AWS Systems Manager Inventory is a powerful capability that enables you to collect and query metadata about your managed instances and the software installed on them. As a SysOps Administrator, understanding Inventory is essential for maintaining visibility across your AWS infrastructure.
Systems …AWS Systems Manager Inventory is a powerful capability that enables you to collect and query metadata about your managed instances and the software installed on them. As a SysOps Administrator, understanding Inventory is essential for maintaining visibility across your AWS infrastructure.
Systems Manager Inventory automatically gathers information about your instances, including operating system details, applications, network configurations, Windows updates, file information, and custom inventory types. This data collection occurs through the SSM Agent installed on your managed instances.
Key features of Systems Manager Inventory include:
1. **Automated Data Collection**: Inventory collects metadata at scheduled intervals you define, ensuring your inventory data remains current. You can configure collection frequency from 30 minutes to weekly intervals.
2. **Built-in Inventory Types**: AWS provides predefined inventory types such as AWS:Application, AWS:AWSComponent, AWS:NetworkConfig, AWS:WindowsUpdate, AWS:InstanceInformation, and AWS:File.
3. **Custom Inventory**: You can create custom inventory types to track specific metadata relevant to your organization, such as rack location or asset tags.
4. **Resource Data Sync**: This feature allows you to aggregate inventory data from multiple AWS accounts and regions into a single S3 bucket, enabling centralized reporting and analysis.
5. **Integration with AWS Config**: Inventory data can be recorded as configuration items in AWS Config for compliance tracking and historical analysis.
6. **Querying Capabilities**: Using Systems Manager Inventory, you can query your fleet to identify instances running specific software versions, missing patches, or particular configurations.
For deployment and automation purposes, Inventory helps you understand your current state before making changes, verify deployments completed successfully, and maintain compliance baselines. When combined with other Systems Manager capabilities like State Manager and Automation, Inventory becomes a critical component of your infrastructure management strategy, providing the visibility needed for effective provisioning and ongoing operational management.
AWS Systems Manager Inventory - Complete Guide
What is Systems Manager Inventory?
AWS Systems Manager Inventory is a capability that collects metadata from your managed instances and stores it in a central location. This metadata includes information about applications, files, network configurations, Windows updates, instance details, and custom inventory types. It provides visibility into your EC2 instances and on-premises servers without requiring you to log into each machine individually.
Why is Systems Manager Inventory Important?
Systems Manager Inventory is crucial for several reasons:
• Compliance and Auditing: Track software versions, configurations, and patches across your entire fleet to meet regulatory requirements • Asset Management: Maintain a comprehensive view of all installed applications and their versions • Security: Identify outdated software or missing patches that could pose security risks • Operational Visibility: Understand what is running on your instances at any given time • Cost Optimization: Identify unused or redundant software installations
How Does Systems Manager Inventory Work?
The process follows these steps:
1. Prerequisites: Managed instances must have the SSM Agent installed and running, proper IAM permissions, and network connectivity to Systems Manager endpoints
2. Collection: You create an inventory association that specifies which instances to target and what data to collect. The SSM Agent on each instance gathers the specified metadata
3. Storage: Collected data is stored in Systems Manager and can be synced to an S3 bucket for long-term storage and analysis
4. Querying: Use AWS Config, Amazon Athena, or Amazon QuickSight to query and visualize the inventory data
Inventory Data Types:
• AWS:Application - Application metadata like name, publisher, version • AWS:AWSComponent - EC2 components like SSM Agent • AWS:File - Metadata about specified files • AWS:InstanceDetailedInformation - Instance attributes like CPU, memory • AWS:Network - Network configuration data • AWS:WindowsUpdate - Windows update information • AWS:Service - Service information for Windows • Custom Inventory - User-defined inventory types
Resource Data Sync:
Resource Data Sync allows you to aggregate inventory data from multiple AWS accounts and regions into a single S3 bucket. This enables centralized reporting and analysis using services like Amazon Athena and QuickSight.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Systems Manager Inventory
• Remember the Prerequisites: When questions mention instances not appearing in inventory, think about SSM Agent status, IAM roles, and network connectivity first
• Association vs Collection: Understand that inventory requires an association to be set up before data collection begins
• S3 Integration: Questions about long-term storage or cross-account inventory aggregation point to Resource Data Sync with S3
• Query Scenarios: If a question asks about querying inventory data across accounts, think Athena plus S3 Resource Data Sync
• Custom Inventory: When standard inventory types are insufficient, custom inventory allows you to define your own metadata collection
• Collection Frequency: Default collection happens every 30 minutes, but this can be customized in the association
• Distinguish from State Manager: Inventory collects data about current state; State Manager enforces desired state
• Compliance Connection: Inventory data feeds into Systems Manager Compliance to show whether instances meet your configuration requirements
• Cost Considerations: Inventory itself is free, but storing data in S3 and querying with Athena incurs standard charges