---
title: EC2 instance monitoring disabled
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > EC2 instance monitoring disabled
---

# EC2 instance monitoring disabled

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site.md). ({% placeholder "user-datadog-site-name" /%}).
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**Id:** `terraform-aws-ec2-instance-monitoring-disabled` 

**Provider:** AWS

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** Medium

**Category:** Observability

#### Learn More{% #learn-more %}

- [Provider Reference](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/resources/instance#monitoring)

### Description{% #description %}

Enabling detailed monitoring on EC2 instances ensures that Amazon CloudWatch captures metrics every minute, rather than the default five-minute interval. This is achieved in Terraform by setting the `monitoring` attribute to `true` within the `aws_instance` resource. Without detailed monitoring (`monitoring = false` or omitted), operational visibility is significantly reduced, which can delay the detection of performance issues, outages, or security incidents. If this vulnerability is left unaddressed, administrators may miss critical events or be unable to react promptly to changes in resource behavior, potentially leading to service disruptions or undiagnosed anomalies.

## Compliant Code Examples{% #compliant-code-examples %}

```terraform
data "aws_ami" "ubuntu" {
  most_recent = true

  filter {
    name   = "name"
    values = ["ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-focal-20.04-amd64-server-*"]
  }

  filter {
    name   = "virtualization-type"
    values = ["hvm"]
  }

  owners = ["099720109477"] # Canonical
}

resource "aws_instance" "monitoring_negative1" {
  ami           = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
  monitoring    = true
  instance_type = "t3.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "HelloWorld"
  }
}
```

```terraform
module "ec2_instance" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/ec2-instance/aws"
  version = "~> 3.0"

  name = "single-instance"

  ami                    = "ami-ebd02392"
  instance_type          = "t2.micro"
  key_name               = "user1"
  monitoring             = true
  vpc_security_group_ids = ["sg-12345678"]
  subnet_id              = "subnet-eddcdzz4"
  associate_public_ip_address = false

  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "dev"
  }
}
```

```json
{
  "//": {
    "metadata": {
      "backend": "local",
      "stackName": "cdktf-test",
      "version": "0.9.0"
    },
    "outputs": {}
  },
  "provider": {
    "aws": [
      {
        "region": "us-east-1"
      }
    ]
  },
  "resource": {
    "aws_instance": {
      "cdktf-test": {
        "//": {
          "metadata": {
            "path": "cdktf-test/cdktf-test",
            "uniqueId": "cdktf-test"
          }
        },
        "ami": "ami-1212f123",
        "instance_type": "t2.micro",
        "monitoring": true
      }
    }
  },
  "terraform": {
    "backend": {
      "local": {
        "path": "/terraform.cdktf-test.tfstate"
      }
    },
    "required_providers": {
      "aws": {
        "source": "aws",
        "version": "~> 3.0"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Non-Compliant Code Examples{% #non-compliant-code-examples %}

```terraform
data "aws_ami" "ubuntu" {
  most_recent = true

  filter {
    name   = "name"
    values = ["ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-focal-20.04-amd64-server-*"]
  }

  filter {
    name   = "virtualization-type"
    values = ["hvm"]
  }

  owners = ["099720109477"] # Canonical
}

resource "aws_instance" "monitoring_positive1" {
  ami           = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
  instance_type = "t3.micro"

  tags = {
    Name = "HelloWorld"
  }
}
```

```terraform
data "aws_ami" "ubuntu" {
  most_recent = true

  filter {
    name   = "name"
    values = ["ubuntu/images/hvm-ssd/ubuntu-focal-20.04-amd64-server-*"]
  }

  filter {
    name   = "virtualization-type"
    values = ["hvm"]
  }

  owners = ["099720109477"] # Canonical
}

resource "aws_instance" "monitoring_positive2" {
  ami           = data.aws_ami.ubuntu.id
  instance_type = "t3.micro"
  monitoring    = false

  tags = {
    Name = "HelloWorld"
  }
}
```

```terraform
module "ec2_instance" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/ec2-instance/aws"
  version = "~> 3.0"

  name = "single-instance"

  ami                    = "ami-ebd02392"
  instance_type          = "t2.micro"
  key_name               = "user1"
  vpc_security_group_ids = ["sg-12345678"]
  subnet_id              = "subnet-eddcdzz4"
  associate_public_ip_address = false

  tags = {
    Terraform   = "true"
    Environment = "dev"
  }
}
```