Share your experience using AWS CloudTrail

My main use cases for AWS CloudTrail are troubleshooting, monitoring performance, and checking logs. AWS CloudTrail is primarily a log collection service. All AWS logs are sent to AWS CloudTrail, and we can analyze the logs and extract the required data from them.

The features I find most useful in AWS CloudTrail are all of its core functionalities. It is a basic service from AWS that handles any log collection and monitoring needs. If you need to monitor or troubleshoot, you must go to AWS CloudTrail and check the logs; you cannot do this anywhere else.

Everything is tracked using multi-region trail tracking. Anything that needs to be tracked or troubleshot must be reviewed through AWS CloudTrail and CloudWatch. I am not entirely certain how multi-region trail tracking helps with management, but I have never encountered any specific issues with it.

Sending AWS CloudTrail's log files to AWS S3 helps in meeting compliance requirements because if you need to retain logs for an extended period, you must send the logs to S3 for compliance reasons, such as audit logs or any other logs. These can then be moved to archive storage like Glacier to save costs.

AWS CloudTrail's integration with AWS streamlines compliance across accounts because it fulfills compliance requirements.

I do not think there could be improvements in AWS CloudTrail because I am too small to suggest anything. It is already a well-established service from AWS, and I have only been using it for the last two or three years, though it has been available for many years.

They should implement some kind of AI that can help you give commands to the AI and have it search all the logs and return results. Searching the logs is not very easy; it requires a lot of patience and hard work to find the right information in the log.

I have been working with AWS CloudTrail for almost the last two or three years.

I have not faced any complaints or problems with AWS CloudTrail. This service helps the administrator with troubleshooting. I have not faced any issues with it.

I did not evaluate any other solutions in AWS before working with AWS CloudTrail for monitoring. I have not used anything from other vendors.

The setup experience with AWS CloudTrail is very straightforward. The deployment takes only a few minutes, and we can set it up without any problems.

I have used the event history feature as well. This feature definitely supports my troubleshooting operations because these are the basic functions, and without these, we cannot trace through AWS CloudTrail logs. AWS CloudTrail is very reasonably priced. I definitely recommend AWS CloudTrail to those who are planning or considering using it; it is a must-have service in the AWS environment, and it should be used. I provided this review with a rating of 9.

AWS CloudTrail, as the name suggests, is used for backtracking AWS console activities or finding unauthorized access, deletion, creation, or anything happening in AWS. It is used for historical tracking purposes of AWS console activities.

It is very useful when working in a large team where you need visibility into team member activities. When everyone has admin access, there will be numerous creations and deletions of AWS resources. If permissions are attached to a role used by an organization or third-party service such as Jenkins, that role should have all necessary permissions to execute Jenkins jobs daily. AWS CloudTrail can track if any policy is detached or deleted, or if a role is removed from a user group. We can filter activities by date, day, month or year.

In my recent company, I was responsible for cleaning up users after they left the company. I accidentally removed a user from user groups which stopped the company's Jenkins deployments. Through AWS CloudTrail, they traced it back to my IAM username. This served as a learning experience and demonstrated a useful case for AWS CloudTrail.

We did not utilize AWS CloudTrail's integration with CloudWatch for real-time observability. We used it for backtracking since access was already least privileged for people. With modularized access, individuals take ownership of their actions.

We make use of AWS CloudTrail's feature to send log files to an Amazon S3 bucket for long-term storage and analysis. Most organizations perform this activity because CloudWatch is integral to the AWS console where logs are generated. Third-party log generations can also be integrated. For services such as Lambda, CloudWatch integration is essential for troubleshooting errors. CloudWatch logs can be dumped to S3 for review or audit purposes. S3 features Glacier for long-term, cost-effective storage of large amounts of data.

For Lambda, we implemented Python code that would invoke AWS CloudTrail upon any AWS console action, feeding logs into CloudWatch and subsequently to services such as S3. We also had the option to receive notifications for selected service creations or destructions via email.

AWS CloudTrail can be scaled to monitor all services and provide notifications for any changes. Beyond simple CloudWatch logs, it can send targeted notifications via email or Teams integration when CRUD operations affect specific services by IAM users.

The service maintains a comprehensive trail of all AWS activities. If an account is seven years old, it potentially contains all historical data from that period. This proves invaluable during audits requiring data from several years back.

AWS CloudTrail is currently underutilized and has potential for many more use cases.

I have not experienced the Trail feature of AWS CloudTrail in tracking changes to AWS infrastructure.

AWS CloudTrail could benefit from more comprehensive documentation and broader service integration. Making it as fundamental as EC2 would increase its adoption. It is currently an underrated but powerful service.

I have been working with AWS CloudTrail for approximately one and a half years.

AWS CloudTrail does not fit directly into our architecture as it functions more as a helper service, which limited our utilization of its capabilities.

AWS CloudTrail was our first solution for this purpose, and we continue using it because it effectively meets our needs. We would only consider alternatives if issues arose with AWS CloudTrail.

The setup was completed before I joined the company two years ago. I had to review metadata and receive knowledge transfer from colleagues to understand the setup, but I did not participate in the initial implementation.

AWS CloudTrail becomes particularly valuable during audits, such as PCI DSS, where tracking historical changes and activities is crucial. The integration with CloudWatch allows for filtered logs according to specific requirements.

I would rate AWS CloudTrail a nine out of ten based on our experience, as we have not encountered any significant issues with the service.