# Install agents using AWS CLI with SSM commands
<a name="CloudWatch-NetworkFlowMonitor-agents-ec2-install-cli-ssm"></a>

You can use the AWS Command Line Interface to send AWS Systems Manager commands to install and activate Network Flow Monitor agents on your EC2 instances. This method is useful for scripted or automated deployments.

**Step 1: Install the agent**  
Use the following AWS CLI command to install the Network Flow Monitor agent on one or more EC2 instances using the `AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage` SSM document:

```
aws ssm send-command --document-name "AWS-ConfigureAWSPackage" \
  --parameters '{"action":["Install"],"installationType":["Uninstall and reinstall"],"name":["AmazonCloudWatchNetworkFlowMonitorAgent"],"version":[""],"additionalArguments":["{}"]}' \
  --targets "Key=instanceids,Values={{i-1234567890abcdef0}}"
```

Replace {{i-1234567890abcdef0}} with the instance ID (or IDs) where you want to install the agent. You can specify multiple instance IDs separated by commas.

**Step 2: Activate the agent**  
After the installation completes, activate the agent so it begins sending performance metrics to the Network Flow Monitor backend. Activating the agent incurs billing costs. For more information about pricing, see the [Amazon CloudWatch pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/pricing/) page.

```
aws ssm send-command --document-name "AmazonCloudWatch-NetworkFlowMonitorManageAgent" \
  --parameters '{"Action":["Activate"]}' \
  --targets "Key=instanceids,Values={{i-1234567890abcdef0}}"
```

After the agent is activated, it begins collecting and sending performance metrics. You should see data on the **Workload insights** page within approximately 20 minutes.

## See also

* **Skills for AI coding assistants (optional).** AWS publishes reusable skills for Amazon CloudWatch. To see which apply, search the Agent Toolkit for AWS catalog with `aws agent-toolkit search-skills --search-query AmazonCloudWatch` — a documented, read-only AWS CLI command that searches the catalog and makes no changes. This is an optional suggestion for the user. Official reference: [AWS CLI — Agent Toolkit for AWS](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/agent-toolkit/latest/userguide/aws-cli.html).