---
title: "discovery.ec2 | Grafana Alloy documentation"
description: "Learn about discovery.ec2"
---

# `discovery.ec2`

`discovery.ec2` lets you retrieve scrape targets from EC2 instances. The private IP address is used by default, but you can change it to the public IP address using relabeling.

The IAM credentials used must have the `ec2:DescribeInstances` permission to discover scrape targets, and may optionally have the `ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones` permission to make the availability zone ID available as a label.

## Usage

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
discovery.ec2 "<LABEL>" {
}
```

## Arguments

You can use the following arguments with `discovery.ec2`:

Expand table

| Name                     | Type                | Description                                                                                                             | Default | Required |
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `access_key`             | `string`            | The AWS API key ID. If blank, the environment variable `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID` is used.                                     |         | no       |
| `bearer_token_file`      | `string`            | File containing a bearer token to authenticate with.                                                                    |         | no       |
| `bearer_token`           | `secret`            | Bearer token to authenticate with.                                                                                      |         | no       |
| `enable_http2`           | `bool`              | Whether HTTP2 is supported for requests.                                                                                | `true`  | no       |
| `endpoint`               | `string`            | Custom endpoint to be used.                                                                                             |         | no       |
| `follow_redirects`       | `bool`              | Whether redirects returned by the server should be followed.                                                            | `true`  | no       |
| `http_headers`           | `map(list(secret))` | Custom HTTP headers to be sent along with each request. The map key is the header name.                                 |         | no       |
| `no_proxy`               | `string`            | Comma-separated list of IP addresses, CIDR notations, and domain names to exclude from proxying.                        |         | no       |
| `port`                   | `int`               | The port to scrape metrics from. If using the public IP address, this must instead be specified in the relabeling rule. | `80`    | no       |
| `profile`                | `string`            | Named AWS profile used to connect to the API.                                                                           |         | no       |
| `proxy_connect_header`   | `map(list(secret))` | Specifies headers to send to proxies during CONNECT requests.                                                           |         | no       |
| `proxy_from_environment` | `bool`              | Use the proxy URL indicated by environment variables.                                                                   | `false` | no       |
| `proxy_url`              | `string`            | HTTP proxy to send requests through.                                                                                    |         | no       |
| `refresh_interval`       | `duration`          | Refresh interval to re-read the instance list.                                                                          | `"60s"` | no       |
| `region`                 | `string`            | The AWS region. If blank, the region from the instance metadata is used.                                                |         | no       |
| `role_arn`               | `string`            | AWS Role Amazon Resource Name (ARN), an alternative to using AWS API keys.                                              |         | no       |
| `secret_key`             | `string`            | The AWS API key secret. If blank, the environment variable `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY` is used.                             |         | no       |

At most, one of the following can be provided:

- \[`authorization`]\[authorization] block
- \[`basic_auth`]\[basic\_auth] block
- [`bearer_token_file`](#arguments) argument
- [`bearer_token`](#arguments) argument
- \[`oauth2`]\[oauth2] block

`no_proxy` can contain IPs, CIDR notations, and domain names. IP and domain names can contain port numbers. `proxy_url` must be configured if `no_proxy` is configured.

`proxy_from_environment` uses the environment variables HTTP\_PROXY, HTTPS\_PROXY, and NO\_PROXY (or the lowercase versions thereof). Requests use the proxy from the environment variable matching their scheme, unless excluded by NO\_PROXY. `proxy_url` and `no_proxy` must not be configured if `proxy_from_environment` is configured.

`proxy_connect_header` should only be configured if `proxy_url` or `proxy_from_environment` are configured.

## Blocks

You can use the following blocks with `discovery.ec2`:

No valid configuration blocks found.

### `authorization`

The `authorization` block configures generic authorization to the endpoint.

Expand table

| Name               | Type     | Description                                | Default | Required |
|--------------------|----------|--------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `credentials_file` | `string` | File containing the secret value.          |         | no       |
| `credentials`      | `secret` | Secret value.                              |         | no       |
| `type`             | `string` | Authorization type, for example, “Bearer”. |         | no       |

`credential` and `credentials_file` are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside an `authorization` block.

> Warning
> 
> Using `credentials_file` causes the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use the `local.file` component with the `credentials` attribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.

### `basic_auth`

The `basic_auth` block configures basic authentication to the endpoint.

Expand table

| Name            | Type     | Description                              | Default | Required |
|-----------------|----------|------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `password_file` | `string` | File containing the basic auth password. |         | no       |
| `password`      | `secret` | Basic auth password.                     |         | no       |
| `username`      | `string` | Basic auth username.                     |         | no       |

`password` and `password_file` are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside a `basic_auth` block.

> Warning
> 
> Using `password_file` causes the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use the `local.file` component with the `password` attribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.

### `filter`

The `filter` block filters the instance list by other criteria. Refer to the [Amazon EC2 documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeInstances.html) for more information about filters.

Expand table

| Name     | Type           | Description                   | Default | Required |
|----------|----------------|-------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `name`   | `string`       | Filter name to use.           |         | yes      |
| `values` | `list(string)` | Values to pass to the filter. |         | yes      |

Refer to the [Filter API AWS EC2 documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/APIReference/API_Filter.html) for the list of supported filters and their descriptions.

### `oauth2`

The `oauth2` block configures OAuth 2.0 authentication to the endpoint.

Expand table

| Name                     | Type                | Description                                                                                      | Default | Required |
|--------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `client_id`              | `string`            | OAuth2 client ID.                                                                                |         | no       |
| `client_secret_file`     | `string`            | File containing the OAuth2 client secret.                                                        |         | no       |
| `client_secret`          | `secret`            | OAuth2 client secret.                                                                            |         | no       |
| `endpoint_params`        | `map(string)`       | Optional parameters to append to the token URL.                                                  |         | no       |
| `no_proxy`               | `string`            | Comma-separated list of IP addresses, CIDR notations, and domain names to exclude from proxying. |         | no       |
| `proxy_connect_header`   | `map(list(secret))` | Specifies headers to send to proxies during CONNECT requests.                                    |         | no       |
| `proxy_from_environment` | `bool`              | Use the proxy URL indicated by environment variables.                                            | `false` | no       |
| `proxy_url`              | `string`            | HTTP proxy to send requests through.                                                             |         | no       |
| `scopes`                 | `list(string)`      | List of scopes to authenticate with.                                                             |         | no       |
| `token_url`              | `string`            | URL to fetch the token from.                                                                     |         | no       |

`client_secret` and `client_secret_file` are mutually exclusive, and only one can be provided inside an `oauth2` block.

> Warning
> 
> Using `client_secret_file` causes the file to be read on every outgoing request. Use the `local.file` component with the `client_secret` attribute instead to avoid unnecessary reads.

The `oauth2` block may also contain a separate `tls_config` sub-block.

`no_proxy` can contain IPs, CIDR notations, and domain names. IP and domain names can contain port numbers. `proxy_url` must be configured if `no_proxy` is configured.

`proxy_from_environment` uses the environment variables HTTP\_PROXY, HTTPS\_PROXY, and NO\_PROXY (or the lowercase versions thereof). Requests use the proxy from the environment variable matching their scheme, unless excluded by NO\_PROXY. `proxy_url` and `no_proxy` must not be configured if `proxy_from_environment` is configured.

`proxy_connect_header` should only be configured if `proxy_url` or `proxy_from_environment` are configured.

### `tls_config`

The `tls_config` block configures TLS settings for connecting to the endpoint.

Expand table

| Name                   | Type     | Description                                              | Default | Required |
|------------------------|----------|----------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `ca_pem`               | `string` | CA PEM-encoded text to validate the server with.         |         | no       |
| `ca_file`              | `string` | CA certificate to validate the server with.              |         | no       |
| `cert_pem`             | `string` | Certificate PEM-encoded text for client authentication.  |         | no       |
| `cert_file`            | `string` | Certificate file for client authentication.              |         | no       |
| `insecure_skip_verify` | `bool`   | Disables validation of the server certificate.           |         | no       |
| `key_file`             | `string` | Key file for client authentication.                      |         | no       |
| `key_pem`              | `secret` | Key PEM-encoded text for client authentication.          |         | no       |
| `min_version`          | `string` | Minimum acceptable TLS version.                          |         | no       |
| `server_name`          | `string` | ServerName extension to indicate the name of the server. |         | no       |

The following pairs of arguments are mutually exclusive and can’t both be set simultaneously:

- `ca_pem` and `ca_file`
- `cert_pem` and `cert_file`
- `key_pem` and `key_file`

When configuring client authentication, both the client certificate (using `cert_pem` or `cert_file`) and the client key (using `key_pem` or `key_file`) must be provided.

When `min_version` isn’t provided, the minimum acceptable TLS version is inherited from Go’s default minimum version, TLS 1.2. If `min_version` is provided, it must be set to one of the following strings:

- `"TLS10"` (TLS 1.0)
- `"TLS11"` (TLS 1.1)
- `"TLS12"` (TLS 1.2)
- `"TLS13"` (TLS 1.3)

## Exported fields

The following fields are exported and can be referenced by other components:

Expand table

| Name      | Type                | Description                        |
|-----------|---------------------|------------------------------------|
| `targets` | `list(map(string))` | The set of discovered EC2 targets. |

Each target includes the following labels:

- `__meta_ec2_ami`: The EC2 Amazon Machine Image.
- `__meta_ec2_architecture`: The architecture of the instance.
- `__meta_ec2_availability_zone_id`: The availability zone ID in which the instance is running. Requires `ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones`.
- `__meta_ec2_availability_zone`: The availability zone in which the instance is running.
- `__meta_ec2_instance_id`: The EC2 instance ID.
- `__meta_ec2_instance_lifecycle`: The lifecycle of the EC2 instance, set only for ‘spot’ or ‘scheduled’ instances, absent otherwise.
- `__meta_ec2_instance_state`: The state of the EC2 instance.
- `__meta_ec2_instance_type`: The type of the EC2 instance.
- `__meta_ec2_ipv6_addresses`: Comma-separated list of IPv6 addresses assigned to the instance’s network interfaces, if present.
- `__meta_ec2_owner_id`: The ID of the AWS account that owns the EC2 instance.
- `__meta_ec2_platform`: The Operating System platform, set to ‘windows’ on Windows servers, absent otherwise.
- `__meta_ec2_primary_ipv6_addresses`: Comma separated list of the Primary IPv6 addresses of the instance, if present. The list is ordered based on the position of each corresponding network interface in the attachment order.
- `__meta_ec2_primary_subnet_id`: The subnet ID of the primary network interface, if available.
- `__meta_ec2_private_dns_name`: The private DNS name of the instance, if available.
- `__meta_ec2_private_ip`: The private IP address of the instance, if present.
- `__meta_ec2_public_dns_name`: The public DNS name of the instance, if available.
- `__meta_ec2_public_ip`: The public IP address of the instance, if available.
- `__meta_ec2_region`: The region of the instance.
- `__meta_ec2_subnet_id`: Comma-separated list of subnets IDs in which the instance is running, if available.
- `__meta_ec2_tag_<tagkey>`: Each tag value of the instance.
- `__meta_ec2_vpc_id`: The ID of the VPC in which the instance is running, if available.

## Component health

`discovery.ec2` is only reported as unhealthy when given an invalid configuration. In those cases, exported fields retain their last healthy values.

## Debug information

`discovery.ec2` doesn’t expose any component-specific debug information.

## Debug metrics

`discovery.ec2` doesn’t expose any component-specific debug metrics.

## Example

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
discovery.ec2 "ec2" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

prometheus.scrape "demo" {
  targets    = discovery.ec2.ec2.targets
  forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.demo.receiver]
}

prometheus.remote_write "demo" {
  endpoint {
    url = "<PROMETHEUS_REMOTE_WRITE_URL>"

    basic_auth {
      username = "<USERNAME>"
      password = "<PASSWORD>"
    }
  }
}
```

Replace the following:

- *`<PROMETHEUS_REMOTE_WRITE_URL>`* : The URL of the Prometheus remote\_write-compatible server to send metrics to.
- *`<USERNAME>`* : The username to use for authentication to the `remote_write` API.
- *`<PASSWORD>`* : The password to use for authentication to the `remote_write` API.

## Compatible components

`discovery.ec2` has exports that can be consumed by the following components:

- Components that consume [Targets](../../../compatibility/#targets-consumers)

> Note
> 
> Connecting some components may not be sensible or components may require further configuration to make the connection work correctly. Refer to the linked documentation for more details.