• The AWS Systems Manager CloudWatch Dashboard will no longer be available after April 30, 2026. Customers can continue to use Amazon CloudWatch console to view, create, and manage their Amazon CloudWatch dashboards, just as they do today. For more information, see [Amazon CloudWatch Dashboard documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/CloudWatch_Dashboards.html). 

# Adjusting how long the Session Manager temporary log file is stored on disk
<a name="session-manager-logging-disk-retention"></a>

After you enable Session Manager logging to CloudWatch or Amazon S3, all commands executed during a session (and the resulting output from those commands) are logged to a temporary file on the disk of the target instance. The temporary file is named `ipcTempFile.log`. During a session, or after it is completed, Session Manager uploads this temporary log to either CloudWatch or S3. The temporary log is then deleted according to the duration specified for the SSM Agent `SessionLogsRetentionDurationHours` configuration parameter. By default, the temporary log file is saved on the instance for 14 days in the following location:
+ **Linux**: /var/lib/amazon/ssm/*target ID*/session/orchestration/*session ID*/Standard\$1Stream/ipcTempFile.log
+ **macOS**: /opt/aws/ssm/data/*target ID*/session/orchestration/*session ID*/Standard\$1Stream/ipcTempFile.log
+ **Windows Server**: C:\$1ProgramData\$1Amazon\$1SSM\$1InstanceData\$1*target ID*\$1session\$1orchestration\$1*session ID*\$1Standard\$1Stream\$1ipcTempFile.log

Use the following procedure to adjust how long the Session Manager temporary log file is stored on disk.

**To adjust how long the `ipcTempFile.log` file is stored on disk**

1. Connect to your instance and locate the `amazon-ssm-agent.json` file in the following location.
   + **Linux**: /etc/amazon/ssm/
   + **macOS**: /opt/aws/ssm/
   + **Windows Server**: C:\$1Program Files\$1Amazon\$1SSM

   If the file `amazon-ssm-agent.json` doesn't exist, copy the contents of the `amazon-ssm-agent.json.template` to a new file in the same directory. Name the new file `amazon-ssm-agent.json`. 

1. Change the value of `SessionLogsRetentionDurationHours` to the desired number of hours. If `SessionLogsRetentionDurationHours` is set to 0, the temporary log file is created during the session and deleted when the session is completed. This setting should ensure the log file doesn't persist after the session ends.

1. Save your changes.

1. [Restart](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/ssm-agent-status-and-restart.html) SSM Agent.