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AWS WAF Logs

WAF Access logs provide detailed information about traffic that is analyzed by your web ACL. Logged information includes the time that AWS WAF received a web request from your AWS resource, detailed information about the request, and details about the rules that the request matched.

You can create a log ingestion into Amazon OpenSearch Service or Light Engine either by using the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch console or by deploying a standalone CloudFormation stack.

Important

  • You must deploy Centralized Logging with OpenSearch solution in the same region as your Web ACLs, or you will not be able to create a WAF pipeline. For example:
    • If your Web ACL is associated with Global Cloudfront, your must deploy the solution in us-east-1.
    • If your Web ACL is associated with other resources in regions like Ohio, your Centralized Logging with OpenSearch stack must also be deployed in that region.
  • The WAF logging bucket must be the same as the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch solution.
  • WAF Classic logs are not supported in Centralized Logging with OpenSearch. Learn more about migrating rules from WAF Classic to the new AWS WAF.
  • The Amazon OpenSearch Service index is rotated on a daily basis by default, and you can adjust the index in the Additional Settings.

Create log ingestion (Amazon OpenSearch for log analytics)

Using the Console

  1. Sign in to the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch Console.
  2. In the navigation pane, under Log Analytics Pipelines, choose Service Log.
  3. Choose the Create a log ingestion button.
  4. In the AWS Services section, choose AWS WAF.
  5. Choose Open Search, choose Next.
  6. Under Specify settings, choose Automatic or Manual.
    • For Automatic mode, choose a Web ACL in the dropdown list.
    • For Manual mode, enter the Web ACL name.
    • (Optional) If you are ingesting WAF logs from another account, select a linked account from the Account dropdown list first.
  7. Specify an Ingest Options. Choose between Sampled Request or Full Request.
    • For Sampled Request, enter how often you want to ingest sampled requests in minutes.
    • For Full Request, if the Web ACL log is not enabled, choose Enable to enable the access log, or enter Log location in Manual mode. Note that Centralized Logging with OpenSearch will automatically enable logging with a Kinesis Data Firehose stream as destination for your WAF.
  8. Choose Next.
  9. In the Specify OpenSearch domain section, select an imported domain for Amazon OpenSearch domain.
  10. Choose Yes for Sample dashboard if you want to ingest an associated templated Amazon OpenSearch Service dashboard.
  11. You can change the Index Prefix of the target Amazon OpenSearch Service index if needed. The default prefix is the Web ACL Name.
  12. In the Log Lifecycle section, enter the number of days to manage the Amazon OpenSearch Service index lifecycle. The Centralized Logging with OpenSearch will create the associated Index State Management (ISM) policy automatically for this pipeline.
  13. In the Select log processor section, please choose the log processor.
    • (Optional) OSI as log processor is now supported in these regions. When OSI is selected, please type in the minimum and maximum number of OCU. See more information here.
  14. Choose Next.
  15. Add tags if needed.
  16. Choose Create.

Using the CloudFormation Stack

This automated AWS CloudFormation template deploys the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch - WAF Log Ingestion solution in the AWS Cloud.

Launch in AWS Console Download Template
AWS Regions (Full Request) Launch Stack Template
AWS China Regions (Full Request) Launch Stack Template
AWS Regions (Sampled Request) Launch Stack Template
AWS China Regions (Sampled Request) Launch Stack Template

  1. Log in to the AWS Management Console and select the button to launch the AWS CloudFormation template. You can also download the template as a starting point for your own implementation.

  2. To launch the stack in a different AWS Region, use the Region selector in the console navigation bar.

  3. On the Create stack page, verify that the correct template URL shows in the Amazon S3 URL text box and choose Next.

  4. On the Specify stack details page, assign a name to your solution stack.

  5. Under Parameters, review the parameters for the template and modify them as necessary. This solution uses the following parameters.

    • Parameters for Full Request only
    Parameter Default Description
    Log Bucket Name <Requires input> The S3 bucket name which stores the logs.
    Log Bucket Prefix <Requires input> The S3 bucket path prefix which stores the logs.
    • Parameters for Sampled Request only
    Parameter Default Description
    WebACL Names <Requires input> The list of Web ACL names, delimited by comma.
    Interval 1 The default interval (in minutes) to get sampled logs.
    • Common parameters
    Parameter Default Description
    Log Source Account ID <Optional> The AWS Account ID of the S3 bucket. Required for cross-account log ingestion (Please add a member account first). By default, the Account ID you logged in at Step 1 will be used.
    Log Source Region <Optional> The AWS Region of the S3 bucket. By default, the Region you selected at Step 2 will be used.
    Log Source Account Assume Role <Optional> The IAM Role ARN used for cross-account log ingestion. Required for cross-account log ingestion (Please add a member account first).
    Engine Type OpenSearch The engine type of the OpenSearch. Select OpenSearch or Elasticsearch.
    OpenSearch Domain Name <Requires input> The domain name of the Amazon OpenSearch cluster.
    OpenSearch Endpoint <Requires input> The OpenSearch endpoint URL. For example, vpc-your_opensearch_domain_name-xcvgw6uu2o6zafsiefxubwuohe.us-east-1.es.amazonaws.com
    Index Prefix <Requires input> The common prefix of OpenSearch index for the log. The index name will be <Index Prefix>-<log-type>-<YYYY-MM-DD>.
    Create Sample Dashboard Yes Whether to create a sample OpenSearch dashboard.
    VPC ID <Requires input> Select a VPC which has access to the OpenSearch domain. The log processing Lambda will reside in the selected VPC.
    Subnet IDs <Requires input> Select at least two subnets which have access to the OpenSearch domain. The log processing Lambda will reside in the subnets. Make sure the subnets have access to the Amazon S3 service.
    Security Group ID <Requires input> Select a Security Group which will be associated with the log processing Lambda. Make sure the Security Group has access to the OpenSearch domain.
    S3 Backup Bucket <Requires input> The S3 backup bucket name to store the failed ingestion logs.
    KMS-CMK ARN <Optional input> The KMS-CMK ARN for encryption. Leave it blank to create a new KMS CMK.
    Number Of Shards 5 Number of shards to distribute the index evenly across all data nodes. Keep the size of each shard between 10-50 GB.
    Number of Replicas 1 Number of replicas for OpenSearch Index. Each replica is a full copy of an index.
    Days to Warm Storage 0 The number of days required to move the index into warm storage. This takes effect only when the value is larger than 0 and warm storage is enabled in OpenSearch.
    Days to Cold Storage 0 The number of days required to move the index into cold storage. This takes effect only when the value is larger than 0 and cold storage is enabled in OpenSearch.
    Days to Retain 0 The total number of days to retain the index. If value is 0, the index will not be deleted.

  6. Choose Next.

  7. On the Configure stack options page, choose Next.

  8. On the Review page, review and confirm the settings. Check the box acknowledging that the template creates AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) resources.

  9. Choose Create stack to deploy the stack.

You can view the status of the stack in the AWS CloudFormation console in the Status column. You should receive a CREATE_COMPLETE status in approximately 10 minutes.

View dashboard

The dashboard includes the following visualizations.

Visualization Name Source Field Description
Filters
  • Filters
The following data can be filtered by query filter conditions.
Web ACLs
  • log event
  • webaclName
 Displays the count of requests made to the WAF, grouped by Web ACL Names.
Total Requests
  • log event
Displays the total number of web requests.
Request Timeline
  • log event
Presents a bar chart that displays the distribution of events over time.
WAF Rules
  • terminatingRuleId
Presents a pie chart that displays the distribution of events over the WAF rules in the Web ACL.
Total Blocked Requests
  • log event
Displays the total number of blocked web requests.
Unique Client IPs
  • Request.ClientIP
 Displays unique visitors identified by client IP.
Country or Region By Request
  • Request.Country
Displays the count of requests made to the Web ACL (grouped by the corresponding country or region resolved by the client IP).
Http Methods
  • Request.HTTPMethod
 Displays the count of requests made to the Web ACL using a pie chart, grouped by http request method names (e.g., POST, GET, HEAD, etc.).
Http Versions
  • Request.HTTPVersion
 Displays the count of requests made to the Web ACL using a pie chart, grouped by http protocol version (e.g., HTTP/2.0, HTTP/1.1, etc.).
Top WebACLs
  • webaclName
  • webaclId.keyword
 The web requests view enables you to analyze the top web requests.
Top Hosts
  • host
 Lists the source IP addresses associated with events, enabling you to identify and investigate potentially suspicious or unauthorized activities.
Top Request URIs
  • Request.URI
 Top 10 request URIs.
Top Countries or Regions
  • Request.country
 Top 10 countries with the Web ACL Access.
Top Rules
  • terminatingRuleId
 Top 10 rules in the web ACL that matched the request.
Top Client IPs
  • Request.ClientIP
 Provides the top 10 IP address.
Top User Agents
  • userAgent
 Provides the top 10 user agents
Block Allow Host Uri
  • host
  • Request.URI
  • action
 Provides blocked or allowed web requests.
Top Labels with Host, Uri
  • labels.name
  • host
  • Request.URI
 Top 10 detailed logs by labels with host, URI
View by Matching Rule
  • sc-status
 This visualization provides detailed logs by DQL "terminatingRuleId:*".
View by httpRequest args,uri,path
  • sc-status
 This visualization provides detailed logs by DQL.

Sample Dashboard

You can access the built-in dashboard in Amazon OpenSearch to view log data. For more information, see Access Dashboard.

You can click the below image to view the high-resolution sample dashboard.

waf-db

Create log ingestion (Light Engine for log analytics)

Using the Console

  1. Sign in to the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch Console.
  2. In the navigation pane, under Log Analytics Pipelines, choose Service Log.
  3. Choose the Create a log ingestion button.
  4. In the AWS Services section, choose AWS WAF.
  5. Choose Light Engine, choose Next.
  6. Under the Specified Settings, select Automatic or Manual.
  7. For the Automatic mode, choose a Web ACL from the dropdown list.
  8. For the Manual mode, enter the Web ACL name.
  9. (Optional) If you need to ingest logs across AWS accounts, select a linked AWS account from the account dropdown list.
  10. In the Ingestion Options section, select Full Request.
  11. For Full Request, if Web ACL logging is not enabled, click Enable Access Logging to enable access logs. Alternatively, enter the log location in manual mode. Note that using the log delivery stream will automatically enable using Kinesis Data Firehose as the target for WAF logs.
  12. Select Next.
  13. In the Specify Light Engine Configuration section, if you want to ingest associated templated Grafana dashboards, select Yes for the sample dashboard.
  14. You can choose an existing Grafana, or if you need to import a new one, you can go to Grafana for configuration.
  15. Select an S3 bucket to store partitioned logs and define a name for the log table. We have provided a predefined table name, but you can modify it according to your business needs.
  16. The log processing frequency is set to 5 minutes by default, with a minimum processing frequency of 1 minute.
  17. In the Log Lifecycle section, enter the log merge time and log archive time. We have provided default values, but you can adjust them based on your business requirements.
  18. Select Next.
  19. If desired, add tags.
  20. Select Create.

Using the CloudFormation Stack

This automated AWS CloudFormation template deploys the Centralized Logging with OpenSearch - WAF Log Ingestion solution in the AWS Cloud.

Launch in AWS Console Download Template
AWS Region(Full Request) Launch Stack Template
AWS China Regions (Full Request) Launch Stack Template

  1. Log in to the AWS Management Console and select the button to launch the AWS CloudFormation template. You can also download the template as a starting point for your own implementation.

  2. To launch the stack in a different AWS Region, use the Region selector in the console navigation bar.

  3. On the Create stack page, verify that the correct template URL shows in the Amazon S3 URL text box and choose Next.

  4. On the Specify stack details page, assign a name to your solution stack.

  5. Under Parameters, review the parameters for the template and modify them as necessary. This solution uses the following parameters.

    • Parameters for Pipeline settings
    Parameter Defaul Description
    Pipeline Id <<需要输入>input> The unique identifier for the pipeline is essential if you need to create multiple WAF pipelines and write different WAF logs into separate tables. To ensure uniqueness, you can generate a unique pipeline identifier using uuidgenerator.
    Staging Bucket Prefix AWSLogs/WAFLogs The storage directory for logs in the temporary storage area should ensure the uniqueness and non-overlapping of the Prefix for different pipelines.
    • Parameters for Destination settings
    Parameters Default Description
    Centralized Bucket Name <Requires input> Input centralized s3 bucket name，for expample:centralized-logging-bucket。
    Centralized Bucket Prefix datalake Input centralized bucket prefix，default is datalake which means your data base's location is s3://{Centralized Bucket Name}/{Centralized Bucket Prefix}/amazon_cl_centralized。
    Centralized Table Name WAF Table name for writing data to the centralized database, can be defined as needed, default value is 'waf'.
    • Parameters for Scheduler settings
    Parameters Default Description
    LogProcessor Schedule Expression rate(5 minutes) Task scheduling expression for performing log processing, with a default value of executing the LogProcessor every 5 minutes. Configuration for reference。
    LogMerger Schedule Expression cron(0 1 * ? ) 执ask scheduling expression for performing log merging, with a default value of executing the LogMerger at 1 AM every day. Configuration for reference。
    LogArchive Schedule Expression cron(0 2 * ? ) Task scheduling expression for performing log archiving, with a default value of executing the LogArchive at 2 AM every day. Configuration for reference。
    Age to Merge 7 Small file retention days, with a default value of 7, indicates that logs older than 7 days will be merged into small files. It can be adjusted as needed.
    Age to Archive 30 Log retention days, with a default value of 30, indicates that data older than 30 days will be archived and deleted. It can be adjusted as needed.
    • Parameters for Notification settings
    Parameters Default Description
    Notification Service SNS Notification method for alerts. If your main stack is using China, you can only choose the SNS method. If your main stack is using Global, you can choose either the SNS or SES method.
    Recipients <Requires Input> Alert notification: If the Notification Service is SNS, enter the SNS Topic ARN here, ensuring that you have the necessary permissions. If the Notification Service is SES, enter the email addresses separated by commas here, ensuring that the email addresses are already Verified Identities in SES. The adminEmail provided during the creation of the main stack will receive a verification email by default.
    • Parameters for Dashboard settings
    Parameters Default Description
    Import Dashboards FALSE Whether to import the Dashboard into Grafana, with a default value of false. If set to true, you must provide the Grafana URL and Grafana Service Account Token.。
    Grafana URL <Requires Input> Grafana access URL，for example: https://alb-72277319.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com。
    Grafana Service Account Token <Requires Input> Grafana Service Account Token：Service Account Token created in Grafana。

  6. Choose Next.

  7. On the Configure stack options page, choose Next.

  8. On the Review page, review and confirm the settings. Check the box acknowledging that the template creates AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) resources.

  9. Choose Create stack to deploy the stack.

You can view the status of the stack in the AWS CloudFormation console in the Status column. You should receive a CREATE_COMPLETE status in approximately 10 minutes.

View Dashboard

Visualization Name Source Field Description
Filters Filters The following data can be filtered by query filter conditions.
Total Requests log event Displays the total number of web requests.
Total Blocked Requests log event Displays the total number of blocked web requests.
Requests History log event Presents a bar chart that displays the distribution of events over time.
WAF ACLs log event webaclName Displays the count of requests made to the WAF, grouped by Web ACL Names.
WAF Rules terminatingRuleId Presents a pie chart that displays the distribution of events over the WAF rules in the Web ACL.
Sources httpSourceId Presents a pie chart that displays the distribution of events over the id of the associated resource.
HTTP Methods httpRequest.HTTPMethod Displays the count of requests made to the Web ACL using a pie chart, grouped by HTTP request method names (e.g., POST, GET, HEAD, etc.).
Country or Region By Blocked Requests HTTPRequest.Country Displays the count of blocked web requests made to the Web ACL (grouped by the corresponding country or region resolved by the client IP).
Top WebACLs webaclName The web requests view enables you to analyze the top web requests.
Top Sources httpSourceId Top 10 id of the associated resource.
Top Requests URIs httpRequest.URI Top 10 request URIs.
Top Countries or Regions httpRequest.country Top 10 countries with the Web ACL Access.
Top Rules terminatingRuleId Top 10 rules in the web ACL that matched the request.
Top Client IPs httpRequest.ClientIP Provides the top 10 IP addresses.
Top Blocked / Allowed Hosts URI host httpRequest.URI action Provides blocked or allowed web requests.
Top Labels with Host, URI labels host httpRequest.URI Top 10 detailed logs by labels with host, URI.
Metrics webaclId webaclName terminatingRuleId terminatingRuleType httpSourceId httpRequest.HTTPMethod httpRequest.country httpRequest.ClientIP labels httpRequest.URI action Provides a detailed list of log events, including timestamps, WebACL, client IP, etc.