# Ensure Monitoring is Enabled for Amazon ECS Clusters

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000233990-ensure-monitoring-is-enabled-for-amazon-ecs-clusters
- Section: [Solutions](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions) › [CIS AWS Compute Services Benchmark v1.1.0](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/62000112682) › [AWS Compute Services Benchmark v1.1.0](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/folders/62000169228)
- Last updated: 2026-05-29
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**Profile Applicability:**  

-   **Level 2**

**Description:**  
Enable AWS CloudWatch Container Insights for Amazon ECS clusters to monitor resource usage, performance, and application health through metrics and logs.

**Rationale:** Monitoring ECS clusters with Container Insights improves visibility into the health and performance of ECS applications, supports faster issue detection, and enhances security by identifying anomalies, errors, and resource bottlenecks.

**Impact:** Enabling AWS CloudWatch Container Insights for ECS clusters incurs costs for metrics, log ingestion, storage, and alarms. However, the benefits of proactive monitoring and faster issue resolution justify the costs.

**Default Value:** Monitoring is disabled by default for Amazon ECS clusters.

**Pre-requisites:**

-   AWS IAM permissions to modify ECS cluster settings: ecs:UpdateClusterSettings, ecs:DescribeClusters
    
-   CloudWatch permissions to view and update CloudWatch Container Insights settings: cloudwatch:PutMetricData, cloudwatch:DescribeAlarms
    

**Remediation:**

**Test Plan:**

**Using AWS Console:**

1.  Log in to the ECS Console at [AWS ECS Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ecs/).  
    
2.  In the left panel, click Clusters.  
    
3.  For each cluster listed, check the CloudWatch monitoring column and ensure that Container Insights is displayed.  
    

**Using AWS CLI:**

1.  Run the following command to list clusters:  
    
    aws ecs list-clusters
    
2.  Run the following command to view the settings for a cluster:  
    
    aws ecs describe-clusters --clusters <cluster-arn> --include SETTINGS --query 'clusters\[\*\].settings'
    
3.  Ensure that containerInsights is set to enabled or enhanced.
    

### **Implementation Plan:**

### **Using AWS Console:**

1.  Log in to the ECS Console at [AWS ECS Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ecs/).  
    
2.  In the left panel, click Clusters.  
    
3.  Click the name of a cluster.  
    
4.  Click Update cluster.  
    
5.  Under Monitoring, select the radio button next to Container Insights or Container Insights with enhanced observability.  
    
6.  Click Update.  
    
7.  Repeat steps 1-6 for each ECS cluster requiring remediation.
    

### **Using AWS CLI:**

1.  For each cluster requiring remediation, run the following command to enable containerInsights
    

aws ecs update-cluster-settings --cluster <cluster-arn> --settings name=containerInsights,value=enabled

### **Backout Plan:**

**Using AWS Console:**

1.  If issues arise after enabling monitoring, revert the settings by following the same steps and deselecting Container Insights.  
    

**Using AWS CLI:**

1.  If issues arise, disable containerInsights by running the following command:
    

aws ecs update-cluster-settings --cluster <cluster-arn> --settings name=containerInsights,value=disabled

### **References:**

1.  [AWS CloudWatch Container Insights Documentation  
    ](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/ContainerInsights.html)
    
2.  [CloudWatch Detailed ECS Metrics  
    ](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/containerinsights-detailed-ecs-metrics.html)
    
3.  AWS CLI: Update Cluster Settings  
    
4.  AWS CLI: Describe Clusters
    

### **CIS Controls:**

<table style="border:none;border-collapse:collapse;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><colgroup style="font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><col style="font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><col style="font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><col style="font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"></colgroup><tbody style="font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><tr style="height:38.5pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">Version</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">Control ID</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">Control Description</span></span></span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:64.75pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">v8</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">8.5</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">Collect Detailed Audit Logs: Configure detailed audit logging for enterprise assets containing sensitive data, including key event attributes such as user, timestamp, source addresses, and other useful forensic elements.</span></span></span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:64.75pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;"><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">v7</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">6.3</span></span></span></p></td><td style="padding:5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:0pt;font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;;font-size:14px;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14px"><span style="font-family:Helvetica Neue"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:&quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;">Enable Detailed Logging: Ensure that detailed system logging is enabled, including useful information such as event source, user, timestamp, and relevant addresses for effective monitoring and investigation.</span></span></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table>

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