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Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

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Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling helps you maintain application availability and lets you automatically add or remove EC2 instances using scaling policies that you define. Dynamic or predictive scaling policies let you add or remove EC2 instance capacity to service established or real-time demand patterns.

The Sumo Logic App for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling provides comprehensive insights into the performance and health of your EC2 Auto Scaling groups within your AWS environment. This App offers a centralized view to monitor and analyze the scaling activities and behavior of your EC2 instances. Leverage the prebuilt dashboards to gain visibility into key metrics such as instance launches, terminations, scaling events, and overall group health.

Log and metrics types​

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling app uses the following logs and metrics:

Sample CloudTrail log message​

Click to expand
CloudTrail
{
    "eventVersion":"1.08",
    "userIdentity":{
        "type":"IAMUser",
        "principalId":"AIDAIHL7V6WZEXAMPLEVU",
        "arn":"arn:aws:iam::123456789981:user/greg",
        "accountId":"123456789981",
        "accessKeyId":"AKIA12345EXAMPLE67890",
        "userName":"greg",
        },
    "eventTime":"2025-03-10T15:05:37Z",
    "eventSource":"autoscaling.amazonaws.com",
    "eventName":"CreateAutoScalingGroup",
    "awsRegion":"us-east-1",
    "sourceIPAddress":"223.233.233.233",
    "userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/133.0.0.0 Safari/537.36",
    "requestParameters":{
        "autoScalingGroupName":"catalogService",
        "launchTemplate":{
            "launchTemplateId":"lt-02c96752a8d5a34d9",
            "version":"$Default"
            },
        "minSize":1,
        "maxSize":3,
        "desiredCapacity":2,
        "healthCheckType":"EBS",
        "healthCheckGracePeriod":300,
        "vPCZoneIdentifier":"subnet-010d7504b1d1a23f,subnet-02aff57192da8785",
        "newInstancesProtectedFromScaleIn":false,
        "defaultInstanceWarmup":-1,
        "capacityReservationSpecification":{"capacityReservationPreference":"default"},
        "availabilityZoneDistribution":{"capacityDistributionStrategy":"balanced-best-effort"}
        },
    "responseElements":null,
    "requestID":"61a1e435-d8cc-4a7e-a314-6f96c0f016fe",
    "eventID":"fcb4f52d-bf15-4732-8d0b-25688be73a47",
    "readOnly":false,
    "eventType":"AwsApiCall",
    "managementEvent":true,
    "recipientAccountId":"123456789981",
    "eventCategory":"Management",
    "tlsDetails":{
        "tlsVersion":"TLSv1.3",
        "cipherSuite":"TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
        "clientProvidedHostHeader":"autoscaling.us-east-1.amazonaws.com"
        },
    "sessionCredentialFromConsole":"true"
}

Sample queries​

Events by status (CloudTrail logs)
account="account" region="region" "\"eventsource\":\"autoscaling.amazonaws.com\"" 
| json "userIdentity", "eventSource", "eventName", "awsRegion", "sourceIPAddress", "userAgent", "eventType", "recipientAccountId", "requestParameters", "responseElements", "requestID", "errorCode", "errorMessage", "apiVersion" as userIdentity, event_source, event_name, region, src_ip, user_agent, event_type, recipient_account_id, requestParameters, responseElements, request_id, error_code, error_message, api_version nodrop
| where event_source = "autoscaling.amazonaws.com"
| where namespace matches "aws/autoscaling" or isEmpty(namespace)
| json field=userIdentity "accountId", "type", "arn", "userName"  as accountid, type, arn, username nodrop
| parse field=arn ":assumed-role/*" as user nodrop 
| parse field=arn "arn:aws:iam::*:*" as accountid, user nodrop
| json field=requestParameters "autoScalingGroupName" as asgname nodrop
| if (isBlank(accountid), recipient_account_id, accountid) as accountid
| where (tolowercase(asgname) matches tolowercase("{{autoscalinggroup}}")) or isBlank(asgname)
| if (isEmpty(error_code), "Success", "Failure") as event_status
| if (isEmpty(username), user, username) as user
| count by event_status
| sort by _count, event_status asc
Group Desired Capacity (Cloud watch Metrics)
account=account region=region autoscalinggroupname=cartService namespace=aws/autoscaling metric=GroupDesiredCapacity Statistic=average 
| avg by account, region, autoscalinggroupname

Collecting logs and metrics for the Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling​

When you create an AWS Source, you'll need to identify the Hosted Collector you want to use or create a new Hosted Collector. Once you create an AWS Source, associate it with a Hosted Collector. For instructions, see Configure a Hosted Collector and Source.

Collect Cloudtrail logs​

  1. Configure a Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling Cloudtrail Logs Source.
  2. Metadata. Click the +Add Field link to add custom log metadata Fields. Define the fields you want to associate, each field needs a name (key) and value.
    1. Add an account field and assign it a value which is a friendly name / alias to your AWS account from which you are collecting logs. Logs can be queried via the “account field”.
    2. Keep in mind:
      • green check circle.png A green circle with a check mark is shown when the field exists and is enabled in the Fields table schema.
      • orange exclamation point.png An orange triangle with an exclamation point is shown when the field doesn't exist, or is disabled, in the Fields table schema. In this case, an option to automatically add or enable the nonexistent fields to the Fields table schema is provided. If a field is sent to Sumo Logic that does not exist in the Fields schema or is disabled it is ignored, known as dropped.

Collect metrics​

  1. Sumo Logic supports collecting metrics using two source types:
  2. Metadata. Click the +Add Field link to add custom log metadata fields. Define the fields you want to associate, each field needs a name (key) and value.
    1. Add an account field and assign it a value which is a friendly name / alias to your AWS account from which you are collecting logs. Logs can be queried via the “account field”.
      Metadata
    2. Keep in mind:
      • green check circle.png A green circle with a check mark is shown when the field exists and is enabled in the Fields table schema.
      • orange exclamation point.png An orange triangle with an exclamation point is shown when the field doesn't exist, or is disabled, in the Fields table schema. In this case, an option to automatically add or enable the nonexistent fields to the Fields table schema is provided. If a field is sent to Sumo Logic that does not exist in the Fields schema or is disabled it is ignored, known as dropped.
note

Namespace for Amazon EC2 Auto-scaling Service is AWS/AutoScaling.

Field in field schema​

  1. Classic UI. In the main Sumo Logic menu, select Manage Data > Logs > Fields.
    New UI. In the top menu select Configuration, and then under Logs select Fields. You can also click the Go To... menu at the top of the screen and select Fields.
  2. Search for the autoscalinggroup field.
  3. If not present, create it. Learn how to create and manage fields here.

Field Extraction Rule(s)​

Create a Field Extraction Rule (FER) for Amazon EC2 Auto-scaling access logs and Cloudtrail logs. Learn how to create a Field Extraction Rule here.

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling CloudTrail logs

Rule Name: AwsObservabilityEC2ASGCloudTrailLogsFER
Applied at: Ingest Time
Scope (Specific Data): account=* eventSource eventName
Parse Expression
json "eventSource", "awsRegion", "requestParameters", "recipientAccountId" as eventSource, region, requestParameters, accountid nodrop 
| json field=requestParameters "autoScalingGroupName" as autoscalinggroup nodrop
| where eventSource = "autoscaling.amazonaws.com" 
| "aws/autoscaling" as namespace 
| tolowercase(autoscalinggroup) as autoscalinggroup 
| fields region, namespace, autoscalinggroup, accountid

Installing the Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling app​

Now that you have set up collection for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, install the Sumo Logic App to use the pre-configured searches and dashboards that provide visibility into your environment for real-time analysis of overall usage.

To install the app:

  1. Select App Catalog.
  2. In the Search Apps field, search for and then select your app.
  3. Optionally, you can scroll down to preview the dashboards included with the app. Then, click Install App (sometimes this button says Add Integration).
  4. Click Next.
  5. Look for the dialog confirming that your app was installed successfully.
    app-success-sumo-apps.png

Once an app is installed, it will appear in your Personal folder or the folder that you specified. From here, you can share it with other users in your organization. Dashboard panels will automatically start to fill with data matching the time range query received since you created the panel. Results won't be available immediately, but within about 20 minutes, you'll see completed graphs and maps.

Viewing Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboards​

Amazon EC2 Autoscaling - Overview​

The Amazon EC2 Autoscaling - Overview dashboard provides an overview of Amazon EC2 Autoscaling operations, offering insights into instance capacity, error messages, user agents, and disruptive events. It allows users to monitor and analyze the performance and behavior of their autoscaling groups in real-time.

Use this dashboard for:

  • Monitoring the current capacity of EC2 instances, including group and warm pool instances
  • Tracking the desired capacity of autoscaling groups
  • Identifying and troubleshooting common error messages related to autoscaling operations
  • Monitoring disruptive events such as group updates, instance detachments, and policy changes
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboard

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - CloudTrail Audit​

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - CloudTrail Audit dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling activities and CloudTrail audit logs. The dashboard displays information on event locations, top error codes, users with highest failure rates, disruptive events, error details, successful events, event status, and active users/roles.

Use this dashboard for:

  • Monitoring the overall health and performance of your Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling groups
  • Identifying and troubleshooting common errors and failures in auto-scaling operations
  • Tracking user activities and potential security concerns related to auto-scaling events
  • Analyzing trends in event types, success rates, and failure patterns over time
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboard

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Instances​

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Instances dashboard provides a detailed overview of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling instance metrics, allowing users to monitor and analyze the behavior of their auto scaling groups across different autoscaling groups. It offers real-time insights into instance capacities, states, and group configurations.

Use this dashboard for:

  • Tracking the desired capacity and actual in-service instances for each auto scaling group
  • Monitoring the minimum and maximum group size limits to ensure proper scaling boundaries
  • Observing the total number of instances in each group, including their various states (pending, standby, and terminating)
  • Comparing instance metrics across different auto scaling groups
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboard

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Capacity​

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Capacity dashboard provides a comprehensive view of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling group capacity metrics, offering insights into the total, in-service, pending, standby, and terminating capacities for different autoscaling groups. It allows users to monitor and analyze the capacity fluctuations and states of their auto scaling groups over time.

Use this dashboard for:

  • Tracking the total capacity of auto scaling groups across different auto scaling groups
  • Monitoring the in-service capacity to ensure adequate resources are available to handle current workloads
  • Analyzing standby capacity to understand the reserve resources available for quick scaling
  • Tracking terminating capacity to monitor the scale-in process and resource optimization
  • Detecting potential issues in the scaling process, such as instances stuck in pending or terminating states
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboard

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Warm Pool​

The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling - Warm Pool dashboard provides a detailed view of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling Warm Pool metrics, offering insights into the capacity and state of pre-initialized instances ready to quickly respond to sudden traffic spikes or workload demands. It allows users to monitor and analyze the warm pool behavior across different autoscaling groups.

Use this dashboard for:

  • Tracking the total and desired capacity of warm pools for each autoscaling group
  • Monitoring the minimum size of warm pools to ensure adequate reserve capacity
  • Observing pending capacity in warm pools to identify potential delays in instance preparation
  • Monitoring the terminating capacity in warm pools to understand instance lifecycle
  • Optimizing warm pool size and capacity to improve application responsiveness during sudden load increases
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling dashboard
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