Managing AWS Fsx

AWS FSx Management Skill

Analyze and manage AWS FSx file systems across all types (Lustre, Windows, ONTAP, OpenZFS).

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always list file systems before querying specific resources.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
export AWS_PAGER=""

echo "=== FSx File Systems ==="
aws fsx describe-file-systems --output text \
  --query 'FileSystems[].[FileSystemId,FileSystemType,Lifecycle,StorageCapacity,StorageType,DNSName]' | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== FSx Volumes ==="
aws fsx describe-volumes --output text \
  --query 'Volumes[].[VolumeId,Name,VolumeType,Lifecycle,FileSystemId]' 2>/dev/null | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== Storage Virtual Machines (ONTAP) ==="
aws fsx describe-storage-virtual-machines --output text \
  --query 'StorageVirtualMachines[].[StorageVirtualMachineId,Name,Lifecycle,FileSystemId]' 2>/dev/null | head -15

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash
export AWS_PAGER=""

END_TIME=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
START_TIME=$(date -u -d "7 days ago" +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S" 2>/dev/null || date -u -v-7d +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")

echo "=== File System Details ==="
for fs_id in $(aws fsx describe-file-systems --output text --query 'FileSystems[].FileSystemId'); do
  aws fsx describe-file-systems --file-system-ids "$fs_id" --output text \
    --query 'FileSystems[].[FileSystemId,FileSystemType,StorageCapacity,Lifecycle,SubnetIds[0],VpcId]' &
done
wait

echo ""
echo "=== FSx Backups ==="
aws fsx describe-backups --output text \
  --query 'Backups[].[BackupId,FileSystemId,Type,Lifecycle,CreationTime]' | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Data Repository Associations (Lustre) ==="
aws fsx describe-data-repository-associations --output text \
  --query 'Associations[].[AssociationId,FileSystemId,Lifecycle,DataRepositoryPath,FileSystemPath]' 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Data Repository Tasks ==="
aws fsx describe-data-repository-tasks --output text \
  --query 'DataRepositoryTasks[:5].[TaskId,FileSystemId,Lifecycle,Type,StartTime]' 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Storage Metrics ==="
for fs_id in $(aws fsx describe-file-systems --output text --query 'FileSystems[].FileSystemId'); do
  {
    free_storage=$(aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics --namespace AWS/FSx --metric-name FreeStorageCapacity \
      --dimensions Name=FileSystemId,Value="$fs_id" \
      --start-time "$START_TIME" --end-time "$END_TIME" --period 604800 --statistics Average \
      --output text --query 'Datapoints[0].Average')
    printf "%s\tFreeStorage:%s\n" "$fs_id" "${free_storage:-N/A}"
  } &
done
wait

echo ""
echo "=== File System Tags ==="
for fs_id in $(aws fsx describe-file-systems --output text --query 'FileSystems[].FileSystemId'); do
  aws fsx describe-file-systems --file-system-ids "$fs_id" --output text \
    --query "FileSystems[].Tags[?Key!='aws:cloudformation:stack-id'].[\"$fs_id\",Key,Value]" 2>/dev/null &
done
wait | head -15

Output Format

• Target ≤50 lines per output
• Use --output text --query for all commands
• Tab-delimited fields: FileSystemId, Type, StorageCapacity, Lifecycle
• Convert storage values to GB/TB with awk when appropriate
• Never dump full file system configurations -- extract key fields only

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Common Pitfalls

• File system types: LUSTRE, WINDOWS, ONTAP, OPENZFS -- each has different APIs and metrics
• Lifecycle states: AVAILABLE, CREATING, FAILED, DELETING, MISCONFIGURED, UPDATING -- only AVAILABLE is healthy
• ONTAP volumes: ONTAP uses SVMs and volumes -- query volumes separately from file systems
• Lustre S3 integration: Data repository associations link Lustre to S3 -- check association lifecycle
• Storage capacity: FSx for Windows and ONTAP support storage capacity scaling -- check AdministrativeActions
• Backup types: AUTOMATIC (scheduled), USER_INITIATED, AWS_BACKUP -- check retention policies
• Throughput capacity: Separate from storage -- can be scaled independently on Windows and ONTAP
• Multi-AZ: Windows File Server supports Multi-AZ -- check DeploymentType (SINGLE_AZ vs MULTI_AZ)