Install CloudWatch Agent on Ubuntu AWS EC2 Instance

Monday, December 12, 2022

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5 minute read

Check whether CloudWatch agent already installed by running the following command

amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl -help

If this prints the usage details then CloudWatch agent is already installed. If not proceed with installation

Pre-requisite

Attach the following IAM policy to the IAM role assigned to the EC2 instance.

CloudWatchAgentServerPolicy

Installation Steps

Execute the following commands in the required EC2 instance to install CloudWatch agent

wget https://s3.amazonaws.com/amazoncloudwatch-agent/ubuntu/amd64/latest/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.deb

sudo dpkg -i -E ./amazon-cloudwatch-agent.deb

Post installation

Verify CloudWatch Agent is running

sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl -m ec2 -a status

Manually Stop Agent (If you need to)

sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl -m ec2 -a stop

Manually Start Agent (If you need to)

sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl -a fetch-config -m ec2 -s -c ssm:configuration-parameter-store-name

Setup CloudWatch Agent configuration

Run the following command to start the config wizard

sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-config-wizard

e.g output of this command

$ sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-config-wizard
================================================================
= Welcome to the Amazon CloudWatch Agent Configuration Manager =
=                                                              =
= CloudWatch Agent allows you to collect metrics and logs from =
= your host and send them to CloudWatch. Additional CloudWatch =
= charges may apply.                                           =
================================================================
On which OS are you planning to use the agent?
1. linux
2. windows
3. darwin
default choice: [1]:

Trying to fetch the default region based on ec2 metadata...
Are you using EC2 or On-Premises hosts?
1. EC2
2. On-Premises
default choice: [1]:

Which user are you planning to run the agent?
1. root
2. cwagent
3. others
default choice: [1]:

Do you want to turn on StatsD daemon?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Which port do you want StatsD daemon to listen to?
default choice: [8125]

What is the collect interval for StatsD daemon?
1. 10s
2. 30s
3. 60s
default choice: [1]:

What is the aggregation interval for metrics collected by StatsD daemon?
1. Do not aggregate
2. 10s
3. 30s
4. 60s
default choice: [4]:

Do you want to monitor metrics from CollectD? WARNING: CollectD must be installed or the Agent will fail to start
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:
2
Do you want to monitor any host metrics? e.g. CPU, memory, etc.
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Do you want to monitor cpu metrics per core?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Do you want to add ec2 dimensions (ImageId, InstanceId, InstanceType, AutoScalingGroupName) into all of your metrics if the info is available?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Do you want to aggregate ec2 dimensions (InstanceId)?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Would you like to collect your metrics at high resolution (sub-minute resolution)? This enables sub-minute resolution for all metrics, but you can customize for specific met
rics in the output json file.
1. 1s
2. 10s
3. 30s
4. 60s
default choice: [4]:

Which default metrics config do you want?
1. Basic
2. Standard
3. Advanced
4. None
default choice: [1]:

Current config as follows:
{
	"agent": {
		"metrics_collection_interval": 60,
		"run_as_user": "root"
	},
	"metrics": {
		"aggregation_dimensions": [
			[
				"InstanceId"
			]
		],
		"append_dimensions": {
			"AutoScalingGroupName": "${aws:AutoScalingGroupName}",
			"ImageId": "${aws:ImageId}",
			"InstanceId": "${aws:InstanceId}",
			"InstanceType": "${aws:InstanceType}"
		},
		"metrics_collected": {
			"disk": {
				"measurement": [
					"used_percent"
				],
				"metrics_collection_interval": 60,
				"resources": [
					"*"
				]
			},
			"mem": {
				"measurement": [
					"mem_used_percent"
				],
				"metrics_collection_interval": 60
			},
			"statsd": {
				"metrics_aggregation_interval": 60,
				"metrics_collection_interval": 10,
				"service_address": ":8125"
			}
		}
	}
}
Are you satisfied with the above config? Note: it can be manually customized after the wizard completes to add additional items.
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Do you have any existing CloudWatch Log Agent (http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/logs/AgentReference.html) configuration file to import for migration?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [2]:

Do you want to monitor any log files?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:

Log file path:
/var/logs/tomcat-app.log
Log group name:
default choice: [tomcat-app.log]

Log stream name:
default choice: [{instance_id}]

Log Group Retention in days
1. -1
2. 1
3. 3
4. 5
5. 7
6. 14
7. 30
8. 60
9. 90
10. 120
11. 150
12. 180
13. 365
14. 400
15. 545
16. 731
17. 1827
18. 2192
19. 2557
20. 2922
21. 3288
22. 3653
default choice: [1]:
14

Do you want to specify any additional log files to monitor?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:
2

Saved config file to /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/config.json successfully.
Current config as follows:
{
	"agent": {
		"metrics_collection_interval": 60,
		"run_as_user": "root"
	},
	"logs": {
		"logs_collected": {
			"files": {
				"collect_list": [
					{
						"file_path": "/var/logs/tomcat-app.log",
						"log_group_name": "tomcat-app.log",
						"log_stream_name": "{instance_id}",
						"retention_in_days": 400
					}
				]
			}
		}
	},
	"metrics": {
		"aggregation_dimensions": [
			[
				"InstanceId"
			]
		],
		"append_dimensions": {
			"AutoScalingGroupName": "${aws:AutoScalingGroupName}",
			"ImageId": "${aws:ImageId}",
			"InstanceId": "${aws:InstanceId}",
			"InstanceType": "${aws:InstanceType}"
		},
		"metrics_collected": {
			"disk": {
				"measurement": [
					"used_percent"
				],
				"metrics_collection_interval": 60,
				"resources": [
					"*"
				]
			},
			"mem": {
				"measurement": [
					"mem_used_percent"
				],
				"metrics_collection_interval": 60
			},
			"statsd": {
				"metrics_aggregation_interval": 60,
				"metrics_collection_interval": 10,
				"service_address": ":8125"
			}
		}
	}
}
Please check the above content of the config.
The config file is also located at /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/config.json.
Edit it manually if needed.
Do you want to store the config in the SSM parameter store?
1. yes
2. no
default choice: [1]:
2

Program exits now.

CloudWatch agent files and locations

The control script that controls starting, stopping, and restarting the agent. /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl or /usr/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl

The log file the agent writes to. You might need to attach this when contacting AWS Support. /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/logs/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.log or /var/log/amazon/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.log

The agent generates a log while it runs. This log includes troubleshooting information. This log is the amazon-cloudwatch-agent.log file. This file is located in /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/logs/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.log