How can the developer accomplish this?
Install an AWS SDK on the on-premises server to automatically send logs to CloudWatch.
Download the CloudWatch agent to the on-premises server. Configure the agent to use IAM user credentials with permissions for CloudWatch.
Upload log files from the on-premises server to Amazon S3 and have CloudWatch read the files.
Upload log files from the on-premises server to an Amazon EC2 instance and have the instance forward the logs to CloudWatch.
Explanations:
While installing an AWS SDK could enable interactions with AWS services, it does not automatically send logs to CloudWatch. The SDK is generally used for programming and API interactions, not specifically for log management.
Downloading the CloudWatch agent and configuring it with IAM user credentials allows the on-premises server to send logs directly to CloudWatch. This is the recommended approach for monitoring and troubleshooting applications, as the agent is designed to collect and transmit log data.
Uploading log files to Amazon S3 does not enable real-time monitoring or troubleshooting via CloudWatch. CloudWatch does not automatically read files from S3; additional setup is required to monitor logs stored in S3, making this option less efficient for the intended use case.
While this option could work by forwarding logs from an EC2 instance to CloudWatch, it adds unnecessary complexity. The on-premises server would require an additional layer (the EC2 instance) to manage logs, which is not as direct or efficient as using the CloudWatch agent.
I think the answer is:
Download the CloudWatch agent to the on-premises server. Configure the agent to use IAM user credentials with permissions for CloudWatch.