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Logging and Monitoring for Python Environments

This tutorial maps AWS Elastic Beanstalk logging and monitoring features for Python workloads. It focuses on log retrieval, CloudWatch log streaming, metrics, and optional X-Ray integration paths.

Prerequisites

  • A running Elastic Beanstalk Python environment.
  • IAM permissions for CloudWatch Logs and Elastic Beanstalk APIs.
  • EB CLI installed for log retrieval operations.

What You'll Build

You will build an observation baseline that includes:

  • Instance log access for deployment and application diagnostics.
  • Request logs and full logs retrieval through EB CLI.
  • CloudWatch Logs streaming for centralized retention.
  • Metric and trace visibility aligned with AWS-managed integrations.

Steps

  1. Retrieve recent logs and full logs from the environment.
eb logs --zip
eb logs --all

  1. Review key files referenced in AWS documentation:

  2. /var/log/web.stdout.log

  3. /var/log/web.error.log
  4. /var/log/eb-engine.log
  5. /var/log/nginx/access.log

  6. /var/log/nginx/error.log

  7. Enable CloudWatch log streaming from configuration.

option_settings:
    aws:elasticbeanstalk:cloudwatch:logs:
        StreamLogs: true
        DeleteOnTerminate: false
        RetentionInDays: 14
  1. Deploy and verify CloudWatch log groups.
eb deploy --staged
aws logs describe-log-groups --log-group-name-prefix "/aws/elasticbeanstalk/" --region "$REGION"
  1. Check environment health and metrics trend.
eb health
aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --namespace "AWS/ElasticBeanstalk" --metric-name "EnvironmentHealth" --start-time "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z" --end-time "2026-01-01T01:00:00Z" --period 60 --statistics Average --region "$REGION"
  1. If your environment uses X-Ray integration, verify daemon or platform support per AWS docs.
flowchart TD
    A[App and Proxy Logs on Instance] --> B[eb logs retrieval]
    A --> C[CloudWatch Logs Streaming]
    C --> D[Retention and Central Search]
    E[Environment Metrics] --> F[CloudWatch Metrics]
    G[Optional X-Ray Traces] --> H[Service Map]
    B --> I[Troubleshooting Decisions]
    D --> I
    F --> I
    H --> I

Verification

Use repeatable checks after each deployment:

eb events --follow
eb logs --all
aws logs describe-log-streams --log-group-name "/aws/elasticbeanstalk/$ENV_NAME/var/log/web.stdout.log" --region "$REGION"

Expected outcomes:

  • eb-engine.log confirms deployment phases.
  • Application stdout and error logs are populated.
  • CloudWatch log streams appear after environment update.
  • Health transitions and metrics correlate with request behavior.

See Also

Sources