Logging data events - Amazon CloudTrail
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Logging data events

This section describes how to log data events using the CloudTrail console and Amazon CLI.

By default, trails and event data stores do not log data events. Additional charges apply for data events. For more information, see Amazon CloudTrail Pricing.

Data events provide information about the resource operations performed on or in a resource. These are also known as data plane operations. Data events are often high-volume activities.

Example data events include:

You can use advanced event selectors to create fine-grained selectors, which help you control costs by only logging the specific events of interest for your use cases. For example, you can use advanced event selectors to log specific API calls by adding a filter on the eventName field. For more information, see Filtering data events by using advanced event selectors.

Note

The events that are logged by your trails are available in Amazon EventBridge. For example, if you choose to log data events for S3 objects but not management events, your trail processes and logs only data events for the specified S3 objects. The data events for these S3 objects are available in Amazon EventBridge. For more information, see Events from Amazon services in the Amazon EventBridge User Guide.

Data events

The following table shows the resource types available for trails. The Resource type (console) column shows the appropriate selection in the console. The resources.type value column shows the resources.type value that you would specify to include data events of that type in your trail using the Amazon CLI or CloudTrail APIs.

For trails, you can use basic or advanced event selectors to log data events for Amazon S3 objects in general purpose buckets, Lambda functions, and DynamoDB tables (shown in the first three rows of the table). You can use only advanced event selectors to log the resource types shown in the remaining rows.

Amazon Web Services service Description Resource type (console) resources.type value
Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB item-level API activity on tables (for example, PutItem, DeleteItem, and UpdateItem API operations).

Note

For tables with streams enabled, the resources field in the data event contains both AWS::DynamoDB::Stream and AWS::DynamoDB::Table. If you specify AWS::DynamoDB::Table for the resources.type, it will log both DynamoDB table and DynamoDB streams events by default. To exclude streams events, add a filter on the eventName field.

DynamoDB

AWS::DynamoDB::Table

Amazon Lambda

Amazon Lambda function execution activity (the Invoke API).

Lambda AWS::Lambda::Function
Amazon S3

Amazon S3 object-level API activity (for example, GetObject, DeleteObject, and PutObject API operations) on objects in general purpose buckets.

S3 AWS::S3::Object
Amazon AppConfig

Amazon AppConfig API activity for configuration operations such as calls to StartConfigurationSession and GetLatestConfiguration.

Amazon AppConfig AWS::AppConfig::Configuration
Amazon AppSync

Amazon AppSync API activity on AppSync GraphQL APIs.

AppSync GraphQL AWS::AppSync::GraphQL
Amazon B2B Data Interchange

B2B Data Interchange API activity for Transformer operations such as calls to GetTransformerJob and StartTransformerJob.

B2B Data Interchange AWS::B2BI::Transformer
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on an agent alias. Bedrock agent alias AWS::Bedrock::AgentAlias
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on async invocations. Bedrock async invoke AWS::Bedrock::AsyncInvoke
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on a flow alias. Bedrock flow alias AWS::Bedrock::FlowAlias
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on guardrails. Bedrock guardrail AWS::Bedrock::Guardrail
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on inline agents. Bedrock Invoke Inline-Agent AWS::Bedrock::InlineAgent
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on a knowledge base. Bedrock knowledge base AWS::Bedrock::KnowledgeBase
Amazon Bedrock Amazon Bedrock API activity on models. Bedrock model AWS::Bedrock::Model
Amazon CloudFront

CloudFront API activity on a KeyValueStore.

CloudFront KeyValueStore AWS::CloudFront::KeyValueStore
Amazon Cloud Map Amazon Cloud Map API activity on a namespace. Amazon Cloud Map namespace AWS::ServiceDiscovery::Namespace
Amazon Cloud Map Amazon Cloud Map API activity on a service. Amazon Cloud Map service AWS::ServiceDiscovery::Service
Amazon CloudTrail

CloudTrail PutAuditEvents activity on a CloudTrail Lake channel that is used to log events from outside Amazon.

CloudTrail channel AWS::CloudTrail::Channel
Amazon CloudWatch

Amazon CloudWatch API activity on metrics.

CloudWatch metric AWS::CloudWatch::Metric
Amazon CloudWatch RUM

Amazon CloudWatch RUM API activity on app monitors.

RUM app monitor AWS::RUM::AppMonitor
Amazon CodeGuru Profiler CodeGuru Profiler API activity on profiling groups. CodeGuru Profiler profiling group AWS::CodeGuruProfiler::ProfilingGroup
Amazon CodeWhisperer Amazon CodeWhisperer API activity on a customization. CodeWhisperer customization AWS::CodeWhisperer::Customization
Amazon CodeWhisperer Amazon CodeWhisperer API activity on a profile. CodeWhisperer AWS::CodeWhisperer::Profile
Amazon Cognito

Amazon Cognito API activity on Amazon Cognito identity pools.

Cognito Identity Pools AWS::Cognito::IdentityPool
Amazon Web Services Data Exchange

Amazon Web Services Data Exchange API activity on assets.

Data Exchange asset

AWS::DataExchange::Asset

Amazon Deadline Cloud

Deadline Cloud API activity on fleets.

Deadline Cloud fleet

AWS::Deadline::Fleet

Amazon Deadline Cloud

Deadline Cloud API activity on jobs.

Deadline Cloud job

AWS::Deadline::Job

Amazon Deadline Cloud

Deadline Cloud API activity on queues.

Deadline Cloud queue

AWS::Deadline::Queue

Amazon Deadline Cloud

Deadline Cloud API activity on workers.

Deadline Cloud worker

AWS::Deadline::Worker

Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB API activity on streams.

DynamoDB Streams AWS::DynamoDB::Stream
Amazon End User Messaging SMS Amazon End User Messaging SMS API activity on origination identities. SMS Voice origination identity AWS::SMSVoice::OriginationIdentity
Amazon End User Messaging SMS Amazon End User Messaging SMS API activity on messages. SMS Voice message AWS::SMSVoice::Message
Amazon End User Messaging Social Amazon End User Messaging Social API activity on phone number IDs. Social-Messaging Phone Number Id AWS::SocialMessaging::PhoneNumberId
Amazon End User Messaging Social Amazon End User Messaging Social API activity on Waba IDs. Social-Messaging Waba ID AWS::SocialMessaging::WabaId
Amazon Elastic Block Store

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) direct APIs, such as PutSnapshotBlock, GetSnapshotBlock, and ListChangedBlocks on Amazon EBS snapshots.

Amazon EBS direct APIs AWS::EC2::Snapshot
Amazon EMR Amazon EMR API activity on a write-ahead log workspace. EMR write-ahead log workspace AWS::EMRWAL::Workspace
Amazon FinSpace

Amazon FinSpace API activity on environments.

FinSpace AWS::FinSpace::Environment
Amazon Glue

Amazon Glue API activity on tables that were created by Lake Formation.

Lake Formation AWS::Glue::Table
Amazon GuardDuty

Amazon GuardDuty API activity for a detector.

GuardDuty detector AWS::GuardDuty::Detector
Amazon HealthImaging

Amazon HealthImaging API activity on data stores.

MedicalImaging data store AWS::MedicalImaging::Datastore
Amazon IoT

Amazon IoT API activity on certificates.

IoT certificate AWS::IoT::Certificate
Amazon IoT

Amazon IoT API activity on things.

IoT thing AWS::IoT::Thing
Amazon IoT Greengrass Version 2

Greengrass API activity from a Greengrass core device on a component version.

Note

Greengrass doesn't log access denied events.

IoT Greengrass component version AWS::GreengrassV2::ComponentVersion
Amazon IoT Greengrass Version 2

Greengrass API activity from a Greengrass core device on a deployment.

Note

Greengrass doesn't log access denied events.

IoT Greengrass deployment AWS::GreengrassV2::Deployment
Amazon IoT SiteWise

IoT SiteWise API activity on assets.

IoT SiteWise asset AWS::IoTSiteWise::Asset
Amazon IoT SiteWise

IoT SiteWise API activity on time series.

IoT SiteWise time series AWS::IoTSiteWise::TimeSeries
Amazon IoT SiteWise Assistant

Sitewise Assistant API activity on conversations.

Sitewise Assistant conversation AWS::SitewiseAssistant::Conversation
Amazon IoT TwinMaker

IoT TwinMaker API activity on an entity.

IoT TwinMaker entity AWS::IoTTwinMaker::Entity
Amazon IoT TwinMaker

IoT TwinMaker API activity on a workspace.

IoT TwinMaker workspace AWS::IoTTwinMaker::Workspace
Amazon Kendra Intelligent Ranking

Amazon Kendra Intelligent Ranking API activity on rescore execution plans.

Kendra Ranking AWS::KendraRanking::ExecutionPlan
Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra) Amazon Keyspaces API activity on a table. Cassandra table AWS::Cassandra::Table
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams Kinesis Data Streams API activity on streams. Kinesis stream AWS::Kinesis::Stream
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams Kinesis Data Streams API activity on stream consumers. Kinesis stream consumer AWS::Kinesis::StreamConsumer
Amazon Kinesis Video Streams Kinesis Video Streams API activity on video streams, such as calls to GetMedia and PutMedia. Kinesis video stream AWS::KinesisVideo::Stream
Amazon Location Maps Amazon Location Maps API activity. Geo Maps AWS::GeoMaps::Provider
Amazon Location Places Amazon Location Places API activity. Geo Places AWS::GeoPlaces::Provider
Amazon Location Routes Amazon Location Routes API activity. Geo Routes AWS::GeoRoutes::Provider
Amazon Machine Learning Machine Learning API activity on ML models. Maching Learning MlModel AWS::MachineLearning::MlModel
Amazon Managed Blockchain

Amazon Managed Blockchain API activity on a network.

Managed Blockchain network AWS::ManagedBlockchain::Network
Amazon Managed Blockchain

Amazon Managed Blockchain JSON-RPC calls on Ethereum nodes, such as eth_getBalance or eth_getBlockByNumber.

Managed Blockchain AWS::ManagedBlockchain::Node
Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow

Amazon MWAA API activity on environments.

Managed Apache Airflow AWS::MWAA::Environment
Amazon Neptune Graph

Data API activities, for example queries, algorithms, or vector search, on a Neptune Graph.

Neptune Graph AWS::NeptuneGraph::Graph
Amazon One Enterprise

Amazon One Enterprise API activity on a UKey.

Amazon One UKey AWS::One::UKey
Amazon One Enterprise

Amazon One Enterprise API activity on users.

Amazon One User AWS::One::User
Amazon Payment Cryptography Amazon Payment Cryptography API activity on aliases. Payment Cryptography Alias AWS::PaymentCryptography::Alias
Amazon Payment Cryptography Amazon Payment Cryptography API activity on keys. Payment Cryptography Key AWS::PaymentCryptography::Key
Amazon Private CA

Amazon Private CA Connector for Active Directory API activity.

Amazon Private CA Connector for Active Directory AWS::PCAConnectorAD::Connector
Amazon Private CA

Amazon Private CA Connector for SCEP API activity.

Amazon Private CA Connector for SCEP AWS::PCAConnectorSCEP::Connector
Amazon Q Apps

Data API activity on Amazon Q Apps.

Amazon Q Apps AWS::QApps::QApp
Amazon Q Apps

Data API activity on Amazon Q App sessions.

Amazon Q App Session AWS::QApps::QAppSession
Amazon Q Business

Amazon Q Business API activity on an application.

Amazon Q Business application AWS::QBusiness::Application
Amazon Q Business

Amazon Q Business API activity on a data source.

Amazon Q Business data source AWS::QBusiness::DataSource
Amazon Q Business

Amazon Q Business API activity on an index.

Amazon Q Business index AWS::QBusiness::Index
Amazon Q Business

Amazon Q Business API activity on a web experience.

Amazon Q Business web experience AWS::QBusiness::WebExperience
Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer API activity on an integration.

Q Developer integration AWS::QDeveloper::Integration
Amazon Q Developer

Amazon Q Developer API activity on operational investigations.

AIOps Investigation Group AWS::AIOps::InvestigationGroup
Amazon RDS

Amazon RDS API activity on a DB Cluster.

RDS Data API - DB Cluster AWS::RDS::DBCluster
Amazon Resource Explorer

Resource Explorer API activity on managed views.

Amazon Resource Explorer managed-view AWS::ResourceExplorer2::ManagedView
Amazon Resource Explorer

Resource Explorer API activity on views.

Amazon Resource Explorer view AWS::ResourceExplorer2::View
Amazon S3

Amazon S3 API activity on access points.

S3 Access Point AWS::S3::AccessPoint
Amazon S3

Amazon S3 object-level API activity (for example, GetObject, DeleteObject, and PutObject API operations) on objects in directory buckets.

S3 Express AWS::S3Express::Object
Amazon S3

Amazon S3 Object Lambda access points API activity, such as calls to CompleteMultipartUpload and GetObject.

S3 Object Lambda AWS::S3ObjectLambda::AccessPoint
Amazon S3 Tables

Amazon S3 API activity on tables.

S3 table AWS::S3Tables::Table
Amazon S3 Tables

Amazon S3 API activity on table buckets.

S3 table bucket AWS::S3Tables::TableBucket
Amazon S3 on Outposts

Amazon S3 on Outposts object-level API activity.

S3 Outposts AWS::S3Outposts::Object
Amazon SageMaker Amazon SageMaker InvokeEndpointWithResponseStream activity on endpoints. SageMaker endpoint AWS::SageMaker::Endpoint
Amazon SageMaker

Amazon SageMaker API activity on feature stores.

SageMaker feature store AWS::SageMaker::FeatureGroup
Amazon SageMaker

Amazon SageMaker API activity on experiment trial components.

SageMaker metrics experiment trial component AWS::SageMaker::ExperimentTrialComponent
Amazon SimpleDB

Amazon SimpleDB API activity on domains.

SimpleDB domain AWS::SDB::Domain
Amazon SNS

Amazon SNS Publish API operations on platform endpoints.

SNS platform endpoint AWS::SNS::PlatformEndpoint
Amazon SNS

Amazon SNS Publish and PublishBatch API operations on topics.

SNS topic AWS::SNS::Topic
Amazon SQS

Amazon SQS API activity on messages.

SQS AWS::SQS::Queue
Amazon Step Functions

Step Functions API activity on a state machine.

Step Functions state machine AWS::StepFunctions::StateMachine
Amazon Supply Chain

Amazon Supply Chain API activity on an instance.

Supply Chain AWS::SCN::Instance
Amazon SWF

Amazon SWF API activity on domains.

SWF domain AWS::SWF::Domain
Amazon Systems Manager Systems Manager API activity on control channels. Systems Manager AWS::SSMMessages::ControlChannel
Amazon Systems Manager Systems Manager API activity on managed nodes. Systems Manager managed node AWS::SSM::ManagedNode
Amazon Timestream Amazon Timestream Query API activity on databases. Timestream database AWS::Timestream::Database
Amazon Timestream Amazon Timestream Query API activity on tables. Timestream table AWS::Timestream::Table
Amazon Verified Permissions

Amazon Verified Permissions API activity on a policy store.

Amazon Verified Permissions AWS::VerifiedPermissions::PolicyStore
Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client WorkSpaces Thin Client API activity on a Device. Thin Client Device AWS::ThinClient::Device
Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client WorkSpaces Thin Client API activity on an Environment. Thin Client Environment AWS::ThinClient::Environment
Amazon X-Ray

X-Ray API activity on traces.

X-Ray trace AWS::XRay::Trace

To record CloudTrail data events, you must explicitly add each resource type for which you want to collect activity. For more information, see Creating a trail with the CloudTrail console and Create an event data store for CloudTrail events with the console.

On a single-Region trail or event data store, you can log data events only for resources that you can access in that Region. Though S3 buckets are global, Amazon Lambda functions and DynamoDB tables are regional.

Additional charges apply for logging data events. For CloudTrail pricing, see Amazon CloudTrail Pricing.

Examples: Logging data events for Amazon S3 objects

Logging data events for all S3 objects in an S3 bucket

The following example demonstrates how logging works when you configure logging of all data events for an S3 bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket. In this example, the CloudTrail user specified an empty prefix, and the option to log both Read and Write data events.

  1. A user uploads an object to amzn-s3-demo-bucket.

  2. The PutObject API operation is an Amazon S3 object-level API. It is recorded as a data event in CloudTrail. Because the CloudTrail user specified an S3 bucket with an empty prefix, events that occur on any object in that bucket are logged. The trail or event data store processes and logs the event.

  3. Another user uploads an object to amzn-s3-demo-bucket2.

  4. The PutObject API operation occurred on an object in an S3 bucket that wasn't specified for the trail or event data store. The trail or event data store doesn't log the event.

Logging data events for specific S3 objects

The following example demonstrates how logging works when you configure a trail or event data store to log events for specific S3 objects. In this example, the CloudTrail user specified an S3 bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket3, with the prefix my-images, and the option to log only Write data events.

  1. A user deletes an object that begins with the my-images prefix in the bucket, such as arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket3/my-images/example.jpg.

  2. The DeleteObject API operation is an Amazon S3 object-level API. It is recorded as a Write data event in CloudTrail. The event occurred on an object that matches the S3 bucket and prefix specified in the trail or event data store. The trail or event data store processes and logs the event.

  3. Another user deletes an object with a different prefix in the S3 bucket, such as arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket3/my-videos/example.avi.

  4. The event occurred on an object that doesn't match the prefix specified in your trail or event data store. The trail or event data store doesn't log the event.

  5. A user calls the GetObject API operation for the object, arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket3/my-images/example.jpg.

  6. The event occurred on a bucket and prefix that are specified in the trail or event data store, but GetObject is a read-type Amazon S3 object-level API. It is recorded as a Read data event in CloudTrail, and the trail or event data store is not configured to log Read events. The trail or event data store doesn't log the event.

Note

For trails, if you are logging data events for specific Amazon S3 buckets, we recommend you do not use an Amazon S3 bucket for which you are logging data events to receive log files that you have specified in the data events section for your trail. Using the same Amazon S3 bucket causes your trail to log a data event each time log files are delivered to your Amazon S3 bucket. Log files are aggregated events delivered at intervals, so this is not a 1:1 ratio of event to log file; the event is logged in the next log file. For example, when CloudTrail delivers logs, the PutObject event occurs on the S3 bucket. If the S3 bucket is also specified in the data events section, the trail processes and logs the PutObject event as a data event. That action is another PutObject event, and the trail processes and logs the event again.

To avoid logging data events for the Amazon S3 bucket where you receive log files if you configure a trail to log all Amazon S3 data events in your Amazon account, consider configuring delivery of log files to an Amazon S3 bucket that belongs to another Amazon account. For more information, see Receiving CloudTrail log files from multiple accounts.

Logging data events for S3 objects in other Amazon accounts

When you configure your trail to log data events, you can also specify S3 objects that belong to other Amazon accounts. When an event occurs on a specified object, CloudTrail evaluates whether the event matches any trails in each account. If the event matches the settings for a trail, the trail processes and logs the event for that account. Generally, both API callers and resource owners can receive events.

If you own an S3 object and you specify it in your trail, your trail logs events that occur on the object in your account. Because you own the object, your trail also logs events when other accounts call the object.

If you specify an S3 object in your trail, and another account owns the object, your trail only logs events that occur on that object in your account. Your trail doesn't log events that occur in other accounts.

Example: Logging data events for an Amazon S3 object for two Amazon accounts

The following example shows how two Amazon accounts configure CloudTrail to log events for the same S3 object.

  1. In your account, you want your trail to log data events for all objects in your S3 bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket. You configure the trail by specifying the S3 bucket with an empty object prefix.

  2. Bob has a separate account that has been granted access to the S3 bucket. Bob also wants to log data events for all objects in the same S3 bucket. For his trail, he configures his trail and specifies the same S3 bucket with an empty object prefix.

  3. Bob uploads an object to the S3 bucket with the PutObject API operation.

  4. This event occurred in his account and it matches the settings for his trail. Bob's trail processes and logs the event.

  5. Because you own the S3 bucket and the event matches the settings for your trail, your trail also processes and logs the same event. Because there are now two copies of the event (one logged in Bob's trail, and one logged in yours), CloudTrail charges for two copies of the data event.

  6. You upload an object to the S3 bucket.

  7. This event occurs in your account and it matches the settings for your trail. Your trail processes and logs the event.

  8. Because the event didn't occur in Bob's account, and he doesn't own the S3 bucket, Bob's trail doesn't log the event. CloudTrail charges for only one copy of this data event.

Example: Logging data events for all buckets, including an S3 bucket used by two Amazon accounts

The following example shows the logging behavior when Select all S3 buckets in your account is enabled for trails that collect data events in an Amazon account.

  1. In your account, you want your trail to log data events for all S3 buckets. You configure the trail by choosing Read events, Write events, or both for All current and future S3 buckets in Data events.

  2. Bob has a separate account that has been granted access to an S3 bucket in your account. He wants to log data events for the bucket to which he has access. He configures his trail to get data events for all S3 buckets.

  3. Bob uploads an object to the S3 bucket with the PutObject API operation.

  4. This event occurred in his account and it matches the settings for his trail. Bob's trail processes and logs the event.

  5. Because you own the S3 bucket and the event matches the settings for your trail, your trail also processes and logs the event. Because there are now two copies of the event (one logged in Bob's trail, and one logged in yours), CloudTrail charges each account for a copy of the data event.

  6. You upload an object to the S3 bucket.

  7. This event occurs in your account and it matches the settings for your trail. Your trail processes and logs the event.

  8. Because the event didn't occur in Bob's account, and he doesn't own the S3 bucket, Bob's trail doesn't log the event. CloudTrail charges for only one copy of this data event in your account.

  9. A third user, Mary, has access to the S3 bucket, and runs a GetObject operation on the bucket. She has a trail configured to log data events on all S3 buckets in her account. Because she is the API caller, CloudTrail logs a data event in her trail. Though Bob has access to the bucket, he is not the resource owner, so no event is logged in his trail this time. As the resource owner, you receive an event in your trail about the GetObject operation that Mary called. CloudTrail charges your account and Mary's account for each copy of the data event: one in Mary's trail, and one in yours.

Read-only and write-only events

When you configure your trail or event data store to log data and management events, you can specify whether you want read-only events, write-only events, or both.

  • Read

    Read events include API operations that read your resources, but don't make changes. For example, read-only events include the Amazon EC2 DescribeSecurityGroups and DescribeSubnets API operations. These operations return only information about your Amazon EC2 resources and don't change your configurations.

  • Write

    Write events include API operations that modify (or might modify) your resources. For example, the Amazon EC2 RunInstances and TerminateInstances API operations modify your instances.

Example: Logging read and write events for separate trails

The following example shows how you can configure trails to split log activity for an account into separate S3 buckets: one bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket1 receives read-only events and a second amzn-s3-demo-bucket2 receives write-only events.

  1. You create a trail and choose the S3 bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket1 to receive log files. You then update the trail to specify that you want Read management events and data events.

  2. You create a second trail and choose the S3 bucket the amzn-s3-demo-bucket2 to receive log files. You then update the trail to specify that you want Write management events and data events.

  3. The Amazon EC2 DescribeInstances and TerminateInstances API operations occur in your account.

  4. The DescribeInstances API operation is a read-only event and it matches the settings for the first trail. The trail logs and delivers the event to the amzn-s3-demo-bucket1.

  5. The TerminateInstances API operation is a write-only event and it matches the settings for the second trail. The trail logs and delivers the event to the amzn-s3-demo-bucket2 .

Logging data events with the Amazon Web Services Management Console

The following procedures describe how to an update existing event data store or trail to log data events by using the Amazon Web Services Management Console. For information about how to create an event data store to log data events, see Create an event data store for CloudTrail events with the console. For information about how to create a trail to log data events, see Creating a trail in the console.

For trails, the steps for logging data events differ based on whether you're using advanced event selectors or basic event selectors. You can log data events for all resource types using advanced event selectors, but if you use basic event selectors you're limited to logging data events for Amazon S3 buckets and bucket objects, Amazon Lambda functions, and Amazon DynamoDB tables.

Use the following procedure to update an existing event data store to log data events. For more information about using advanced event selectors, see Filtering data events by using advanced event selectors in this topic.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the CloudTrail console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/cloudtrail/.

  2. From the navigation pane, under Lake, choose Event data stores.

  3. On the Event data stores page, choose the event data store you want to update.

    Note

    You can only enable data events on event data stores that contain CloudTrail events. You cannot enable data events on CloudTrail event data stores for Amazon Config configuration items, CloudTrail Insights events, or non-Amazon events.

  4. On the details page, in Data events, choose Edit.

  5. If you are not already logging data events, choose the Data events check box.

  6. For Resource type, choose the resource type on which you want to log data events.

  7. Choose a log selector template. CloudTrail includes predefined templates that log all data events for the resource type. To build a custom log selector template, choose Custom.

  8. (Optional) In Selector name, enter a name to identify your selector. The selector name is a descriptive name for an advanced event selector, such as "Log data events for only two S3 buckets". The selector name is listed as Name in the advanced event selector and is viewable if you expand the JSON view.

  9. If you selected Custom, in Advanced event selectors build an expression based on the values of advanced event selector fields.

    1. Choose from the following fields.

      • readOnly - readOnly can be set to equals a value of true or false. Read-only data events are events that do not change the state of a resource, such as Get* or Describe* events. Write events add, change, or delete resources, attributes, or artifacts, such as Put*, Delete*, or Write* events. To log both read and write events, don't add a readOnly selector.

      • eventName - eventName can use any operator. You can use it to include or exclude any data event logged to CloudTrail, such as PutBucket, GetItem, or GetSnapshotBlock.

      • eventSource – The event source to include or exclude. This field can use any operator.

      • eventType – The event type to include or exclude. For example, you can set this field to not equals AwsServiceEvent to exclude Amazon Web Services service events. For a list of event types, see eventType in CloudTrail record contents.

      • sessionCredentialFromConsole – Include or exclude events originating from an Amazon Web Services Management Console session. This field can be set to equals or not equals with a value of true.

      • userIdentity.arn – Include or exclude events for actions taken by specific IAM identities. For more information, see CloudTrail userIdentity element.

      • resources.ARN - You can use any operator with resources.ARN, but if you use equals or does not equal, the value must exactly match the ARN of a valid resource of the type you've specified in the template as the value of resources.type. For more information, see Filtering data events by resources.ARN.

        Note

        You can't use the resources.ARN field to filter resource types that do not have ARNs.

      For more information about the ARN formats of data event resources, see Actions, resources, and condition keys in the Amazon Identity and Access Management User Guide.

    2. For each field, choose + Condition to add as many conditions as you need, up to a maximum of 500 specified values for all conditions. For example, to exclude data events for two S3 buckets from data events that are logged on your event data store, you can set the field to resources.ARN, set the operator for does not start with, and then paste in an S3 bucket ARN for which you do not want to log events.

      To add the second S3 bucket, choose + Condition, and then repeat the preceding instruction, pasting in the ARN for or browsing for a different bucket.

      For information about how CloudTrail evaluates multiple conditions, see How CloudTrail evaluates multiple conditions for a field.

      Note

      You can have a maximum of 500 values for all selectors on an event data store. This includes arrays of multiple values for a selector such as eventName. If you have single values for all selectors, you can have a maximum of 500 conditions added to a selector.

    3. Choose + Field to add additional fields as required. To avoid errors, do not set conflicting or duplicate values for fields. For example, do not specify an ARN in one selector to be equal to a value, then specify that the ARN not equal the same value in another selector.

  10. To add another resource type on which to log data events, choose Add data event type. Repeat steps 6 through this step to configure advanced event selectors for another resource type.

  11. After you've reviewed and verified your choices, choose Save changes.

In the Amazon Web Services Management Console, if your trail is using advanced event selectors, you can choose from predefined templates that log all data events on a selected resource. After you choose a log selector template, you can customize the template to include only the data events you most want to see. For more information about using advanced event selectors, see Filtering data events by using advanced event selectors in this topic.

  1. On the Dashboard or Trails pages of the CloudTrail console, choose the trail you want to update.

  2. On the details page, in Data events, choose Edit.

  3. If you are not already logging data events, choose the Data events check box.

  4. For Resource type, choose the resource type on which you want to log data events.

  5. Choose a log selector template. CloudTrail includes predefined templates that log all data events for the resource type. To build a custom log selector template, choose Custom.

    Note

    Choosing a predefined template for S3 buckets enables data event logging for all buckets currently in your Amazon account and any buckets you create after you finish creating the trail. It also enables logging of data event activity performed by any user or role in your Amazon account, even if that activity is performed on a bucket that belongs to another Amazon account.

    If the trail applies only to one Region, choosing a predefined template that logs all S3 buckets enables data event logging for all buckets in the same Region as your trail and any buckets you create later in that Region. It will not log data events for Amazon S3 buckets in other Regions in your Amazon account.

    If you are creating a trail for all Regions, choosing a predefined template for Lambda functions enables data event logging for all functions currently in your Amazon account, and any Lambda functions you might create in any Region after you finish creating the trail. If you are creating a trail for a single Region (for trails, this only can be done by using the Amazon CLI), this selection enables data event logging for all functions currently in that Region in your Amazon account, and any Lambda functions you might create in that Region after you finish creating the trail. It does not enable data event logging for Lambda functions created in other Regions.

    Logging data events for all functions also enables logging of data event activity performed by any user or role in your Amazon account, even if that activity is performed on a function that belongs to another Amazon account.

  6. (Optional) In Selector name, enter a name to identify your selector. The selector name is a descriptive name for an advanced event selector, such as "Log data events for only two S3 buckets". The selector name is listed as Name in the advanced event selector and is viewable if you expand the JSON view.

  7. If you selected Custom, in Advanced event selectors build an expression based on the values of advanced event selector fields.

    1. Choose from the following fields.

      • readOnly - readOnly can be set to equals a value of true or false. Read-only data events are events that do not change the state of a resource, such as Get* or Describe* events. Write events add, change, or delete resources, attributes, or artifacts, such as Put*, Delete*, or Write* events. To log both read and write events, don't add a readOnly selector.

      • eventName - eventName can use any operator. You can use it to include or exclude any data event logged to CloudTrail, such as PutBucket, GetItem, or GetSnapshotBlock.

      • resources.ARN - You can use any operator with resources.ARN, but if you use equals or does not equal, the value must exactly match the ARN of a valid resource of the type you've specified in the template as the value of resources.type. For more information, see Filtering data events by resources.ARN.

        Note

        You can't use the resources.ARN field to filter resource types that do not have ARNs.

      For more information about the ARN formats of data event resources, see Actions, resources, and condition keys in the Amazon Identity and Access Management User Guide.

    2. For each field, choose + Condition to add as many conditions as you need, up to a maximum of 500 specified values for all conditions. For example, to exclude data events for two S3 buckets from data events that are logged on your event data store, you can set the field to resources.ARN, set the operator for does not start with, and then paste in an S3 bucket ARN for which you do not want to log events.

      To add the second S3 bucket, choose + Condition, and then repeat the preceding instruction, pasting in the ARN for or browsing for a different bucket.

      For information about how CloudTrail evaluates multiple conditions, see How CloudTrail evaluates multiple conditions for a field.

      Note

      You can have a maximum of 500 values for all selectors on an event data store. This includes arrays of multiple values for a selector such as eventName. If you have single values for all selectors, you can have a maximum of 500 conditions added to a selector.

    3. Choose + Field to add additional fields as required. To avoid errors, do not set conflicting or duplicate values for fields. For example, do not specify an ARN in one selector to be equal to a value, then specify that the ARN not equal the same value in another selector.

  8. To add another resource type on which to log data events, choose Add data event type. Repeat steps 4 through this step to configure advanced event selectors for the resource type.

  9. After you've reviewed and verified your choices, choose Save changes.

Use the following procedure to update an existing trail to log data events using basic event selectors.

  1. Sign in to the Amazon Web Services Management Console and open the CloudTrail console at https://console.amazonaws.cn/cloudtrail/.

  2. Open the Trails page of the CloudTrail console and choose the trail name.

    Note

    While you can edit an existing trail to log data events, as a best practice, consider creating a separate trail specifically for logging data events.

  3. For Data events, choose Edit.

  4. For Amazon S3 buckets:

    1. For Data event source, choose S3.

    2. You can choose to log All current and future S3 buckets, or you can specify individual buckets or functions. By default, data events are logged for all current and future S3 buckets.

      Note

      Keeping the default All current and future S3 buckets option enables data event logging for all buckets currently in your Amazon account and any buckets you create after you finish creating the trail. It also enables logging of data event activity performed by any user or role in your Amazon account, even if that activity is performed on a bucket that belongs to another Amazon account.

      If you are creating a trail for a single Region (done by using the Amazon CLI), selecting the Select all S3 buckets in your account option enables data event logging for all buckets in the same Region as your trail and any buckets you create later in that Region. It will not log data events for Amazon S3 buckets in other Regions in your Amazon account.

    3. If you leave the default, All current and future S3 buckets, choose to log Read events, Write events, or both.

    4. To select individual buckets, empty the Read and Write check boxes for All current and future S3 buckets. In Individual bucket selection, browse for a bucket on which to log data events. To find specific buckets, type a bucket prefix for the bucket you want. You can select multiple buckets in this window. Choose Add bucket to log data events for more buckets. Choose to log Read events, such as GetObject, Write events, such as PutObject, or both.

      This setting takes precedence over individual settings you configure for individual buckets. For example, if you specify logging Read events for all S3 buckets, and then choose to add a specific bucket for data event logging, Read is already selected for the bucket you added. You cannot clear the selection. You can only configure the option for Write.

      To remove a bucket from logging, choose X.

  5. To add another resource type on which to log data events, choose Add data event type.

  6. For Lambda functions:

    1. For Data event source, choose Lambda.

    2. In Lambda function, choose All regions to log all Lambda functions, or Input function as ARN to log data events on a specific function.

      To log data events for all Lambda functions in your Amazon account, select Log all current and future functions. This setting takes precedence over individual settings you configure for individual functions. All functions are logged, even if all functions are not displayed.

      Note

      If you are creating a trail for all Regions, this selection enables data event logging for all functions currently in your Amazon account, and any Lambda functions you might create in any Region after you finish creating the trail. If you are creating a trail for a single Region (done by using the Amazon CLI), this selection enables data event logging for all functions currently in that Region in your Amazon account, and any Lambda functions you might create in that Region after you finish creating the trail. It does not enable data event logging for Lambda functions created in other Regions.

      Logging data events for all functions also enables logging of data event activity performed by any user or role in your Amazon account, even if that activity is performed on a function that belongs to another Amazon account.

    3. If you choose Input function as ARN, enter the ARN of a Lambda function.

      Note

      If you have more than 15,000 Lambda functions in your account, you cannot view or select all functions in the CloudTrail console when creating a trail. You can still select the option to log all functions, even if they are not displayed. If you want to log data events for specific functions, you can manually add a function if you know its ARN. You can also finish creating the trail in the console, and then use the Amazon CLI and the put-event-selectors command to configure data event logging for specific Lambda functions. For more information, see Managing trails with the Amazon CLI.

  7. To add another resource type on which to log data events, choose Add data event type.

  8. For DynamoDB tables:

    1. For Data event source, choose DynamoDB.

    2. In DynamoDB table selection, choose Browse to select a table, or paste in the ARN of a DynamoDB table to which you have access. A DynamoDB table ARN uses the following format:

      arn:partition:dynamodb:region:account_ID:table/table_name

      To add another table, choose Add row, and browse for a table or paste in the ARN of a table to which you have access.

  9. Choose Save changes.

Logging data events with the Amazon Command Line Interface

You can configure your trails to log data events using the Amazon CLI.

Logging data events for trails with the Amazon CLI

You can configure your trails to log management and data events using the Amazon CLI.

Note
  • Be aware that if your account is logging more than one copy of management events, you incur charges. There is always a charge for logging data events. For more information, see Amazon CloudTrail Pricing.

  • You can use either advanced event selectors or basic event selectors, but not both. If you apply advanced event selectors to a trail, any existing basic event selectors are overwritten.

  • If your trail uses basic event selectors, you can only log the following resource types:

    • AWS::DynamoDB::Table

    • AWS::Lambda::Function

    • AWS::S3::Object

    To log additional resource types, you'll need to use advanced event selectors. To convert a trail to advanced event selectors, run the get-event-selectors command to confirm the current event selectors, and then configure the advanced event selectors to match the coverage of the previous event selectors, then add selectors for any resource types for which you want to log data events.

  • You can use advanced event selectors to filter based on the value of the eventName, resources.ARN, and readOnly fields, giving you the ability to log only the data events of interest. For more information about configuring these fields, see AdvancedFieldSelector in the Amazon CloudTrail API Reference and Filtering data events by using advanced event selectors in this topic.

To see whether your trail is logging management and data events, run the get-event-selectors command.

aws cloudtrail get-event-selectors --trail-name TrailName

The command returns the event selectors for the trail.

Log events by using advanced event selectors

Note

If you apply advanced event selectors to a trail, any existing basic event selectors are overwritten. Before configuring advanced event selectors, run the get-event-selectors command to confirm the current event selectors, and then configure the advanced event selectors to match the coverage of the previous event selectors, then add selectors for any additional data events you want to log.

The following example creates custom advanced event selectors for a trail named TrailName to include read and write management events (by omitting the readOnly selector), PutObject and DeleteObject data events for all Amazon S3 bucket/prefix combinations except for a bucket named amzn-s3-demo-bucket and data events for an Amazon Lambda function named MyLambdaFunction. Because these are custom advanced event selectors, each set of selectors has a descriptive name. Note that a trailing slash is part of the ARN value for S3 buckets.

aws cloudtrail put-event-selectors --trail-name TrailName --advanced-event-selectors '[ { "Name": "Log readOnly and writeOnly management events", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Management"] } ] }, { "Name": "Log PutObject and DeleteObject events for all but one bucket", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::S3::Object"] }, { "Field": "eventName", "Equals": ["PutObject","DeleteObject"] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "NotStartsWith": ["arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket/"] } ] }, { "Name": "Log data plane actions on MyLambdaFunction", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::Lambda::Function"] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "Equals": ["arn:aws:lambda:us-east-2:111122223333:function/MyLambdaFunction"] } ] } ]'

The example returns the advanced event selectors that are configured for the trail.

{ "AdvancedEventSelectors": [ { "Name": "Log readOnly and writeOnly management events", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": [ "Management" ] } ] }, { "Name": "Log PutObject and DeleteObject events for all but one bucket", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": [ "Data" ] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": [ "AWS::S3::Object" ] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "NotStartsWith": [ "arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket/" ] }, ] }, { "Name": "Log data plane actions on MyLambdaFunction", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": [ "Data" ] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": [ "AWS::Lambda::Function" ] }, { "Field": "eventName", "Equals": [ "Invoke" ] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "Equals": [ "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-2:111122223333:function/MyLambdaFunction" ] } ] } ], "TrailARN": "arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-2:123456789012:trail/TrailName" }

Log all Amazon S3 events for an Amazon S3 bucket by using advanced event selectors

Note

If you apply advanced event selectors to a trail, any existing basic event selectors are overwritten.

The following example shows how to configure your trail to include all data events for all Amazon S3 objects in a specific S3 bucket. The value for S3 events for the resources.type field is AWS::S3::Object. Because the ARN values for S3 objects and S3 buckets are slightly different, you must add the StartsWith operator for resources.ARN to capture all events.

aws cloudtrail put-event-selectors --trail-name TrailName --region region \ --advanced-event-selectors \ '[ { "Name": "S3EventSelector", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::S3::Object"] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "StartsWith": ["arn:partition:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket/"] } ] } ]'

The command returns the following example output.

{ "TrailARN": "arn:aws:cloudtrail:region:account_ID:trail/TrailName", "AdvancedEventSelectors": [ { "Name": "S3EventSelector", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": [ "Data" ] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": [ "AWS::S3::Object" ] }, { "Field": "resources.ARN", "StartsWith": [ "arn:partition:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket/" ] } ] } ] }

Log Amazon S3 on Amazon Outposts events by using advanced event selectors

Note

If you apply advanced event selectors to a trail, any existing basic event selectors are overwritten.

The following example shows how to configure your trail to include all data events for all Amazon S3 on Outposts objects in your outpost.

aws cloudtrail put-event-selectors --trail-name TrailName --region region \ --advanced-event-selectors \ '[ { "Name": "OutpostsEventSelector", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::S3Outposts::Object"] } ] } ]'

The command returns the following example output.

{ "TrailARN": "arn:aws:cloudtrail:region:account_ID:trail/TrailName", "AdvancedEventSelectors": [ { "Name": "OutpostsEventSelector", "FieldSelectors": [ { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": [ "Data" ] }, { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": [ "AWS::S3Outposts::Object" ] } ] } ] }

Log events by using basic event selectors

The following is an example result of the get-event-selectors command showing basic event selectors. By default, when you create a trail by using the Amazon CLI, a trail logs all management events. By default, trails do not log data events.

{ "TrailARN": "arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-2:123456789012:trail/TrailName", "EventSelectors": [ { "IncludeManagementEvents": true, "DataResources": [], "ReadWriteType": "All" } ] }

To configure your trail to log management and data events, run the put-event-selectors command.

The following example shows how to use basic event selectors to configure your trail to include all management and data events for the S3 objects in two S3 bucket prefixes. You can specify from 1 to 5 event selectors for a trail. You can specify from 1 to 250 data resources for a trail.

Note

The maximum number of S3 data resources is 250, if you choose to limit data events by using basic event selectors.

aws cloudtrail put-event-selectors --trail-name TrailName --event-selectors '[{ "ReadWriteType": "All", "IncludeManagementEvents":true, "DataResources": [{ "Type": "AWS::S3::Object", "Values": ["arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket1/prefix", "arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket2;/prefix2"] }] }]'

The command returns the event selectors that are configured for the trail.

{ "TrailARN": "arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-2:123456789012:trail/TrailName", "EventSelectors": [ { "IncludeManagementEvents": true, "DataResources": [ { "Values": [ "arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket1/prefix", "arn:aws:s3:::amzn-s3-demo-bucket2/prefix2", ], "Type": "AWS::S3::Object" } ], "ReadWriteType": "All" } ] }

Logging data events with the Amazon SDKs

Run the GetEventSelectors operation to see whether your trail is logging data events. You can configure your trails to log data events by running the PutEventSelectors operation. For more information, see the Amazon CloudTrail API Reference.