AWS Cloud Operations & Migrations Blog

Category: Intermediate (200)

Using AWS AppConfig Feature Flags

AWS recently launched AWS AppConfig Feature Flags. Feature flagging is a powerful tool that allows engineers to safely push out new features to customers, but doing so in a measured and usually gradual way. In this blog post, you will learn about what feature flags are, what are the benefits to using them, and what […]

Enforce best practices in AWS Systems Manager documents leveraging CFN Guard

Many of us use AWS Systems Manager (SSM) documents to help automate various tasks. As we author documents and move them toward deployment, we’ll likely enforce certain standards and best practices. The AWS CloudFormation team released a general-purpose tool called AWS CloudFormation Guard that we can use to help enforce these best practices. In this […]

Gaining more control over Multi-Regional AWS CloudFormation deployments

Routinely deploying resources to multiple regions is increasingly normal for situations like Disaster Recovery (DR), regulatory and compliance, and end-user latency requirements. Keeping multiple environments in sync is challenging and drives Infrastructure as Code (IaC) adoption through services like AWS CloudFormation. This post demonstrates a generic design pattern for orchestrating multi-Regional deployments when you need […]

Integrate Amazon CloudWatch metrics with ServiceNow using Amazon Managed Grafana

ServiceNow ITSM is a cloud-based platform designed to improve IT services, increase user satisfaction, and boost IT flexibility and agility. With ServiceNow IT Service Management, you can consolidate your legacy on-premise systems and IT tools into our single data model to transform the service experience, automate workflows, gain real-time visibility, and improve IT productivity. Amazon […]

Manage AWS resources in your Slack channels with AWS Chatbot

**This post was written while the feature to manage AWS resources in Slack channels was in public preview. This feature is now generally available. The information contained within this post is still relevant and helpful.** DevOps and engineering teams are increasingly moving their operations, system management, and CI/CD workflows to chat applications to streamline activities […]

Quantify custom application metrics with Amazon CloudWatch Logs and metric filters

Customers have valuable metrics emitted to their logs. Examples include web server response times, slow queries, purchases by partners, custom application metrics, and cache hits or misses. This data has unrealized potential value for increasing observability. Consumed by Amazon CloudWatch Logs and extracted using metric filters, customers can translate this data into actual CloudWatch metrics, […]

Avoid zero-day vulnerabilities with same-day security patching using AWS Systems Manager

This post was co-authored by Jordan Koch at Veradigm. Applying operating systems patches is one of the easiest ways to secure a system from ever-changing cybersecurity threats. However, for many organizations it is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks. Many organizations deploy operating system patches through their various environments, first applying to Development, […]

How CloudFix uses AWS Systems Manager Change Manager to deliver cost savings

For years, the CloudFix team has managed and maintained 120+ AWS hosted SaaS products across hundreds of AWS accounts. Although this model follows established AWS best practices, the team’s scope introduced operational challenges. Their team needed a way to identify cost-saving opportunities across their applications without making architectural compromises or introducing service disruption. The team […]

How to search through your AWS Systems Manager Session Manager console logs – Part 1

AWS Systems Manager (SSM) in combination with AWS Key Management Services (KMS), Amazon CloudWatch, and Amazon OpenSearch allow administrators to encrypt and securely store user session logs, as well as search the log data for information. These tools are easy to integrate and provide powerful analytical capabilities without the undifferentiated heavy lifting. In this series, […]

How to search through your AWS Systems Manager Session Manager console logs – Part 2

AWS System Manager in combination with Amazon Key Management Services (KMS), Amazon CloudWatch, and Amazon Open Search can provide administrators with the ability to encrypt and securely store user session logs and search the log data for information. These tools are easy to integrate and provide powerful analytical capabilities without undifferentiated heavy lifting. In the […]