Access Amazon ECS features with account settings

You can go into Amazon ECS account settings to opt in or out of specific features. For each AWS Region, you can opt in to, or opt out of, each account setting at the account-level or for a specific user or role.

You might want to opt in or out of specific features if any of the following is relevant to you:

• A user or role can opt in or opt out specific account settings for their individual account.

• A user or role can set the default opt-in or opt-out setting for all users on the account.

• The root user or a user with administrator privileges can opt in to, or opt out of, any specific role or user on the account. If the account setting for the root user is changed, it sets the default for all the users and roles that no individual account setting was selected for.

Note

Federated users assume the account setting of the root user and can't have explicit account settings set for them separately.

The following account settings are available. You must separately opt-in and opt-out to each account setting.

Resource name	Learn more
containerInsights	Container Insights
serviceLongArnFormat taskLongArnFormat containerInstanceLongArnFormat	Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) and IDs
tagResourceAuthorization	Tagging authorization
fargateFIPSMode	AWS Fargate Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140) compliance
fargateTaskRetirementWaitPeriod	AWS Fargate task retirement wait time
guardDutyActivate	Runtime Monitoring (Amazon GuardDuty integration)
dualStackIPv6	Dual stack IPv6 VPC
awsvpcTrunking	Increase Linux container instance network interfaces

Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) and IDs

When Amazon ECS resources are created, each resource is assigned a unique Amazon Resource Name (ARN) and resource identifier (ID). If you use a command line tool or the Amazon ECS API to work with Amazon ECS, resource ARNs or IDs are required for certain commands. For example, if you use the stop-task AWS CLI command to stop a task, you must specify the task ARN or ID in the command.

Amazon ECS is introducing a new format for Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) and resource IDs for Amazon ECS services, tasks, and container instances. The opt-in status for each resource type determines the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) format the resource uses. You must opt in to the new ARN format to use features such as resource tagging for that resource type.

You can opt in to and opt out of the new Amazon Resource Name (ARN) and resource ID format on a per-Region basis. Currently, any new account created is opted in by default.

You can opt in or opt out of the new Amazon Resource Name (ARN) and resource ID format at any time. After you opt in, any new resources that you create use the new format.

Note

A resource ID doesn't change after it's created. Therefore, opting in or out of the new format doesn't affect your existing resource IDs.

The following sections describe how ARN and resource ID formats are changing. For more information about the transition to the new formats, see Amazon Elastic Container Service FAQ.

Amazon Resource Name (ARN) format

Some resources have a user-friendly name, such as a service named production. In other cases, you must specify a resource using the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) format. The new ARN format for Amazon ECS tasks, services, and container instances includes the cluster name. For information about opting in to the new ARN format, see Modifying Amazon ECS account settings.

The following table shows both the current format and the new format for each resource type.

Resource type	ARN
Container instance	Current: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:container-instance/container-instance-id New: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:container-instance/cluster-name/container-instance-id
Amazon ECS service	Current: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:service/service-name New: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:service/cluster-name/service-name
Amazon ECS task	Current: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:task/task-id New: arn:aws:ecs:region:aws_account_id:task/cluster-name/task-id

Resource ID length

A resource ID takes the form of a unique combination of letters and numbers. New resource ID formats include shorter IDs for Amazon ECS tasks and container instances. The current resource ID format is 36 characters long. The new IDs are in a 32-character format that doesn't include any hyphens. For information about opting in to the new resource ID format, see Modifying Amazon ECS account settings.

The default is enabled.

Only resources launched after opting in receive the new ARN and resource ID format. All existing resources aren't affected. For Amazon ECS services and tasks to transition to the new ARN and resource ID formats, you must recreate the service or task. To transition a container instance to the new ARN and resource ID format, the container instance must be drained and a new container instance must be launched and registered to the cluster.

Note

Tasks launched by an Amazon ECS service can only receive the new ARN and resource ID format if the service was created on or after November 16, 2018, and the user who created the service has opted in to the new format for tasks.

ARN and resource ID format timeline

The timeline for the opt-in and opt-out periods for the new Amazon Resource Name (ARN) and resource ID format for Amazon ECS resources ended on April 1, 2021. By default, all accounts are opted in to the new format. All new resources created receive the new format, and you can no longer opt out.

Container Insights

CloudWatch Container Insights collects, aggregates, and summarizes metrics and logs from your containerized applications and microservices. The metrics include utilization for resources such as CPU, memory, disk, and network. Container Insights also provides diagnostic information, such as container restart failures, to help you isolate issues and resolve them quickly. You can also set CloudWatch alarms on metrics that Container Insights collects. For more information, see Monitor Amazon ECS containers using Container Insights.

When you opt in to the containerInsights account setting, all new clusters have Container Insights enabled by default. You can disable this setting for specific clusters when you create them. You can also change this setting by using the UpdateClusterSettings API.

For clusters that contain tasks or services using the EC2 launch type, your container instances must run version 1.29.0 or later of the Amazon ECS agent to use Container Insights. For more information, see Amazon ECS Linux container instance management.

The default is disabled.

AWS Fargate Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140) compliance

Fargate supports the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140) which specifies the security requirements for cryptographic modules that protect sensitive information. It is the current United States and Canadian government standard, and is applicable to systems that are required to be compliant with Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) or Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

The resource name is

The default is disabled.

You must turn on FIPS-140 compliance. For more information, see AWS Fargate Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140).

Important

The fargateFIPSMode account setting can only be changed using either the Amazon ECS API or the AWS CLI. For more information, see Modifying Amazon ECS account settings.

You must turn on Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140) compliance on Fargate. For more information, see AWS Fargate Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS-140).

Run put-account-setting-default with the fargateFIPSMode option set to enabled. For more information, see, put-account-setting-default in the Amazon Elastic Container Service API Reference.

• You can use the following command to turn on FIPS-140 compliance.

  aws ecs put-account-setting-default --name fargateFIPSMode --value enabled

  Example output

  {
      "setting": {
          "name": "fargateFIPSMode",
          "value": "enabled",
          "principalArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
           "type": user
      }
  }

You can run list-account-settings to view the current FIPS-140 compliance status. Use the effective-settings option to view the account level settings.

aws ecs list-account-settings --effective-settings

Tagging authorization

Amazon ECS is introducing tagging authorization for resource creation. Users must have tagging permissions for actions that create the resource, such as ecsCreateCluster. When you create a resource and specify tags for that resource, AWS performs additional authorization to verify that there are permissions to create tags. Therefore, you must grant explicit permissions to use the ecs:TagResource action. For more information, see Grant permission to tag resources on creation.

In order to opt in to tagging authorization, run put-account-setting-default with the tagResourceAuthorization option set to enable. For more information, see, put-account-setting-default in the Amazon Elastic Container Service API Reference. You can run list-account-settings to view the current tagging authorization status.

• You can use the following command to enable tagging authorization.

  aws ecs put-account-setting-default --name tagResourceAuthorization --value on --region region

  Example output

  {
      "setting": {
          "name": "tagResourceAuthorization",
          "value": "on",
          "principalArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
          "type": user
      }
  }

After you enable tagging authorization, you must configure the appropriate permissions to allow users to tag resources on creation. For more information, see Grant permission to tag resources on creation.

You can run list-account-settings to view the current tagging authorization status. Use the effective-settings option to view the account level settings.

aws ecs list-account-settings --effective-settings

Tagging authorization timeline

You can confirm whether tagging authorization is active by running list-account-settings to view the tagResourceAuthorization value. When the value is on, it means that the tagging authorization is in use. For more information, see, list-account-settings in the Amazon Elastic Container Service API Reference.

The following are the important dates related to tagging authorization.

• April 18, 2023 – Tagging authorization is introduced. All new and existing accounts must opt in to use the feature. You can opt in to start using tagging authorization. By opting in, you must grant the appropriate permissions.

• February 9, 2024 - March 6, 2024 – All new accounts and non-impacted existing accounts have tagging authorization on by default. You can enable or disable the tagResourceAuthorization account setting to verify your IAM policy.

  AWS has notified impacted accounts.

  To disable the feature, run put-account-setting-default with the tagResourceAuthorization option set to off.

• March 7, 2024 – If you have enabled tagging authorization, you can no longer disable the account setting.

  We recommend that you complete your IAM policy testing before this date.

• March 29, 2024 – All accounts use tagging authorization. The account-level setting will no longer be available in the Amazon ECS console or AWS CLI.

AWS Fargate task retirement wait time

AWS sends out notifications when you have Fargate tasks running on a platform version revision marked for retirement. For more information, see Task retirement and maintenance for AWS Fargate on Amazon ECS .

AWS is responsible for patching and maintaining the underlying infrastructure for AWS Fargate. When AWS determines that a security or infrastructure update is needed for an Amazon ECS task hosted on Fargate, the tasks need to be stopped and new tasks launched to replace them. You can configure the wait period before tasks are retired for patching. You have the option to retire the task immediately, to wait 7 calendar days, or to wait 14 calendar days.

This setting is at the account-level.

You can configure the time that Fargate starts the task retirement. For workloads that require immediate application of the updates, choose the immediate setting (0). When you need more control, for example, when a task can only be stopped during a certain window, configure the 7 day (7), or 14 day (14) option.

We recommend that you choose a shorter waiting period in order to pick up newer platform versions revisions sooner.

Configure the wait period by running put-account-setting-default or put-account-setting as the root user or an administrative user. Use the fargateTaskRetirementWaitPeriod option for the name and the value option set to one of the following values:

• 0 - AWS sends the notification, and immediately starts to retire the affected tasks.

• 7 - AWS sends the notification, and waits 7 calendar days before starting to retire the affected tasks.

• 14 - AWS sends the notification, and waits 14 calendar days before starting to retire the affected tasks.

The default is 7 days.

For more information, see, put-account-setting-default and put-account-setting in the Amazon Elastic Container Service API Reference.

You can run the following command to set the wait period to 14 days.

aws ecs put-account-setting-default --name fargateTaskRetirementWaitPeriod --value 14

Example output

{
    "setting": {
        "name": "fargateTaskRetirementWaitPeriod",
        "value": "14",
        "principalArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
        "type: user"
    }
}

You can run list-account-settings to view the current Fargate task retirement wait time. Use the effective-settings option.

aws ecs list-account-settings --effective-settings

Increase Linux container instance network interfaces

Each Amazon ECS task that uses the awsvpc network mode receives its own elastic network interface (ENI), which is attached to the container instance that hosts it. There is a default limit to the number of network interfaces that can be attached to an Amazon EC2 instance, and the primary network interface counts as one. For example, by default a c5.large instance may have up to three ENIs attached to it. The primary network interface for the instance counts as one, so you can attach an additional two ENIs to the instance. Because each task using the awsvpc network mode requires an ENI, you can typically only run two such tasks on this instance type.

Amazon ECS supports launching container instances with increased ENI density using supported Amazon EC2 instance types. When you use these instance types and turn on the awsvpcTrunking account setting, additional ENIs are available on newly launched container instances. This configuration allows you to place more tasks on each container instance.

For example, a c5.large instance with awsvpcTrunking has an increased ENI limit of twelve. The container instance will have the primary network interface and Amazon ECS creates and attaches a "trunk" network interface to the container instance. So this configuration allows you to launch ten tasks on the container instance instead of the current two tasks.

Runtime Monitoring (Amazon GuardDuty integration)

Runtime Monitoring is an intelligent threat detection service that protects workloads running on Fargate and EC2 container instances by continuously monitoring AWS log and networking activity to identify malicious or unauthorized behavior.

The guardDutyActivate parameter is read-only in Amazon ECS and indicates whether Runtime Monitoring is turned on or off by your security administrator in your Amazon ECS account. GuardDuty controls this account setting on your behalf. For more information, see Protecting Amazon ECS workloads with Runtime Monitoring.

You can run list-account-settings to view the current GuardDuty integration setting.

aws ecs list-account-settings 

Example output

{
    "setting": {
        "name": "guardDutyActivate",
        "value": "on",
        "principalArn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:doej",
        "type": aws-managed"
    }
}

Dual stack IPv6 VPC

Amazon ECS supports providing tasks with an IPv6 address in addition to the primary private IPv4 address.

For tasks to receive an IPv6 address, the task must use the awsvpc network mode, must be launched in a VPC configured for dual-stack mode, and the dualStackIPv6 account setting must be enabled. For more information about other requirements, see Using a VPC in dual-stack mode for the EC2 launch type and Using a VPC in dual-stack mode for the Fargate launch type.

Important

The dualStackIPv6 account setting can only be changed using either the Amazon ECS API or the AWS CLI. For more information, see Modifying Amazon ECS account settings.

If you had a running task using the awsvpc network mode in an IPv6 enabled subnet between the dates of October 1, 2020 and November 2, 2020, the default dualStackIPv6 account setting in the Region that the task was running in is disabled. If that condition isn't met, the default dualStackIPv6 setting in the Region is enabled.

The default is disabled.