AWS CLI Command Reference

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[ aws . logs ]

start-query

Description

Starts a query of one or more log groups using CloudWatch Logs Insights. You specify the log groups and time range to query and the query string to use.

For more information, see CloudWatch Logs Insights Query Syntax .

After you run a query using StartQuery , the query results are stored by CloudWatch Logs. You can use GetQueryResults to retrieve the results of a query, using the queryId that StartQuery returns.

Note

To specify the log groups to query, a StartQuery operation must include one of the following:

  • Either exactly one of the following parameters: logGroupName , logGroupNames , or logGroupIdentifiers
  • Or the queryString must include a SOURCE command to select log groups for the query. The SOURCE command can select log groups based on log group name prefix, account ID, and log class. For more information about the SOURCE command, see SOURCE .

If you have associated a KMS key with the query results in this account, then StartQuery uses that key to encrypt the results when it stores them. If no key is associated with query results, the query results are encrypted with the default CloudWatch Logs encryption method.

Queries time out after 60 minutes of runtime. If your queries are timing out, reduce the time range being searched or partition your query into a number of queries.

If you are using CloudWatch cross-account observability, you can use this operation in a monitoring account to start a query in a linked source account. For more information, see CloudWatch cross-account observability . For a cross-account StartQuery operation, the query definition must be defined in the monitoring account.

You can have up to 30 concurrent CloudWatch Logs insights queries, including queries that have been added to dashboards.

See also: AWS API Documentation

Synopsis

  start-query
[--log-group-name <value>]
[--log-group-names <value>]
[--log-group-identifiers <value>]
--start-time <value>
--end-time <value>
--query-string <value>
[--limit <value>]
[--cli-input-json <value>]
[--generate-cli-skeleton <value>]
[--debug]
[--endpoint-url <value>]
[--no-verify-ssl]
[--no-paginate]
[--output <value>]
[--query <value>]
[--profile <value>]
[--region <value>]
[--version <value>]
[--color <value>]
[--no-sign-request]
[--ca-bundle <value>]
[--cli-read-timeout <value>]
[--cli-connect-timeout <value>]

Options

--log-group-name (string)

The log group on which to perform the query.

--log-group-names (list)

The list of log groups to be queried. You can include up to 50 log groups.

(string)

Syntax:

"string" "string" ...

--log-group-identifiers (list)

The list of log groups to query. You can include up to 50 log groups.

You can specify them by the log group name or ARN. If a log group that you're querying is in a source account and you're using a monitoring account, you must specify the ARN of the log group here. The query definition must also be defined in the monitoring account.

If you specify an ARN, use the format arn:aws:logs:region :account-id :log-group:log_group_name Don't include an * at the end.

A StartQuery operation must include exactly one of the following parameters: logGroupName , logGroupNames , or logGroupIdentifiers .

(string)

Syntax:

"string" "string" ...

--start-time (long)

The beginning of the time range to query. The range is inclusive, so the specified start time is included in the query. Specified as epoch time, the number of seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC .

--end-time (long)

The end of the time range to query. The range is inclusive, so the specified end time is included in the query. Specified as epoch time, the number of seconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC .

--query-string (string)

The query string to use. For more information, see CloudWatch Logs Insights Query Syntax .

--limit (integer)

The maximum number of log events to return in the query. If the query string uses the fields command, only the specified fields and their values are returned. The default is 10,000.

--cli-input-json (string) Performs service operation based on the JSON string provided. The JSON string follows the format provided by --generate-cli-skeleton. If other arguments are provided on the command line, the CLI values will override the JSON-provided values. It is not possible to pass arbitrary binary values using a JSON-provided value as the string will be taken literally.

--generate-cli-skeleton (string) Prints a JSON skeleton to standard output without sending an API request. If provided with no value or the value input, prints a sample input JSON that can be used as an argument for --cli-input-json. If provided with the value output, it validates the command inputs and returns a sample output JSON for that command.

Global Options

--debug (boolean)

Turn on debug logging.

--endpoint-url (string)

Override command's default URL with the given URL.

--no-verify-ssl (boolean)

By default, the AWS CLI uses SSL when communicating with AWS services. For each SSL connection, the AWS CLI will verify SSL certificates. This option overrides the default behavior of verifying SSL certificates.

--no-paginate (boolean)

Disable automatic pagination. If automatic pagination is disabled, the AWS CLI will only make one call, for the first page of results.

--output (string)

The formatting style for command output.

  • json
  • text
  • table

--query (string)

A JMESPath query to use in filtering the response data.

--profile (string)

Use a specific profile from your credential file.

--region (string)

The region to use. Overrides config/env settings.

--version (string)

Display the version of this tool.

--color (string)

Turn on/off color output.

  • on
  • off
  • auto

--no-sign-request (boolean)

Do not sign requests. Credentials will not be loaded if this argument is provided.

--ca-bundle (string)

The CA certificate bundle to use when verifying SSL certificates. Overrides config/env settings.

--cli-read-timeout (int)

The maximum socket read time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket read will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

--cli-connect-timeout (int)

The maximum socket connect time in seconds. If the value is set to 0, the socket connect will be blocking and not timeout. The default value is 60 seconds.

Output

queryId -> (string)

The unique ID of the query.