---
description: Learn how to use the Amazon CloudWatch Logs logging driver with Docker Engine
keywords: AWS, Amazon, CloudWatch, logging, driver
title: Amazon CloudWatch Logs logging driver
aliases:
  - /engine/reference/logging/awslogs/
  - /engine/admin/logging/awslogs/
  - /config/containers/logging/awslogs/
---

The `awslogs` logging driver sends container logs to
[Amazon CloudWatch Logs](https://aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/details/#log-monitoring).
Log entries can be retrieved through the [AWS Management
Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/home#logs:) or the [AWS SDKs
and Command Line Tools](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/logs/index.html).

## Usage

To use the `awslogs` driver as the default logging driver, set the `log-driver`
and `log-opt` keys to appropriate values in the `daemon.json` file, which is
located in `/etc/docker/` on Linux hosts or
`C:\ProgramData\docker\config\daemon.json` on Windows Server. For more about
configuring Docker using `daemon.json`, see
[daemon.json](/reference/cli/dockerd.md#daemon-configuration-file).
The following example sets the log driver to `awslogs` and sets the
`awslogs-region` option.

```json
{
  "log-driver": "awslogs",
  "log-opts": {
    "awslogs-region": "us-east-1"
  }
}
```

Restart Docker for the changes to take effect.

You can set the logging driver for a specific container by using the
`--log-driver` option to `docker run`:

```console
$ docker run --log-driver=awslogs ...
```

If you are using Docker Compose, set `awslogs` using the following declaration example:

```yaml
myservice:
  logging:
    driver: awslogs
    options:
      awslogs-region: us-east-1
```

## Amazon CloudWatch Logs options

You can add logging options to the `daemon.json` to set Docker-wide defaults,
or use the `--log-opt NAME=VALUE` flag to specify Amazon CloudWatch Logs
logging driver options when starting a container.

### awslogs-region

The `awslogs` logging driver sends your Docker logs to a specific region. Use
the `awslogs-region` log option or the `AWS_REGION` environment variable to set
the region. By default, if your Docker daemon is running on an EC2 instance
and no region is set, the driver uses the instance's region.

```console
$ docker run --log-driver=awslogs --log-opt awslogs-region=us-east-1 ...
```

### awslogs-endpoint

By default, Docker uses either the `awslogs-region` log option or the
detected region to construct the remote CloudWatch Logs API endpoint.
Use the `awslogs-endpoint` log option to override the default endpoint
with the provided endpoint.

> [!NOTE]
>
> The `awslogs-region` log option or detected region controls the
> region used for signing. You may experience signature errors if the
> endpoint you've specified with `awslogs-endpoint` uses a different region.

### awslogs-group

You must specify a
[log group](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/logs/WhatIsCloudWatchLogs.html)
for the `awslogs` logging driver. You can specify the log group with the
`awslogs-group` log option:

```console
$ docker run --log-driver=awslogs --log-opt awslogs-region=us-east-1 --log-opt awslogs-group=myLogGroup ...
```

### awslogs-stream

To configure which
[log stream](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/logs/WhatIsCloudWatchLogs.html)
should be used, you can specify the `awslogs-stream` log option. If not
specified, the container ID is used as the log stream.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Log streams within a given log group should only be used by one container
> at a time. Using the same log stream for multiple containers concurrently
> can cause reduced logging performance.

### awslogs-create-group

Log driver returns an error by default if the log group doesn't exist. However, you can set the
`awslogs-create-group` to `true` to automatically create the log group as needed.
The `awslogs-create-group` option defaults to `false`.

```console
$ docker run \
    --log-driver=awslogs \
    --log-opt awslogs-region=us-east-1 \
    --log-opt awslogs-group=myLogGroup \