AWS Systems Manager Automation

Scripting support in runbook content

Using the aws:executeScript action, you can run custom Python and PowerShell functions directly from your runbooks. This provides you greater flexibility in creating your custom runbooks because you can complete various tasks that other Automation actions don't support. You also have greater control over the logic of the runbook. For an example of how this action can be used and how it can help to improve an existing automated solution, see Authoring Automation runbooks.

Run automations across multiple AWS accounts and AWS Regions from a centralized location

Administrators can run automations on resources across multiple accounts and Regions from the Systems Manager console.

Enhanced operations security

Administrators have a centralized place to grant and revoke access to runbooks. Using only AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, you can control which individual users or groups in your organization can use Automation and which runbooks they can access.

Automate common IT tasks

Automating common tasks can help improve operational efficiency, enforce organizational standards, and reduce operator errors. For example, you can use the AWS-UpdateCloudFormationStackWithApproval runbook to update resources that were deployed by using an AWS CloudFormation template. The update applies a new template. You can configure the Automation to request approval by one or more users before the update begins.

Safely perform disruptive tasks in bulk

Automation includes features, like rate controls, that allow you to control the deployment of an automation across your fleet by specifying a concurrency value and an error threshold. For more information about working with rate controls, see Run automated operations at scale.

Streamline complex tasks

Automation provides pre-defined runbooks that streamline complex and time-consuming tasks such as creating golden Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). For example, you can use the AWS-UpdateLinuxAmi and AWS-UpdateWindowsAmi runbooks to create golden AMIs from a source AMI. Using these runbooks, you can run custom scripts before and after updates are applied. You can also include or exclude specific software packages from being installed. For examples of how to use these runbooks, see Tutorials.

Define constraints for inputs

You can define constraints in custom runbooks to limit the values that Automation will accept for a particular input parameter. For example, allowedPattern will only accept values for an input parameter that match the regular expression you define. If you specify allowedValues for an input parameter, only the values you've specified in the runbook are accepted.

Log automation action output to Amazon CloudWatch Logs

To meet operational or security requirements in your organization, you might need to provide a record of the scripts run during a runbook. With CloudWatch Logs, you can monitor, store, and access log files from various AWS services. You can send output from the aws:executeScript action to a CloudWatch Logs log group for debugging and troubleshooting purposes. Log data can be sent to your log group with or without AWS KMS encryption using your KMS key. For more information, see Logging Automation action output with CloudWatch Logs.

Amazon EventBridge integration

Automation is supported as a target type in Amazon EventBridge rules. This means you can trigger runbooks by using events. For more information, see Monitoring Systems Manager events with Amazon EventBridge and Reference: Amazon EventBridge event patterns and types for Systems Manager.

Share organizational best practices

You can define best practices for resource management, operations tasks, and more in runbooks that you share across accounts and Regions.

Any AWS customer who wants to improve their operational efficiency at scale, reduce errors associated with manual intervention, and reduce time to resolution of common issues.

Infrastructure experts who want to automate deployment and configuration tasks.

Administrators who want to reliably resolve common issues, improve troubleshooting efficiency, and reduce repetitive operations.

Users who want to automate a task they normally perform manually.