AWS ECS Logging Setup with Atatus and Cloudwatch (Fargate + Fluent Bit)

Prerequisites

AWS CLI configured
Access to:
- AWS ECR
- AWS ECS (Fargate)
- AWS CloudWatch
- AWS VPC

Overview

This setup sends logs to both Atatus and CloudWatch Logs using a Atatus Fluent Bit image with dual outputs.

Step 1: Create ECS Task Definition

Replace the following placeholders with your actual values: <YOUR_REGION>, <YOUR_CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP_NAME>, <LOG_STREAM_PREFIX>, <YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME>, <YOUR_APP_IMAGE>, <YOUR_ATATUS_LOGS_INGEST_LICENSE_KEY>, <YOUR_SERVICE_NAME>, <YOUR_TASK_EXECUTION_ROLE>

copy

{
    "family": "atatus-aws-ecs-fargate-fluent-bit",
    "containerDefinitions": [
        {
            "name": "log_router",
            "image": "atatus/aws-ecs-fargate-fluent-bit:1.0.0",
            "cpu": 0,
            "memoryReservation": 50,
            "portMappings": [],
            "essential": true,
            "environment": [
              { "name": "AWS_REGION", "value": "<YOUR_REGION>" },
              { "name": "LOG_GROUP_NAME", "value": "<YOUR_CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP_NAME>" },
              { "name": "LOG_STREAM_PREFIX", "value": "ecs" }
            ],
            "mountPoints": [],
            "volumesFrom": [],
            "user": "0",
            "logConfiguration": {
                "logDriver": "awslogs",
                "options": {
                    "awslogs-group": "/ecs/log-router",
                    "awslogs-region": "<YOUR_REGION>",
                    "awslogs-stream-prefix": "firelens"
                }
            },
            "systemControls": [],
            "firelensConfiguration": {
                "type": "fluentbit",
                "options": {
                    "enable-ecs-log-metadata": "true",
                    "config-file-type": "file",
                    "config-file-value": "/cloudwatch_logs.conf"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "<YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME>",
            "image": "<YOUR_APP_IMAGE>",
            "cpu": 0,
            "memoryReservation": 100,
            "portMappings": [],
            "essential": true,
            "environment": [],
            "mountPoints": [],
            "volumesFrom": [],
            "logConfiguration": {
                "logDriver": "awsfirelens",
                "options": {
                    "tls.verify": "off",
                    "Header": "x-atatus-ecs-awsfirelens <YOUR_ATATUS_LOGS_INGEST_LICENSE_KEY>:<YOUR_SERVICE_NAME>",
                    "Port": "443",
                    "Host": "intake-logs.atatus.com",
                    "tls": "on",
                    "URI": "/ingest/v1/logs",
                    "Name": "http",
                    "Format": "json_lines"
                }
            },
            "systemControls": []
        }
    ],
    "taskRoleArn": "<YOUR_TASK_EXECUTION_ROLE>",
    "executionRoleArn": "<YOUR_TASK_EXECUTION_ROLE>",
    "networkMode": "awsvpc",
    "requiresCompatibilities": [
        "FARGATE"
    ],
    "cpu": "256",
    "memory": "512"
}

Sample Data for Placeholders:

Use the below values as examples when replacing placeholders in your task definition:

<YOUR_REGION> – us-east-1

<YOUR_CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP_NAME> – app-logs

<YOUR_LOG_STREAM_PREFIX> - ecs

<YOUR_CONTAINER_NAME> – my-app

<YOUR_APP_IMAGE> – 123456789012.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest

<YOUR_ATATUS_LOGS_INGEST_LICENSE_KEY> – lic_**********************

<YOUR_SERVICE_NAME> – test-service

<YOUR_TASK_EXECUTION_ROLE> – arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/ecsTaskExecutionRole

Step 2: Deploy Task in ECS

Open ECS > Task Definitions in AWS Console
Register the new task definition using the JSON above.
Launch a task in a suitable Fargate cluster and subnet.

Verification

CloudWatch Logs: Navigate to your configured log group and confirm log ingestion.
Atatus: Go to your Atatus Logs Dashboard and confirm logs are visible.