Getting started with CloudWatch Logs - Amazon CloudWatch Logs

Getting started with CloudWatch Logs

To collect logs from your Amazon EC2 instances and on-premises servers into CloudWatch Logs, AWS offers two options:

  • Recommended – The unified CloudWatch agent. It enables you to collect both logs and advanced metrics with one agent. It offers support across operating systems, including servers running Windows Server. This agent also provides better performance.

    If your server uses Instance Metadata Service Version 2 (IMDSv2), you must use the newer unified agent instead of the older CloudWatch Logs agent.

    If you're using the unified agent to collect CloudWatch metrics, it enables the collection of additional system metrics, for in-guest visibility. It also supports collecting custom metrics using StatsD or collectd.

    For more information, see Installing the CloudWatch Agent in the Amazon CloudWatch User Guide.

  • Supported, but on the path to deprecation – The older CloudWatch Logs agent, which supports the collection of logs from only servers running Linux. If you're already using that agent, you may continue to do so. However, the older agent requires Python 2.7, 3.0, and 3.3. Because current EC2 instances do not use those versions of Python and those versions are deprecated and are no longer being patched, we strongly recommend that you migrate to the unified CloudWatch agent.

    Additionally, the older agent doesn't support Instance Metadata Service Version 2 (IMDSv2). If your server uses IMDSv2, you must use the newer unified agent instead of the older CloudWatch Logs agent.

    When you migrate from the CloudWatch Logs agent to the unified CloudWatch agent, the unified agent's configuration wizard can read your current CloudWatch Logs agent configuration file and set up the new agent to collect the same logs. For more information about the wizard, see Create the CloudWatch Agent Configuration File with the Wizard in the Amazon CloudWatch User Guide.

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