Cost Optimizer for Amazon AppStream 2.0

The Cost Optimizer for Amazon AppStream 2.0 monitors your AppStream 2.0 app block builders and image builders, and notifies you and/or stops them when they are active for longer than specified thresholds.

Automated deployment

This AWS CloudFormation template deploys the Cost Optimizer for Amazon AppStream 2.0 solution on the AWS Cloud.

1. Download the CloudFormation template.

2. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and visit the CloudFormation console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/.

3. This solution runs in a single AWS Region but monitors AppStream 2.0 resources across all supported regions in the same AWS partition (e.g. aws or aws-us-gov). To launch the solution in a different AWS Region, use the Region selector in the console navigation bar.

4. On the CloudFormation console landing page, choose Create stack.

5. In the Specify template section, choose Upload a template file, choose Choose file, and select the template file you downloaded.

6. Choose Next.

7. In the Stack name section, enter a stack name.

8. In the Parameters section, review the parameters for the template and modify them as necessary. This solution uses the following default values.

   Notifications

   Parameter	Default	Description
   App block builder active notification threshold	2	How long (in hours) an app block builder can run before notifications are sent. Set to 0 to disable notifications.
   App block builder active notification interval	1	How long (in hours) between app block builder active notifications. Minimum: 1.
   App block builder stop threshold	12	How long (in hours) an app block builder can run before being stopped. Set to 0 to allow image builders to run indefinitely.
   App block builder stop notifications	Yes	Possible values: No and Yes.
   Image builder active notification threshold	2	How long (in hours) an image builder can run before notifications are sent. Set to 0 to disable notifications.
   Image builder active notification interval	1	How long (in hours) between image builder active notifications. Minimum: 1.
   Image builder stop threshold	12	How long (in hours) an image builder can run before being stopped. Set to 0 to allow image builders to run indefinitely.
   Image builder stop notifications	Yes	Possible values: No and Yes.
   Email address	<Requires input>	Email address to receive notifications.
   SNS topic customer master key (CMK)	alias/aws/sns	For more information about SNS topic encryption, see Encryption at rest.

   Lambda function

   Parameter	Default	Description
   Python logging level	INFO	Possible values are: CRITICAL, ERROR, WARNING, INFO, and DEBUG.
   Log retention period	7	Days to retain function logs. Possible values: 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 365, 400, 545, 731, 1827, 2192, 2557, 2922, 3288, and 3653.
   Timeout	60	The amount of time (in seconds) that Lambda allows the function to run before stopping it. Minimum: 1, maximum: 900.
   Architecture	arm64	See Lambda instruction set architectures for more information.

9. Choose Next.

10. On the Configure stack options page, choose Next.

11. On the Review page, review and confirm the settings. Check the box acknowledging that the template will create IAM resources.

12. Choose Submit to deploy the stack.

13. You can view the status of the stack in the CloudFormation console in the Status column. You should see a status of CREATE_COMPLETE in approximately two minutes.

14. The email address specified as a stack parameter will receive a confirmation email with the subject AWS Notification - Subscription Confirmation. Choose the Confirm subscription link in the email.

Architecture

An Amazon EventBridge rule invokes an AWS Lambda function every five minutes. The region and name of any app block builders in the STARTING or RUNNING states, and image builders in the PENDING, UPDATING_AGENT, RUNNING, or REBOOTING states are stored in Amazon DynamoDB tables, along with the current time. If an app block builder has been active for longer than the App block builder notification threshold parameter (default: two hours), an email notification with the subject App block builder <name> active for <time> is sent via Amazon SNS. Example body:

AWS account: 123456789012
Region: us-east-1
Name: ExampleAppBlockBuilder
Instance type: stream.standard.large
Time active: 2 hours
Tags: {
  "Key1": "Value1"
}

Each app block builder will trigger a maximum of one active notification per specified interval (the App block builder active notification interval parameter). If the app block builder has been active for longer than the App block builder stop threshold parameter (default: 12 hours), the notification subject is Stopping app block builder <name>. Image builders are handled similarly.

Opt out app block builders and image builders

To opt out an app block builder or image builder from active notifications, being stopped, and/or stop notifications, apply one or more of the following resource tags to the builder, with any tag value:

• Skip_Active_Notification
• Skip_Stop
• Skip_Stop_Notification

Costs

You are responsible for the cost of the AWS services used while running this solution. The total cost of running this solution depends on the number of app block builders in your account, the number of image builders in your account, and the number of notifications sent. As of April 2023, the cost for running this solution with default settings in the US East (N. Virginia) Region is approximately $0.31 per month for an account with 10 builders and 100 notifications per month.

License

This solution is licensed under the MIT-0 License. See the LICENSE file.