Query AWS CloudWatch System Tables

Overview

Works best with the AWS MCP server for sandboxed execution and audit logging. All commands below use the AWS CLI and work in any environment with configured AWS credentials.

The CloudWatch Logs S3 Tables integration exports log data as Apache Iceberg tables in the AWS-managed aws-cloudwatch table bucket. This enables SQL analysis via Amazon Athena and correlation of log data with non-CloudWatch data (S3 metadata, business tables, etc.). Available at no additional storage charge beyond CloudWatch ingestion pricing.

Decision Tree

User intent	Use this skill?	Alternative
Run SQL across large volumes of log data	Yes	—
Correlate logs with S3 metadata or other tables	Yes — join across catalogs	—
Quick log search / pattern matching	No	CloudWatch Logs Insights (faster for ad-hoc)
Real-time log streaming/tailing	No	CloudWatch Logs console or logs filter-log-events
Set up alarms on log patterns	No	CloudWatch Metric Filters / Alarms
Query historical logs before integration was enabled	No	CloudWatch Logs (no backfill in S3 Tables)

Supported Data Sources

The following data sources are available through the S3 Tables integration. Each data source has a namespace pattern used in SQL queries. Not all AWS vended data sources may be available in all Regions; check the CloudWatch console Data Sources tab for current availability.

Data Source	Namespace pattern	Common use case
VPC Flow Logs	amazon_vpc__flow	Network traffic analysis, rejected connections
WAF Logs	aws_waf__logs	Blocked requests, rule hit analysis
CloudFront Access Logs	amazon_cloudfront__access	CDN traffic patterns, error rates
Route 53 Resolver Query Logs	amazon_route53resolver__query	DNS query analysis
Network Firewall Logs	aws_networkfirewall__logs	Firewall rule hits, dropped traffic
EKS Audit Logs	amazon_eks__audit	Kubernetes API audit trail
Verified Access Logs	amazon_verifiedaccess__logs	Zero-trust access decisions
SES Mail Logs	amazon_ses__mail	Email delivery/bounce tracking
VPC Lattice Access Logs	amazon_vpclattice__access	Service-to-service access patterns
Step Functions Logs	aws_stepfunctions__logs	Workflow execution debugging
Global Accelerator Flow Logs	aws_globalaccelerator__flow	Global network traffic
NLB Access Logs	elastic_load_balancing__nlb_access	Load balancer request tracing
Shield Logs	aws_shield__logs	DDoS mitigation events
Cognito Logs	amazon_cognito__logs	Auth/identity operations
ElastiCache Logs	amazon_elasticache__logs	Redis slow log, engine log
SageMaker Logs	amazon_sagemaker__logs	ML training/inference events
WorkMail Audit Logs	amazon_workmail__audit	Email security/compliance
Bedrock Agent Logs	aws_bedrock_agent_core__logs	AI agent invocations
Client VPN Logs	aws_client_vpn__connections	VPN connection tracking
Entity Resolution Logs	aws_entity_resolution__logs	Record matching operations
MediaPackage Access Logs	aws_elemental_mediapackage__access	Streaming delivery metrics
MediaTailor Logs	aws_elemental_mediatailor__logs	Ad insertion events
Transfer Family Logs	aws_transfer_family__logs	SFTP/FTPS file transfer tracking
Site-to-Site VPN Logs	aws_site_to_site_vpn__logs	VPN tunnel diagnostics

Note: This table lists the 24 most commonly queried data sources. The integration supports 43+ AWS vended data sources in total. Use list-namespaces on the aws-cloudwatch bucket to discover all available data sources in your account. Namespace patterns follow the convention <service>__<type>.

Common Tasks

1. Check If Configured

# Check if the aws-cloudwatch table bucket exists
aws s3tables list-table-buckets --region <REGION> \
  --query "tableBuckets[?name=='aws-cloudwatch']"

• Empty result → integration not enabled. Guide user through setup.
• Bucket exists but no namespaces → integration enabled but no log data yet (only captures events after association).

List available tables:

aws s3tables list-namespaces --table-bucket-arn arn:aws:s3tables:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:bucket/aws-cloudwatch --region <REGION>

aws s3tables list-tables --table-bucket-arn arn:aws:s3tables:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:bucket/aws-cloudwatch --namespace <NAMESPACE> --region <REGION>

2. Enable / Configure

Create integration:

aws observabilityadmin create-s3-table-integration \
  --region <REGION> \
  --encryption '{"SseAlgorithm": "aws:kms", "KmsKeyArn": "<KMS_KEY_ARN>"}' \
  --role-arn <SERVICE_ROLE_ARN>

Associate a specific data source (recommended):

aws logs associate-source-to-s3-table-integration \
  --region <REGION> \
  --integration-arn <INTEGRATION_ARN> \
  --data-source '{"name": "<source-name>", "type": "<source-type>"}'

Associate all data sources (wildcard):

⚠️ Warning: Wildcard association delivers all current and future data sources to S3 Tables. Use specific associations for tighter control over what log data lands in queryable tables.

aws logs associate-source-to-s3-table-integration \
  --region <REGION> \
  --integration-arn <INTEGRATION_ARN> \
  --data-source '{"name": "*", "type": "*"}'

For IAM requirements (service role trust policy, permissions policy, condition keys), see Security Considerations below.

3. Verify Permissions for Querying

Requires:

• S3 Tables federated catalog registered in Glue (s3tablescatalog)
• Lake Formation SELECT + DESCRIBE grants on the table (or IAM-only mode in supported regions)
• Athena execution permissions

Grant access:

aws lakeformation grant-permissions \
  --principal DataLakePrincipalIdentifier=<ROLE_ARN> \
  --resource '{"Table": {"CatalogId": "<ACCOUNT>:s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch", "DatabaseName": "<NAMESPACE>", "Name": "<TABLE>"}}' \
  --permissions DESCRIBE SELECT \
  --region <REGION>

4. Query

Query syntax:

"s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch"."<namespace>"."<table>"

Constraints:

• You MUST ALWAYS run get-tables on the target namespace and include the command in your response before writing any SQL query — schemas vary by data source. Never skip this step even if you already know the likely schema. Run get-tables once on the target namespace (one call returns all tables + columns + types + descriptions):

  aws glue get-tables --catalog-id "<ACCOUNT>:s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch" --database-name "<namespace>" --region <REGION>
  

• You MUST confirm workgroup and output location before executing

• You MUST inform user that only logs received after association are available (no backfill)

Example — VPC Flow Logs rejected traffic:

SELECT srcaddr, dstaddr, dstport, protocol, packets, bytes
FROM "s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch"."amazon_vpc__flow"."<table>"
WHERE action = 'REJECT'
ORDER BY bytes DESC
LIMIT 50;

Example — WAF blocked requests:

SELECT timestamp, action, terminatingRuleId, httpSourceId
FROM "s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch"."aws_waf__logs"."<table>"
WHERE action = 'BLOCK'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC
LIMIT 50;

Example — correlate VPC Flow Logs with S3 object metadata:

SELECT f.srcaddr, f.dstaddr, f.bytes, j.key, j.record_type
FROM "s3tablescatalog/aws-cloudwatch"."amazon_vpc__flow"."<table>" f
JOIN "s3tablescatalog/aws-s3"."b_<bucket>"."journal" j
  ON f.srcaddr = j.source_ip_address
WHERE j.record_type = 'CREATE'
  AND f.action = 'ACCEPT';

Key Behaviors

• No backfill — only new log events after association are delivered to S3 Tables
• Retention follows log group — when log group retention expires, data is removed from the table
• Deleting a log group removes its data from the S3 table
• No additional storage charge — included in CloudWatch pricing
• Schemas are per-data-source — always run get-tables on the target namespace before building complex queries

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Fix
aws-cloudwatch bucket not found	Integration not created	Run create-s3-table-integration
Bucket exists but no namespaces	No data sources associated, or no log traffic since association	Associate sources; generate traffic
CATALOG_NOT_FOUND in Athena	S3 Tables not registered in Glue	Enable integration: S3 console > Table buckets > Enable integration
AccessDenied on query	Missing Lake Formation grants or IAM permissions	See Security Considerations below
Empty results	Logs only flow after association; no backfill	Confirm association exists and log source is actively generating data
Schema mismatch / column not found	Log type schema updated by AWS	Run get-tables on the namespace to get current columns

Security Considerations

Service Role Trust Policy

The service role must allow logs.amazonaws.com to assume it. Always include aws:SourceAccount and aws:SourceArn condition keys to prevent confused deputy attacks:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {
                "Service": "logs.amazonaws.com"
            },
            "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {
                    "aws:SourceAccount": "<ACCOUNT>"
                },
                "ArnLike": {
                    "aws:SourceArn": ["arn:aws:logs:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:log-group:<LOG_GROUP_NAME>"]
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

Service Role Permissions Policy

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": ["logs:integrateWithS3Table"],
            "Resource": ["arn:aws:logs:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:log-group:<LOG_GROUP_NAME>"],
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {
                    "aws:ResourceAccount": "<ACCOUNT>"
                }
            }
        }
    ]
}

KMS Key Policy (for encrypted data)

If using a customer managed KMS key, grant both service principals access:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "EnableSystemTablesKeyUsage",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {"Service": "systemtables.cloudwatch.amazonaws.com"},
            "Action": ["kms:DescribeKey", "kms:GenerateDataKey", "kms:Decrypt"],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:kms:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:key/<KEY_ID>",
            "Condition": {"StringEquals": {"aws:SourceAccount": "<ACCOUNT>"}}
        },
        {
            "Sid": "EnableS3TablesMaintenanceKeyUsage",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Principal": {"Service": "maintenance.s3tables.amazonaws.com"},
            "Action": ["kms:GenerateDataKey", "kms:Decrypt"],
            "Resource": "arn:aws:kms:<REGION>:<ACCOUNT>:key/<KEY_ID>",
            "Condition": {"StringLike": {"kms:EncryptionContext:aws:s3:arn": "<TABLE_OR_TABLE_BUCKET_ARN>/*"}}
        }
    ]
}

Data Sensitivity

Log data may contain PII including IP addresses, user agents, request parameters, and authentication tokens. Treat all exported log tables as sensitive by default.

Access Control Best Practices

• Use Lake Formation column-level security to restrict access to sensitive columns (e.g., srcaddr, source_ip_address, httpRequest). Grant permissions to specific tables and columns rather than wildcards.
• Configure SSE-KMS encryption on the Athena workgroup output bucket to protect query results at rest.
• Prefer specific data source associations over wildcard (*/*) to limit which data sources are exported to queryable tables.

Audit Trail

Enable CloudTrail logging for Athena (StartQueryExecution, GetQueryResults) and Lake Formation (GrantPermissions, RevokePermissions) API calls to maintain an audit trail of who queried what data.

Additional Resources

• CloudWatch Logs S3 Tables integration
• Supported AWS vended data sources
• IAM permissions for integration
• Integrating S3 Tables with analytics services
• Lake Formation permissions