AWS Network Monitoring
Overview
Domain expertise for installing and configuring Amazon CloudWatch Network Flow Monitor agents on EC2 instances. Covers IAM permission setup, agent installation via SSM Distributor or command-line install, agent activation, verification, and troubleshooting.
Network Flow Monitor agents are lightweight software that publish performance metrics (latency, packet loss) to the Network Flow Monitor backend, enabling monitoring of network path health between workloads.
Works best with the AWS MCP server — enables running SSM commands, attaching IAM policies, and validating agent status directly. All guidance also works with standard AWS CLI access.
Routing
| User need | Action |
|---|---|
| Installing Network Flow Monitor agents on EC2 | Read agent-install-ec2.md |
| Configuring IAM for Network Flow Monitor agents | Read agent-permissions.md |
| Troubleshooting Network Flow Monitor agents (403, no metrics, connectivity) | Read troubleshooting.md |
| Spans multiple areas | Read the most specific reference first, then consult others as needed |
Files
| File | Content |
|---|---|
| agent-install-ec2.md | End-to-end Network Flow Monitor agent installation via SSM Distributor, activation, verification |
| agent-permissions.md | IAM policy setup for Network Flow Monitor agent metric publishing |
| troubleshooting.md | Error → cause → fix for Network Flow Monitor agent issues (HTTP 403, missing metrics, connectivity) |
Supported versions
For supported Linux distributions, kernel versions, and architectures, see the AWS documentation. Windows is not supported.
Security Considerations
- Least-privilege IAM: Attach only
CloudWatchNetworkFlowMonitorAgentPublishPolicyfor publishing metrics andAmazonSSMManagedInstanceCorefor SSM management. Do not use*FullAccesspolicies. - Private subnets: When the instance is in a private subnet, prefer VPC endpoints for SSM (
com.amazonaws.<region>.ssm,.ssmmessages,.ec2messages) over a NAT gateway to keep traffic on the AWS network. - Credential storage: Never embed AWS credentials on the instance; the publish policy MUST be attached to the instance role, not configured as static keys.
- Audit trail: Ensure CloudTrail is enabled in the account so SSM
SendCommandinvocations and IAMAttachRolePolicyactions performed during agent setup are logged for security investigations. - References: CloudWatch Network Flow Monitor security, IAM best practices
