about how to create template and environment files, see the OpenStack documentation at http://docs.openstack.org/developer/heat/template_guide/index.html.