Capture Logs from Web Server on AWS EC2 Instance: Best Practices

Capture Logs from Web Server on EC2 Instance

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Question

You are planning to deploy a built application onto an EC2 Instance.

There will be several tests conducted on this Instance.

You want to have the ability to capture the logs from the web server to help diagnose any issues if they occur.

How can you achieve this?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

Answer - B.

You can install the Cloudwatch agent on the machine and then configure it to send the web server's logs to a central location in Cloudwatch.

Option A is invalid since this is used for API monitoring activity.

Option C is invalid since it is used to get the network traffic coming to an Instance hosted in a VPC.Option D is invalid since this will not give the detailed level of logs that is required.

For more information on the Cloudwatch agent, please refer to the below link-

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/Install-CloudWatch-Agent.html

To capture the logs from the web server on an EC2 instance, you can use the Cloudwatch service provided by AWS. Cloudwatch is a monitoring and observability service provided by AWS, which allows you to monitor and collect metrics, logs, and events from various AWS resources.

Out of the given options, the most suitable approach for capturing logs from the web server on an EC2 instance is to install the Cloudwatch agent on the instance (Option B). The Cloudwatch agent is a small software component that you can install on your EC2 instances to collect system-level metrics and log files from the instance. The agent can collect data from multiple sources on the instance, including log files, JSON metrics files, and the output of scripts or commands. The agent then sends this data to Cloudwatch for storage and analysis.

To install the Cloudwatch agent on an EC2 instance, you need to follow the steps mentioned below:

  1. Create an IAM role for the EC2 instance that has the required permissions to send logs to Cloudwatch.

  2. Launch the EC2 instance and associate the IAM role with the instance.

  3. Download and install the Cloudwatch agent on the instance. You can use the AWS Systems Manager Run Command feature to install the agent on multiple instances at once.

  4. Configure the agent to collect and send the logs to Cloudwatch. You can configure the agent using the agent configuration file or the command line.

  5. Verify that the logs are being sent to Cloudwatch by checking the Cloudwatch logs console.

By using the Cloudwatch agent, you can capture logs from the web server on the EC2 instance and send them to Cloudwatch. This will help you diagnose any issues that may occur during testing. You can also create Cloudwatch alarms and notifications based on the log data to get alerts when certain events occur.