AWSOverview
Container Insights collects metrics at the cluster, task, and service levels. This control checks if ECS clusters use Container Insights. This control fails if Container Insights are not set up for a cluster. Monitoring is an important part of maintaining the reliability, availability, and performance of Amazon ECS clusters. Use CloudWatch Container Insights to collect, aggregate, and summarize metrics and logs from your containerized applications and microservices. CloudWatch automatically collects metrics for many resources, such as CPU, memory, disk, and network. Container Insights also provides diagnostic information, such as container restart failures, to help you isolate issues and resolve them quickly. You can also set CloudWatch alarms on metrics that Container Insights collects.
Remediation guidance
To use Container Insights, see Updating a service in the Amazon CloudWatch User Guide.
To deploy the CloudWatch agent to collect instance-level metrics from Amazon ECS clusters that are hosted on EC2 instance, use a quick start setup with a default configuration, or install the agent manually to be able to customize it.
Multiple Remediation Paths
AWS
SERVICE-WIDE (RECOMMENDED when many resources are affected): Deploy centralized guardrails and remediation using AWS Config Conformance Packs and (if applicable) AWS Organizations SCPs.
aws configservice put-organization-conformance-pack --organization-conformance-pack-name <pack-name> --template-s3-uri s3://<bucket>/<template>.yaml
ASSET-LEVEL: Apply the resource-specific remediation steps above to only the affected assets.
PREVENTIVE: Add CI/CD policy checks (CloudFormation/Terraform validation) before deployment to prevent recurrence.
References for Service-Wide Patterns
- AWS Config Conformance Packs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/config/latest/developerguide/conformance-packs.html
- AWS Organizations SCP examples: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/organizations/latest/userguide/orgs_manage_policies_scps_examples.html
Operational Rollout Workflow
Use this sequence to reduce risk and avoid repeated drift.
1. Contain at Service-Wide Scope First (Recommended)
- AWS: deploy/adjust organization conformance packs and policy guardrails.
aws configservice put-organization-conformance-pack --organization-conformance-pack-name <pack-name> --template-s3-uri s3://<bucket>/<template>.yaml
2. Remediate Existing Affected Assets
- Execute the control-specific Console/CLI steps documented above for each flagged resource.
- Prioritize internet-exposed and production assets first.
3. Validate and Prevent Recurrence
- Re-scan after each remediation batch.
- Track exceptions with owner and expiry date.
- Add preventive checks in IaC/CI pipelines.
Query logic
These are the stored checks tied to this control.
ECS clusters should use Container Insights
Connectors
Covered asset types
Expected check: eq []
{
ecsClusters(where: {hasECSSettings_NONE: {
key: "containerInsights",
value: "enabled"
}}) {...AssetFragment}
}
