Create a target tracking scaling policy for Application Auto Scaling using the AWS CLI - Application Auto Scaling
Step 1: Register a scalable targetStep 2: Create a target tracking scaling policyStep 3: Describe target tracking scaling policies

Create a target tracking scaling policy for Application Auto Scaling using the AWS CLI

This example uses AWS CLI commands to create a target racking policy for an Amazon EC2 Spot Fleet. For a different scalable target, specify its namespace in --service-namespace, its scalable dimension in --scalable-dimension, and its resource ID in --resource-id.

When using the AWS CLI, remember that your commands run in the AWS Region configured for your profile. If you want to run the commands in a different Region, either change the default Region for your profile, or use the --region parameter with the command.

Step 1: Register a scalable target

If you haven't already done so, register the scalable target. Use the register-scalable-target command to register a specific resource in the target service as a scalable target. The following example registers a Spot Fleet request with Application Auto Scaling. Application Auto Scaling can scale the number of instances in the Spot Fleet at a minimum of 2 instances and a maximum of 10. Replace each user input placeholder with your own information.

Linux, macOS, or Unix

aws application-autoscaling register-scalable-target --service-namespace ec2 \
  --scalable-dimension ec2:spot-fleet-request:TargetCapacity \
  --resource-id spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE \
  --min-capacity 2 --max-capacity 10

Windows

aws application-autoscaling register-scalable-target --service-namespace ec2 ^
  --scalable-dimension ec2:spot-fleet-request:TargetCapacity ^
  --resource-id spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE ^
  --min-capacity 2 --max-capacity 10
Output

If successful, this command returns the ARN of the scalable target. The following is example output.

{
    "ScalableTargetARN": "arn:aws:application-autoscaling:region:account-id:scalable-target/1234abcd56ab78cd901ef1234567890ab123"
}

Step 2: Create a target tracking scaling policy

To create a target tracking scaling policy, you can use the following examples to help you get started.

To create a target tracking scaling policy

  1. Use the following cat command to store a target value for your scaling policy and a predefined metric specification in a JSON file named config.json in your home directory. The following is an example target tracking configuration that keeps the average CPU utilization at 50 percent.

    $ cat ~/config.json
{
  "TargetValue": 50.0,
  "PredefinedMetricSpecification": 
    {
      "PredefinedMetricType": "EC2SpotFleetRequestAverageCPUUtilization"
    }
}

    For more information, see PredefinedMetricSpecification in the Application Auto Scaling API Reference.

    Alternatively, you can use a custom metric for scaling by creating a customized metric specification and adding values for each parameter from CloudWatch. The following is an example target tracking configuration that keeps the average utilization of the specified metric at 100.

    $ cat ~/config.json
{
   "TargetValue": 100.0,
   "CustomizedMetricSpecification":{
      "MetricName": "MyUtilizationMetric",
      "Namespace": "MyNamespace",
      "Dimensions": [
         {
            "Name": "MyOptionalMetricDimensionName",
            "Value": "MyOptionalMetricDimensionValue"
         }
      ],
      "Statistic": "Average",
      "Unit": "Percent"
   }
}

    For more information, see CustomizedMetricSpecification in the Application Auto Scaling API Reference.

  2. Use the following put-scaling-policy command, along with the config.json file you created, to create a scaling policy named cpu50-target-tracking-scaling-policy.

    Linux, macOS, or Unix

    aws application-autoscaling put-scaling-policy --service-namespace ec2 \
  --scalable-dimension ec2:spot-fleet-request:TargetCapacity \
  --resource-id spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE \
  --policy-name cpu50-target-tracking-scaling-policy --policy-type TargetTrackingScaling \
  --target-tracking-scaling-policy-configuration file://config.json

    Windows

    aws application-autoscaling put-scaling-policy --service-namespace ec2 ^
  --scalable-dimension ec2:spot-fleet-request:TargetCapacity ^
  --resource-id spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE ^
  --policy-name cpu50-target-tracking-scaling-policy --policy-type TargetTrackingScaling ^
  --target-tracking-scaling-policy-configuration file://config.json
    Output

    If successful, this command returns the ARNs and names of the two CloudWatch alarms created on your behalf. The following is example output.

    {
    "PolicyARN": "arn:aws:autoscaling:region:account-id:scalingPolicy:policy-id:resource/ec2/spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE:policyName/cpu50-target-tracking-scaling-policy",
    "Alarms": [
        {
            "AlarmARN": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:region:account-id:alarm:TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmHigh-d4f0770c-b46e-434a-a60f-3b36d653feca",
            "AlarmName": "TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmHigh-d4f0770c-b46e-434a-a60f-3b36d653feca"
        },
        {
            "AlarmARN": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:region:account-id:alarm:TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmLow-1b437334-d19b-4a63-a812-6c67aaf2910d",
            "AlarmName": "TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmLow-1b437334-d19b-4a63-a812-6c67aaf2910d"
        }
    ]
}

Step 3: Describe target tracking scaling policies

You can describe all scaling policies for the specified service namespace using the following describe-scaling-policies command.

aws application-autoscaling describe-scaling-policies --service-namespace ec2

You can filter the results to just the target tracking scaling policies using the --query parameter. For more information about the syntax for query, see Controlling command output from the AWS CLI in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide.

Linux, macOS, or Unix

aws application-autoscaling describe-scaling-policies --service-namespace ec2 \
  --query 'ScalingPolicies[?PolicyType==`TargetTrackingScaling`]'

Windows

aws application-autoscaling describe-scaling-policies --service-namespace ec2 ^
  --query "ScalingPolicies[?PolicyType==`TargetTrackingScaling`]"
Output

The following is example output.

[
    {
        "PolicyARN": "PolicyARN",
        "TargetTrackingScalingPolicyConfiguration": {
            "PredefinedMetricSpecification": {
                "PredefinedMetricType": "EC2SpotFleetRequestAverageCPUUtilization"
            },
            "TargetValue": 50.0
        },
        "PolicyName": "cpu50-target-tracking-scaling-policy",
        "ScalableDimension": "ec2:spot-fleet-request:TargetCapacity",
        "ServiceNamespace": "ec2",
        "PolicyType": "TargetTrackingScaling",
        "ResourceId": "spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE",
        "Alarms": [
            {
                "AlarmARN": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:region:account-id:alarm:TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmHigh-d4f0770c-b46e-434a-a60f-3b36d653feca",
                "AlarmName": "TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmHigh-d4f0770c-b46e-434a-a60f-3b36d653feca"
            },
            {
                "AlarmARN": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:region:account-id:alarm:TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmLow-1b437334-d19b-4a63-a812-6c67aaf2910d",
                "AlarmName": "TargetTracking-spot-fleet-request/sfr-73fbd2ce-aa30-494c-8788-1cee4EXAMPLE-AlarmLow-1b437334-d19b-4a63-a812-6c67aaf2910d"
            }
        ],
        "CreationTime": 1515021724.807
    }
]