Because Elastic Compute Service (ECS) is a virtualized cloud service, you cannot connect a display device or take manual screenshots. However, ECS caches the system log from the instance's last startup, restart, or shutdown and lets you retrieve real-time screenshots of the instance. You can use these features to analyze and troubleshoot instance failures, such as an unresponsive operating system, an abnormal restart, or a connection failure.
Prerequisites
The instance must be in the Running (Running) state to retrieve system logs and screenshots.
Background information
System logs for an ECS instance are an important part of diagnostics. To diagnose and analyze failures, you can retrieve log information about the instance's startup and other issues. Logs that the system outputs through the serial port contain two types of information: log content from system startup and log content from a system kernel failure or error. For more information, see the Yunqi Community blog post Troubleshooting operating system issues with diagnostic logs.
Limits
Note the following limits when you use this feature:
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You can retrieve screenshots but not system logs for Windows instances.
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You cannot retrieve system logs and screenshots for retired instance types. For more information, see Retired instance types.
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You cannot retrieve system logs and screenshots for instances created before January 1, 2018.
Procedure
Go to ECS console - Instances.
In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group of the resource that you want to manage.
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Find the instance to troubleshoot and click its ID. On the instance details page, click All Operations. Then, search for and click or .
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View the instance screenshot or system log.
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Example of a Windows instance screenshot:
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Example of a Linux instance screenshot:
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Example of a Linux instance system log:
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What to do next
Troubleshoot the following issues: