Top 20 AWS Logs: Observability, Performance, and Security for Your Cloud
Tags: aws, awslogs, sre, observability
Published: 2023-05-17 08:58:16

Logs play a crucial role in monitoring and troubleshooting the vast array of services and resources in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ecosystem. With the increasing complexity of cloud environments, understanding and effectively leveraging AWS logs have become essential for maintaining security, optimizing performance, and ensuring compliance. In this blog post, we dive into the world of AWS logs, exploring their importance, common use cases, and best practices. From CloudTrail to CloudWatch Logs, VPC Flow Logs to Lambda Logs, we'll uncover the key log types, their formats, and how they can be leveraged to gain actionable insights, detect anomalies, and streamline the management of your AWS infrastructure

Below, I present a comprehensive comparison of each AWS log type, shedding light on their unique characteristics and use cases.


| # | Log File Name      | Quick Introduction               | Log Format     | Common Use Cases                                                                                        | Troubleshooting Examples                                                                                                 | Best Practices                                                                                                                 |
|---|------------------- |---------------------------------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | CloudTrail         | Records API activity in AWS      | JSON           | - Compliance auditing: Track user activity, detect unauthorized access, and ensure regulatory compliance.  | - Investigating security incidents: Analyze CloudTrail logs to identify potential security breaches or unauthorized access. | - Enable multi-region trails: Configure CloudTrail to capture events from multiple AWS regions for enhanced visibility.         |
| 2 | CloudWatch Logs    | Collects and stores log data     | Text, JSON     | - Application debugging: Monitor and analyze logs to identify and resolve issues in applications and services. | - Identifying application errors: Search and filter logs to identify errors and exceptions impacting system performance. | - Enable log data encryption: Encrypt log data at rest to ensure data confidentiality and compliance with security requirements. |
| 3 | VPC Flow Logs      | Captures IP traffic information  | Text, JSON     | - Network traffic analysis: Monitor and analyze network traffic to detect anomalies, troubleshoot connectivity issues. | - Diagnosing connectivity issues: Analyze flow logs to identify traffic patterns and diagnose network connectivity problems. | - Enable flow log publishing: Publish flow logs to CloudWatch Logs or S3 for long-term storage and analysis.                    |
| 4 | S3 Server Access   | Tracks S3 bucket access          | Log format     | - Auditing bucket access: Monitor and log access to S3 buckets for compliance and security purposes.         | - Investigating data breaches: Review access logs to identify any unauthorized access or suspicious activities.              | - Enable server access logging: Enable access logging to record all requests made to your S3 buckets.                           |
| 5 | Lambda Logs        | Logs generated by Lambda functions | JSON, text  | - Monitoring function invocations: Gain visibility into Lambda function execution and performance.           | - Debugging function errors: Analyze logs to identify errors, exceptions, and performance issues in Lambda functions.   | - Enable enhanced monitoring: Enable enhanced monitoring for Lambda functions to collect additional performance metrics.       |
| 6 | EC2 Instance Logs  | Logs generated by EC2 instances  | Text, JSON     | - Troubleshooting instance issues: Analyze logs to diagnose and troubleshoot issues with EC2 instances.   | - Identifying performance issues: Monitor instance logs to identify performance bottlenecks and optimize resource utilization. | - Utilize EC2 Systems Manager: Leverage EC2 Systems Manager to centralize log collection, analyze logs, and automate remediation. |
| 7 | CloudFront Logs    | Records CDN request information  | Log format     | - Analyzing web traffic: Analyze logs to gain insights into web traffic patterns, user behavior, and performance. | - Identifying malicious activity: Detect and mitigate DDoS attacks, web scraping, or other security threats using access logs. | - Enable access logs for distributions: Configure CloudFront to generate access logs for detailed request analysis.                 |
| 8 | RDS Logs           | Database engine log files        | Text           | - Monitoring database activity: Monitor and analyze database logs to identify performance issues and optimize query performance. | - Investigating performance issues: Analyze database logs to diagnose slow queries, connection issues, or resource constraints. | - Enable automated log exports: Configure RDS to export logs to CloudWatch Logs or S3 for centralized storage and analysis.       |
| 9 | Redshift Logs      | Logs for Amazon Redshift         | Text           | - Diagnosing query performance: Analyze query logs to identify slow-running queries, query errors, or data skew issues.       | - Enable Enhanced VPC Routing: Improve network performance by enabling Enhanced VPC Routing for Redshift clusters.                  |
|10 | ELB Access Logs    | Captures load balancer activity  | Log format     | - Analyzing traffic patterns: Analyze access logs to gain insights into load balancer traffic, user behavior, and trends. | - Identifying unhealthy instances: Identify instances causing load balancer errors or experiencing high latency using access logs. | - Enable access logs for ELBs: Enable access logs to capture detailed information about requests handled by Elastic Load Balancers. |
|11 | ECS Container Logs | Logs from Docker containers      | Text, JSON     | - Monitoring containerized applications: Collect and analyze logs to gain insights into containerized application performance. | - Debugging container issues: Analyze logs to identify container failures, crashes, or abnormal behavior impacting application. | - Use a centralized log solution: Configure containers to send logs to a centralized service for unified log management and analysis. |
|12 | Route 53 Logs      | DNS query logs                   | Log format     | - Analyzing DNS traffic: Monitor and analyze DNS query logs to detect DNS-related issues and optimize DNS resolution. | - Troubleshooting DNS resolution issues: Analyze DNS logs to identify misconfigured DNS settings or DNS resolution failures. | - Enable DNS query logging: Configure Route 53 to log DNS queries and store the logs in Amazon S3 for analysis and auditing.        |
|13 | S3 Data Events     | Logs S3 bucket data events       | JSON           | - Auditing data access: Track and log S3 bucket data access events to ensure compliance and monitor data activity. | - Detecting unauthorized data access: Analyze data event logs to identify any unauthorized access or suspicious data activity. | - Enable data event notifications: Configure S3 bucket notifications to capture and log data access events for monitoring and auditing. |
|14 | GuardDuty          | Threat detection service logs     | JSON           | - Detecting security threats: Monitor GuardDuty logs to identify and respond to potential security threats and vulnerabilities. | - Investigating security incidents: Analyze GuardDuty logs to investigate security events and determine the appropriate response. | - Enable continuous monitoring: Regularly review GuardDuty logs and alerts to ensure ongoing visibility into potential threats.    |
|15 | CloudFormation     | Logs for AWS CloudFormation      | Text           | - Troubleshooting stack creation/update: Analyze CloudFormation logs to identify errors or issues during stack creation or update. | - Debugging template errors: Review CloudFormation logs to identify template errors or syntax issues impacting stack deployment. | - Enable logging during stack creation: Configure CloudFormation to generate logs during stack creation to aid in troubleshooting. |
|16 | API Gateway Logs   | Logs for Amazon API Gateway      | JSON           | - Monitoring API activity: Analyze API Gateway logs to monitor and gain insights into API usage, performance, and errors. | - Troubleshooting API errors: Review API Gateway logs to identify errors, latency issues, or misconfigured API settings. | - Enable CloudWatch logging: Configure API Gateway to send logs to CloudWatch Logs for centralized log analysis and monitoring. |
|17 | Step Functions Logs| Logs for AWS Step Functions       | JSON           | - Monitoring workflow execution: Analyze Step Functions logs to monitor and gain insights into workflow executions and performance. | - Diagnosing workflow issues: Review Step Functions logs to identify errors, failures, or bottlenecks in the workflow. | - Enable logging for Step Functions: Configure Step Functions to generate logs for detailed visibility into workflow executions. |
|18 | EMR Cluster Logs   | Logs for Amazon EMR              | Text           | - Analyzing cluster performance: Analyze EMR cluster logs to identify performance issues, job failures, or resource constraints. | - Troubleshooting job failures: Review EMR logs to identify errors, exceptions, or misconfigurations impacting job execution. | - Enable log collection: Configure EMR clusters to collect logs and store them in Amazon S3 for centralized analysis and debugging. |
|19 | CloudSearch Logs   | Logs for Amazon CloudSearch      | Text           | - Monitoring search performance: Analyze CloudSearch logs to monitor search request latency, errors, or indexing issues. | - Troubleshooting search issues: Review CloudSearch logs to identify errors, misconfigurations, or resource constraints impacting search. | - Enable logging for CloudSearch: Configure CloudSearch to generate logs for better visibility and troubleshooting of search issues. |
|20 | IoT Device Logs    | Logs for AWS IoT Core            | Text           | - Monitoring IoT device activity: Analyze device logs to gain insights into IoT device connectivity, messaging, and errors. | - Diagnosing device issues: Review IoT device logs to identify connectivity issues, message failures, or abnormal device behavior. | - Enable device logging: Configure AWS IoT Core to capture and store logs generated by IoT devices for monitoring and troubleshooting. |