AWS Cloud Operations Blog
Category: AWS Systems Manager
Proactive monitoring of application configuration deployment using AWS AppConfig and Amazon CloudWatch
While deploying critical changes to large-scale applications, unexpected errors can render the application unavailable to end users until the changes are manually rolled back. As a best practice, many Amazon teams use AWS AppConfig to deploy application configuration changes. AWS AppConfig is a capability of AWS Systems Manager that you can use to create, manage, […]
Automate suspension of an AWS CodePipeline release during critical events using AWS Systems Manager Change Calendar and Amazon EventBridge
In this blog post, I show you how to set up public holidays calendars using AWS Systems Manager Change Calendar and suspend your AWS CodePipeline pipelines during the critical holidays in these calendar events. For example, let’s say an application release pipeline in your AWS account builds and deploys a new version of the application […]
Reinventing automated operations (Part I)
This is the first in a two-part series that covers lessons learned at AWS Managed Services (AMS) as we help customers and partners achieve operational excellence on AWS. To create a secure and consistent cloud operating model, you need both operational experience and AWS skills. In my conversations with customers, it is common for experienced […]
Troubleshoot and resolve Windows workload issues using AWS Systems Manager Fleet Manager
If you’re a cloud operations engineer, you have the financial and operational responsibility to implement a monitoring, tracking, and resolution process to keep a fleet of EC2 instances healthy while staying within budget. In this blog post, I show how you can quickly detect, track, troubleshoot, and resolve operational issues at scale with Amazon CloudWatch, […]
Use AWS License Manager and AWS Systems Manager to discover SQL Server BYOL instances
Most enterprises find it hard to maintain control of the commercial licensing of Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, and IBM products due to limited visibility. They wind up over-provisioning licenses to avoid the headache with third party license providers or under-provisioning licenses, only to be faced with steep penalties. If your enterprise uses AWS, you can address this […]
Introducing the AWS AppConfig Python Helper Library
AWS AppConfig enables you to manage and quickly deploy application configurations without doing time-consuming code deployments. With AWS AppConfig, you can create an application configuration, validate it to make sure it is free of syntax or semantic errors, and deploy it to your targets at a controlled rate at runtime. If AWS AppConfig encounters errors […]
Decision-making framework for configuration with AWS AppConfig
In this blog post, we show you how to separate configuration from code, explain the differences between dynamic and static configuration, and help you determine which values to use in your dynamic configuration. We also share processes to keep bloat down in your application configuration. Finally, we introduce you to AWS AppConfig, which allows you […]
Orchestrating multi-step, custom patch processes using AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager
The ongoing management of operating system and application-level patching is critical for ensuring that your organization’s software is up to date and meets compliance policies. Patching is not always a straightforward process. You often need to orchestrate custom procedures, workflows, and scripts to ensure that applications can be safely stopped, started, and verified during the […]
Continuous permissions rightsizing to ensure least privileges in AWS using CloudKnox and AWS Config
This blog post was contributed by Kanishk Mahajan, AWS and Maya Neelakandhan, CloudKnox As you migrate your workloads to the cloud or operate your existing workloads in the cloud it would be ideal if every application was deployed with the exact permissions that it required. In practice, however, the effort required to determine the precise […]
Streamline server fleet management with AWS Systems Manager Fleet Manager
Organizations manage an increasingly diverse IT infrastructure, one that spans cloud and on-premises environments and uses different tools and services. Managing these diverse hybrid environments can be complicated and resource-intensive. Fleet Manager, a new feature in AWS Systems Manager, makes it easy and cost-effective to remotely manage Windows and Linux servers running across AWS, on-premises, […]