Try It Out

Take the Minimus Amazon CloudWatch Agent image for a test run by creating a configuration file and running the agent.

Create a configuration file, for example config.json:

{
  "agent": {
    "metrics_collection_interval": 60,
    "run_as_user": "root",
    "region": "us-east-1"
  },
  "metrics": {
    "namespace": "CWAgentTest",
    "metrics_collected": {
      "cpu": {
        "resources": ["*"],
        "measurement": ["usage_idle"],
        "metrics_collection_interval": 60
      }
    }
  }
}

Update the region field to match your AWS region (for example us-west-2, eu-west-1, etc.).

Run the agent and mount the shared credentials file at /home/cwagent/.aws/credentials with the profile AmazonCloudWatchAgent:

docker run --rm \
  -e AWS_EC2_METADATA_DISABLED=true \
  -v "$HOME/.aws:/home/cwagent/.aws:ro" \
  -v "${CONFIG_FOLDER_PATH}/config.json:/etc/cwagentconfig/config.json:ro" \
  reg.mini.dev/amazon-cloudwatch-agent

Replace ${CONFIG_FOLDER_PATH} with the path to the directory containing your config.json file

Ensure the credentials file includes a profile named AmazonCloudWatchAgent as expected by the agent (ref). Example of a credentials file with the expected structure:

[AmazonCloudWatchAgent]
aws_access_key_id = AKIAEXAMPLE123456
aws_secret_access_key = wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

The agent will start collecting metrics according to your configuration and send them to Amazon CloudWatch.

Navigate to the AWS CloudWatch console and check the Metrics section. You should see metrics being collected under the namespace specified in your configuration (e.g., CWAgentTest), such as:

• CPU metrics (usage_idle, etc.)
• System-level metrics based on your configuration

You can also view the agent logs in the Docker container output to verify it's running correctly and sending metrics to CloudWatch.

Technical Considerations

The Amazon CloudWatch Agent image provided by Minimus is a slim, security-hardened alternative to the public image. The images are largely interchangeable, with a few differences as noted below.

Terms & Info

This catalog is published by Minimus. All product names, logos, and marks, other than those belonging to Minimus, shown are owned by their respective rights holders and appear here only to identify the open source software each image contains. Minimus claims no ownership of those marks and implies no affiliation with, endorsement by, certification by, or sponsorship by any rights holder.

Images are provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind. "Hardened" refers to the security configuration applied at the time of build and does not constitute a guarantee of ongoing security or absence of vulnerabilities. The free tier is provided without support, SLA, or guaranteed patching timelines. Security updates may be applied to paid subscriptions before or instead of free tier images. By pulling or using any image you agree to our Terms of Use.