|
| 1 | +# Better Stack CloudWatch Integration |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +Stream AWS CloudWatch metrics, logs, and optionally X-Ray traces and CloudTrail audit logs to Better Stack via Kinesis Data Firehose. |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +## Prerequisites |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +1. **Better Stack Account** - Sign up at [betterstack.com](https://betterstack.com) |
| 8 | +2. **Cluster ID** - Your Better Stack cluster identifier (e.g., `g1`, `s1234`, `acme`) |
| 9 | +3. **Source Token** - Authentication token from Better Stack |
| 10 | +4. **Source ID** - Source ID from Better Stack for resource matching |
| 11 | +5. **AWS CLI** - Configured with appropriate permissions |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +## Quick Start |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +### First Region Deployment |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +```bash |
| 18 | +aws cloudformation deploy \ |
| 19 | + --template-file better-stack-full.yaml \ |
| 20 | + --stack-name better-stack-full \ |
| 21 | + --parameter-overrides \ |
| 22 | + ClusterId=YOUR_CLUSTER_ID \ |
| 23 | + SourceToken=YOUR_SOURCE_TOKEN \ |
| 24 | + SourceId=YOUR_SOURCE_ID \ |
| 25 | + --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM |
| 26 | +``` |
| 27 | + |
| 28 | +### Additional Regions |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +When deploying to additional regions, set `CreateGlobalResources=false` to reuse the IAM roles created in the first region: |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +```bash |
| 33 | +aws cloudformation deploy \ |
| 34 | + --template-file better-stack-full.yaml \ |
| 35 | + --stack-name better-stack-full \ |
| 36 | + --region us-west-2 \ |
| 37 | + --parameter-overrides \ |
| 38 | + ClusterId=YOUR_CLUSTER_ID \ |
| 39 | + SourceToken=YOUR_SOURCE_TOKEN \ |
| 40 | + SourceId=YOUR_SOURCE_ID \ |
| 41 | + CreateGlobalResources=false \ |
| 42 | + --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM |
| 43 | +``` |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +## Data Flows |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +| Data Type | Flow | |
| 48 | +|-----------|------| |
| 49 | +| Metrics | CloudWatch Metric Stream (JSON) -> Firehose -> Lambda (enrichment) -> Better Stack | |
| 50 | +| Logs | CloudWatch Logs -> Subscription Filter -> Firehose -> Lambda (enrichment) -> Better Stack | |
| 51 | +| Traces | X-Ray -> CloudWatch Logs (`aws/spans`) -> Subscription Filter -> Better Stack | |
| 52 | +| Audit | CloudTrail -> CloudWatch Logs -> Subscription Filter -> Better Stack | |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +## Parameters |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +### Required Parameters |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +| Parameter | Description | |
| 59 | +|-----------|-------------| |
| 60 | +| `ClusterId` | Your Better Stack cluster ID | |
| 61 | +| `SourceToken` | Better Stack source token for authentication | |
| 62 | +| `SourceId` | Better Stack source ID for resource matching | |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +### Deployment Options |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +| Parameter | Default | Description | |
| 67 | +|-----------|---------|-------------| |
| 68 | +| `CreateGlobalResources` | `true` | Create IAM roles. Set to `false` for secondary regions. | |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +### Feature Toggles |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +| Parameter | Default | Description | |
| 73 | +|-----------|---------|-------------| |
| 74 | +| `EnableTagEnrichment` | `true` | Enable Lambda-based tag enrichment for metrics and logs | |
| 75 | +| `EnableCloudTrail` | `true` | Create a new CloudTrail trail and forward to Better Stack | |
| 76 | +| `EnableXRayTransactionSearch` | `true` | Enable X-Ray Transaction Search and forward spans | |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +## CloudTrail Notes |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +Most AWS accounts already have CloudTrail enabled. Before enabling `EnableCloudTrail=true`, check for existing trails: |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +```bash |
| 83 | +aws cloudtrail describe-trails |
| 84 | +``` |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +If a trail already exists, you may want to: |
| 87 | +1. Keep `EnableCloudTrail=false` and manually subscribe the existing CloudTrail log group |
| 88 | +2. Or enable it to create a dedicated trail for Better Stack |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | +CloudTrail logs have a 1-day retention in CloudWatch (they are forwarded immediately to Better Stack). |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +## X-Ray Transaction Search |
| 93 | + |
| 94 | +When `EnableXRayTransactionSearch=true`, the template automatically: |
| 95 | +1. Creates a CloudWatch Logs resource policy allowing X-Ray to write spans |
| 96 | +2. Enables Transaction Search via `AWS::XRay::TransactionSearchConfig` |
| 97 | +3. X-Ray sends trace segments to the `aws/spans` CloudWatch Logs group |
| 98 | + |
| 99 | +No manual steps required - fully automated via CloudFormation. |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | +## Better Stack Integration Role |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | +The template creates a `better-stack-integration-role` IAM role that allows Better Stack to: |
| 104 | +- Read CloudWatch metrics and logs |
| 105 | +- Manage metric streams and log subscriptions |
| 106 | +- Discover AWS resources for context enrichment |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +After deployment, provide these values to Better Stack: |
| 109 | +- **Role ARN**: From stack output `IntegrationRoleArn` |
| 110 | +- **External ID**: From stack output `ExternalId` |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +## Tag Enrichment |
| 113 | + |
| 114 | +When `EnableTagEnrichment=true`, Lambda functions enrich metrics and logs with AWS resource tags. |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | +**Metrics enrichment** adds tags from: |
| 117 | +- EC2 instances |
| 118 | +- RDS databases |
| 119 | +- Lambda functions |
| 120 | +- DynamoDB tables |
| 121 | +- S3 buckets |
| 122 | +- ELB/ALB/NLB load balancers |
| 123 | +- SQS queues |
| 124 | +- SNS topics |
| 125 | + |
| 126 | +**Logs enrichment** extracts resource info from log group/stream names: |
| 127 | +- `/aws/lambda/{function-name}` -> Lambda tags |
| 128 | +- `/aws/rds/instance/{db-instance}/{type}` -> RDS tags |
| 129 | +- `RDSOSMetrics` (Enhanced Monitoring) -> RDS tags from message body |
| 130 | +- `/ecs/{cluster}/...` -> ECS tags |
| 131 | +- `/aws/api-gateway/{api-id}` -> API Gateway tags |
| 132 | + |
| 133 | +Lambda code is loaded from regional S3 buckets (`better-stack-lambda-{region}`). |
| 134 | + |
| 135 | +## Stack Outputs |
| 136 | + |
| 137 | +When `CreateGlobalResources=true`, the stack outputs: |
| 138 | + |
| 139 | +| Output | Description | |
| 140 | +|--------|-------------| |
| 141 | +| `IntegrationRoleArn` | STS role ARN to provide to Better Stack | |
| 142 | +| `ExternalId` | External ID to provide to Better Stack | |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +Better Stack will discover all other resources (Firehose streams, Metric Streams, etc.) via the STS integration role. |
| 145 | + |
| 146 | +## Troubleshooting |
| 147 | + |
| 148 | +### Check Firehose Delivery Errors |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | +```bash |
| 151 | +aws logs filter-log-events \ |
| 152 | + --log-group-name /aws/kinesisfirehose/better-stack-metrics \ |
| 153 | + --start-time $(date -d '1 hour ago' +%s000) |
| 154 | +``` |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | +### Check Lambda Errors |
| 157 | + |
| 158 | +```bash |
| 159 | +aws logs filter-log-events \ |
| 160 | + --log-group-name /aws/lambda/better-stack-metrics \ |
| 161 | + --start-time $(date -d '1 hour ago' +%s000) |
| 162 | +``` |
| 163 | + |
| 164 | +### Verify Metric Stream Status |
| 165 | + |
| 166 | +```bash |
| 167 | +aws cloudwatch get-metric-stream --name better-stack-metric-stream |
| 168 | +``` |
| 169 | + |
| 170 | +## Cleanup |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | +To delete the stack: |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | +```bash |
| 175 | +aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name better-stack-full |
| 176 | +``` |
| 177 | + |
| 178 | +**Note**: S3 buckets have `DeletionPolicy: Retain` to preserve any failed delivery data and CloudTrail logs. Delete manually if needed: |
| 179 | + |
| 180 | +```bash |
| 181 | +# Delete Firehose backup bucket |
| 182 | +aws s3 rb s3://better-stack-firehose-ACCOUNT_ID-REGION --force |
| 183 | + |
| 184 | +# Delete CloudTrail bucket (if CloudTrail was enabled) |
| 185 | +aws s3 rb s3://better-stack-cloudtrail-ACCOUNT_ID-REGION --force |
| 186 | +``` |
| 187 | + |
| 188 | +## Support |
| 189 | + |
| 190 | +For issues or questions, please reach out at hello@betterstack.com |
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