app_cloudwatch_disable

Description

The app_cloudwatch_disable parameter stops both CloudWatch writers for the per-App log groups /convox/<rack>/<app>. The Rack controller stops writing Kubernetes events and deploy state transitions for Apps, and Fluentd stops shipping App container output. The Rack system group /convox/<rack>/system is exempt from both stops, so convox rack logs keeps working and the Nginx access log stream keeps arriving.

The name looks like a narrower cloudwatch_disable, and the two parameters do not stand in that relation. app_cloudwatch_disable covers fewer groups and more writers. cloudwatch_disable covers more groups and fewer writers. Each one stops something the other leaves running, and setting one does not imply the other.

	`app_cloudwatch_disable=true`	`cloudwatch_disable=true`
Writers stopped	Rack controller and Fluentd	Rack controller only
Groups covered	Per-App groups only	Per-App groups and the Rack system group
Fluentd	Stops shipping App container output	Unaffected, keeps creating and filling both groups
`convox logs -a my-app`	Empty	Empty
`convox rack logs`	Unchanged	Empty

Default Value

The default value is false.

What Changes When Enabled

Command	Behavior with `app_cloudwatch_disable=true`
`convox logs -a my-app`	Returns empty. The whole-App view is served from CloudWatch.
`convox logs -a my-app -s my-service`	Unchanged. The per-Service view reads Pod logs directly.
`convox rack logs`	Unchanged. The Rack system group is exempt.
`convox builds logs`	Unchanged. A running Build streams from the build Pod, and a finished Build reads its stored log object.
`convox ps`	Unchanged.
`convox deploy` and `convox releases promote` tail output	Process state lines still print. Kubernetes event lines and deploy state lines stop.

Interaction with fluentd_disable

With app_cloudwatch_disable=true, App container output has already stopped reaching CloudWatch, so fluentd_disable changes only what Fluentd contributes to the Rack system group and whether syslog forwarding runs at all.

`app_cloudwatch_disable`	`fluentd_disable`	Per-App groups `/convox/<rack>/<app>`	Rack system group `/convox/<rack>/system`
`false`	`false`	Fluentd container output, plus Rack Kubernetes events and deploy state	Fluentd Rack system Pod output and Nginx access logs, plus Rack events
`true`	`false`	Nothing. Neither writer sends App records.	Unchanged
`false`	`true`	Rack Kubernetes events and deploy state only, no container output	Rack events only, no Nginx access logs
`true`	`true`	Nothing	Rack events only, no Nginx access logs

Adding cloudwatch_disable=true to any of these rows stops the Rack controller on both groups and makes convox rack logs return empty. Fluentd keeps writing Rack system Pod output and Nginx access logs into /convox/<rack>/system unless fluentd_disable is also true.

Syslog Forwarding

Turning this parameter on does not stop syslog forwarding. Fluentd keeps its syslog store on Rack system records, and App records reach a catch-all that carries a syslog copy whenever the syslog parameter is set. App output leaves CloudWatch and still leaves the Rack. With syslog unset, App records are discarded.

Warnings

Three warnings can print on stderr when you set logging parameters on an AWS Rack. None of them blocks the change; the parameters are applied either way. "Effective" below means the value set in the same command, falling back to the value already stored on the Rack.

Setting app_cloudwatch_disable=true when the effective cloudwatch_disable is true, or setting cloudwatch_disable=true when the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: cloudwatch_disable also covers the rack system log group, so 'convox rack logs' stays empty while it is set. Set cloudwatch_disable=false to get the rack view back.

Setting fluentd_disable=true when neither the effective cloudwatch_disable nor the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: disabling fluentd stops application logs, but the rack still creates an empty CloudWatch log group per app (/convox/<rack>/<app>). Set app_cloudwatch_disable=true to prevent them while keeping 'convox rack logs', or cloudwatch_disable=true to stop all rack CloudWatch.

Setting cloudwatch_disable=true when neither the effective fluentd_disable nor the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: cloudwatch_disable stops Convox rack-side CloudWatch writes and makes 'convox logs' return empty, but fluentd is still enabled and will keep shipping application logs to CloudWatch and creating /convox/<rack>/<app> groups. To stop CloudWatch entirely, also set fluentd_disable=true.

Setting the Parameter

To stop the per-App CloudWatch groups while keeping the Rack view:

$ convox rack params set app_cloudwatch_disable=true -r rackName
Updating parameters... OK

To take a Rack off CloudWatch entirely, set cloudwatch_disable=true and fluentd_disable=true instead. app_cloudwatch_disable does not cover the Rack system group.

Enabling or disabling this parameter re-renders the Fluentd configuration, so the Fluentd DaemonSet rolls once while the apply runs.

Existing Log Groups

Turning the parameter on deletes nothing. Groups that already exist keep their contents, and they keep whatever retention policy was last applied to them. The Rack stops calling the CloudWatch retention APIs for App groups, so retention is frozen at that value until the parameter is turned off again.

App lines produced while the parameter is on are dropped rather than buffered. They are not replayed when you turn the parameter off. Turning it off restores both writers and both reads immediately, and each App group is recreated on the next write to it.

Additional Information

This parameter is available on AWS Racks only and requires Rack version 3.25.5 or later. Setting it also requires a convox CLI at 3.25.5 or newer; an older CLI rejects the name as an unknown parameter, so run sudo convox update first.

Downgrading below 3.25.5 removes the parameter. Parameter reconciliation deletes it from the stored values before the apply runs and prints NOTICE: removing parameters not supported by version <version>: app_cloudwatch_disable on stderr. Both writers resume and each App group is recreated on the next write. Lines dropped while the parameter was on are not replayed. Upgrading back to 3.25.5 or later does not restore the value, because the downgrade deleted it, so set it again after the upgrade.

Validation: must be true or false. Any other value is rejected.
The parameter is not clearable. Passing an empty value is rejected with param 'app_cloudwatch_disable' requires an explicit value (omit to keep current). Set it to false to turn it off.
convox rack params lists stored values only, so app_cloudwatch_disable does not appear in its output until you set it.
The parameter belongs to the logging parameter group, so convox rack params -g logging surfaces it once it is set.
The awsLogs App setting (cwRetention and disableRetention) is a no-op while this parameter is on. Promoting a Release does not apply the retention policy, and existing groups keep the retention they already had. See App Settings.
The --filter flag on convox logs is applied by CloudWatch, so it has nothing to match on the whole-App view while this parameter is on. It is not applied on the --service path.
access_log_retention_in_days sets the retention Fluentd applies to the Nginx access log stream, which lives in the Rack system group and is unaffected by this parameter.
eks_log_types controls EKS control plane logging, which uses a separate log group and is unrelated to this parameter.

app_cloudwatch_disable

Description

	`app_cloudwatch_disable=true`	`cloudwatch_disable=true`
Writers stopped	Rack controller and Fluentd	Rack controller only
Groups covered	Per-App groups only	Per-App groups and the Rack system group
Fluentd	Stops shipping App container output	Unaffected, keeps creating and filling both groups
`convox logs -a my-app`	Empty	Empty
`convox rack logs`	Unchanged	Empty

Default Value

The default value is false.

What Changes When Enabled

Command	Behavior with `app_cloudwatch_disable=true`
`convox logs -a my-app`	Returns empty. The whole-App view is served from CloudWatch.
`convox logs -a my-app -s my-service`	Unchanged. The per-Service view reads Pod logs directly.
`convox rack logs`	Unchanged. The Rack system group is exempt.
`convox builds logs`	Unchanged. A running Build streams from the build Pod, and a finished Build reads its stored log object.
`convox ps`	Unchanged.
`convox deploy` and `convox releases promote` tail output	Process state lines still print. Kubernetes event lines and deploy state lines stop.

Interaction with fluentd_disable

`app_cloudwatch_disable`	`fluentd_disable`	Per-App groups `/convox/<rack>/<app>`	Rack system group `/convox/<rack>/system`
`false`	`false`	Fluentd container output, plus Rack Kubernetes events and deploy state	Fluentd Rack system Pod output and Nginx access logs, plus Rack events
`true`	`false`	Nothing. Neither writer sends App records.	Unchanged
`false`	`true`	Rack Kubernetes events and deploy state only, no container output	Rack events only, no Nginx access logs
`true`	`true`	Nothing	Rack events only, no Nginx access logs

Syslog Forwarding

Warnings

Setting app_cloudwatch_disable=true when the effective cloudwatch_disable is true, or setting cloudwatch_disable=true when the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: cloudwatch_disable also covers the rack system log group, so 'convox rack logs' stays empty while it is set. Set cloudwatch_disable=false to get the rack view back.

Setting fluentd_disable=true when neither the effective cloudwatch_disable nor the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: disabling fluentd stops application logs, but the rack still creates an empty CloudWatch log group per app (/convox/<rack>/<app>). Set app_cloudwatch_disable=true to prevent them while keeping 'convox rack logs', or cloudwatch_disable=true to stop all rack CloudWatch.

Setting cloudwatch_disable=true when neither the effective fluentd_disable nor the effective app_cloudwatch_disable is true:

WARNING: cloudwatch_disable stops Convox rack-side CloudWatch writes and makes 'convox logs' return empty, but fluentd is still enabled and will keep shipping application logs to CloudWatch and creating /convox/<rack>/<app> groups. To stop CloudWatch entirely, also set fluentd_disable=true.

Setting the Parameter

To stop the per-App CloudWatch groups while keeping the Rack view:

$ convox rack params set app_cloudwatch_disable=true -r rackName
Updating parameters... OK

To take a Rack off CloudWatch entirely, set cloudwatch_disable=true and fluentd_disable=true instead. app_cloudwatch_disable does not cover the Rack system group.

Enabling or disabling this parameter re-renders the Fluentd configuration, so the Fluentd DaemonSet rolls once while the apply runs.

Existing Log Groups

Additional Information

Validation: must be true or false. Any other value is rejected.
The parameter is not clearable. Passing an empty value is rejected with param 'app_cloudwatch_disable' requires an explicit value (omit to keep current). Set it to false to turn it off.
convox rack params lists stored values only, so app_cloudwatch_disable does not appear in its output until you set it.
The parameter belongs to the logging parameter group, so convox rack params -g logging surfaces it once it is set.
The awsLogs App setting (cwRetention and disableRetention) is a no-op while this parameter is on. Promoting a Release does not apply the retention policy, and existing groups keep the retention they already had. See App Settings.
The --filter flag on convox logs is applied by CloudWatch, so it has nothing to match on the whole-App view while this parameter is on. It is not applied on the --service path.
access_log_retention_in_days sets the retention Fluentd applies to the Nginx access log stream, which lives in the Rack system group and is unaffected by this parameter.
eks_log_types controls EKS control plane logging, which uses a separate log group and is unrelated to this parameter.

app_cloudwatch_disable

Description

Default Value

What Changes When Enabled

Interaction with fluentd_disable

Syslog Forwarding

Warnings

Setting the Parameter

Existing Log Groups

Additional Information

See Also

app_cloudwatch_disable

Description

Default Value

What Changes When Enabled

Interaction with fluentd_disable

Syslog Forwarding

Warnings

Setting the Parameter

Existing Log Groups

Additional Information

See Also