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AWS FSx Should Have Backup Plan

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This rule checks if Amazon FSx File Systems are protected by a backup plan. The rule is NON_COMPLIANT if the Amazon FSx File System is not covered by a backup plan.

Risk Level​

High

Address​

Configuration

Compliance Standards​

  • APRA CPS 234 (Australia)
  • BSI C5 (Germany)
  • Brazil LGPD
  • CCPA / CPRA (California)
  • CIS Critical Security Controls v8
  • CMMC 2.0
  • CSA Cloud Controls Matrix v4
  • Cloudanix Best Practice
  • DPDPA
  • Digital Operational Resilience Act (EU)
  • Essential 8
  • ISO/IEC 27017
  • ISO/IEC 27018
  • ISO/IEC 27701
  • KSA PDPL
  • MAS Technology Risk Management (Singapore)
  • MITRE ATT&CK (Cloud)
  • NIS2 Directive
  • NIST SP 800-171
  • NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Master Direction – Information Technology Framework
  • SWIFT Customer Security Controls Framework
  • Sarbanes-Oxley IT General Controls
  • Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) - Cloud Security Adoption Framework
  • UK NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework

Triage and Remediation​

Remediation​

Using Console

To remediate the misconfiguration of FSx not having a backup plan for AWS EC2 using the AWS Management Console, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console: Go to https://aws.amazon.com/ and sign in to the AWS Management Console using your credentials.

  2. Navigate to Amazon FSx service: Click on the "Services" dropdown menu at the top of the console, then select "FSx" under the "Storage" category.

  3. Select the FSx file system: In the FSx console, select the FSx file system that you want to create a backup plan for by clicking on its name.

  4. Create a Backup Plan:

    • In the left-hand navigation pane, click on "Backup" and then click on the "Backup plans" tab.
    • Click on the "Create backup plan" button.
    • Enter a name for the backup plan and configure the backup settings according to your requirements. This includes defining the backup frequency, retention period, and any lifecycle policies.
    • Review the backup plan settings and click on the "Create" button to create the backup plan.

  5. Assign the Backup Plan to the FSx file system:

    • After creating the backup plan, go back to the FSx file system details page.
    • Click on the "Backup" tab and then click on the "Associate backup plan" button.
    • Select the backup plan that you just created from the dropdown menu and click on the "Associate" button to assign the backup plan to the FSx file system.

  6. Verify Backup Plan:

    • Once the backup plan is associated with the FSx file system, verify that the backup plan is active and running as expected.
    • Monitor the backup status and ensure that backups are being taken according to the defined schedule.

By following these steps, you will successfully remediate the misconfiguration of FSx not having a backup plan for your AWS EC2 instances using the AWS Management Console.

Using CLI

To remediate the misconfiguration of not having a backup plan for FSx on AWS EC2 using AWS CLI, you can follow these steps:

  1. Install and Configure AWS CLI: If you haven't already installed and configured the AWS CLI, you can do so by following the instructions provided in the AWS documentation: Installing the AWS CLI and Configuring the AWS CLI.

  2. Enable Backup for FSx File Systems: You can enable backup for your FSx file systems using the AWS CLI by running the following command:

    aws fsx update-file-system --file-system-id fs-1234567890abcdef0 --backup-id backup-0abcdef1234567890 --windows-configuration AutomaticBackupRetentionDays=30,ThroughputCapacity=8

    Replace fs-1234567890abcdef0 with the ID of your FSx file system and backup-0abcdef1234567890 with the ID of the backup you want to associate with the file system. You can adjust the AutomaticBackupRetentionDays and ThroughputCapacity values as needed.

  3. Verify Backup Configuration: To ensure that backup has been successfully enabled for your FSx file system, you can run the following command:

    aws fsx describe-file-systems --file-system-ids fs-1234567890abcdef0

    This command will provide detailed information about your FSx file system, including its backup configuration.

  4. Automate Backup Scheduling (Optional): If you want to automate the scheduling of backups for your FSx file system, you can create a backup policy using the AWS CLI. Here is an example command to create a backup policy:

    aws fsx create-backup-policy --file-system-id fs-1234567890abcdef0 --daily-backup-start-time 01:00:00 --automatic-backup-retention-days 30

    This command will create a backup policy for the specified file system that triggers a daily backup at 01:00:00 UTC and retains the backups for 30 days.

By following these steps, you can remediate the misconfiguration of not having a backup plan for FSx on AWS EC2 using the AWS CLI.

Using Python

To remediate the misconfiguration of not having a backup plan for FSx in AWS, you can create a backup plan using Python Boto3 library. Here are the step-by-step instructions to remediate this issue:

  1. Install Boto3 library:

    pip install boto3

  2. Configure AWS credentials: Ensure that you have configured your AWS credentials either by setting environment variables or using AWS CLI aws configure command.

  3. Use the following Python script to create a backup plan for FSx in AWS EC2:

import boto3

def remediate_efs_resources_backup_plan(file_system_arns, backup_vault_name):
    # Initialize AWS Backup client
    backup_client = boto3.client('backup')

    # Create a backup plan for the specified EFS file systems
    response = backup_client.create_backup_plan(
        BackupPlan={
            'BackupPlanName': 'YourBackupPlanName',
            'BackupPlanRule': {
                'RuleName': 'DefaultRule',
                'TargetBackupVaultName': backup_vault_name,
                'ScheduleExpression': 'cron(0 0 * * ? *)',  # Example: Daily backup at midnight
                'StartWindowMinutes': 60,
                'CompletionWindowMinutes': 60,
            },
            'AdvancedBackupSettings': [
                {
                    'BackupOptions': {
                        'WindowsVSS': False,
                        'BackupMode': 'FULL',
                        'FileSystemLifecycle': 'SYSTEM'
                    },
                    'ResourceType': 'EFS'
                }
            ]
        }
    )

    print("Backup plan created successfully.")

def main():
    # Specify the ARNs of the EFS file systems to protect
    file_system_arns = ['your-file-system-arn1', 'your-file-system-arn2']

    # Specify the name of the backup vault
    backup_vault_name = 'your-backup-vault-name'

    # Remediate EFS resources by creating a backup plan
    remediate_efs_resources_backup_plan(file_system_arns, backup_vault_name)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Replace 'your-file-system-arn1', 'your-file-system-arn2' with the ARNs of the EFS file systems you want to protect, and 'your-backup-vault-name' with the name of the backup vault where backups will be stored. This script creates a backup plan for the specified EFS file systems, ensuring they are protected by backups according to the specified schedule and retention policy. Adjust the backup plan settings as needed.

Using Terraform
# Existing FSx filesystem (example – already managed in your Terraform)
resource "aws_fsx_lustre_file_system" "FSX_FILESYSTEM" {
  storage_capacity        = 1200
  subnet_ids              = [aws_subnet.FSX_SUBNET.id]
  deployment_type         = "PERSISTENT_1"
  per_unit_storage_throughput = 50
  # ...other required arguments...
}

# IAM role that AWS Backup can assume (must have FSx backup permissions)
resource "aws_iam_role" "BACKUP_SERVICE_ROLE" {
  name = "backup-service-role"

  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Effect = "Allow"
        Principal = {
          Service = "backup.amazonaws.com"
        }
        Action = "sts:AssumeRole"
      }
    ]
  })
}

# Attach AWS managed policy commonly used for FSx backups
resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "BACKUP_SERVICE_ROLE_POLICY" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.BACKUP_SERVICE_ROLE.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSBackupServiceRolePolicyForBackup"
}

# Existing or new AWS Backup plan
resource "aws_backup_plan" "FSX_BACKUP_PLAN" {
  name = "fsx-backup-plan"

  rule {
    rule_name         = "fsx-daily-backup"
    target_vault_name = aws_backup_vault.FSX_BACKUP_VAULT.name
    schedule          = "cron(0 5 * * ? *)"
    lifecycle {
      delete_after = 30
    }
  }
}

resource "aws_backup_vault" "FSX_BACKUP_VAULT" {
  name = "fsx-backup-vault"
}

# This is the Terraform equivalent of:
# aws backup create-backup-selection --backup-plan-id ... --backup-selection ...
resource "aws_backup_selection" "FSX_FILESYSTEM_SELECTION" {
  name         = "fsx-${aws_fsx_lustre_file_system.FSX_FILESYSTEM.id}-selection"
  plan_id      = aws_backup_plan.FSX_BACKUP_PLAN.id
  iam_role_arn = aws_iam_role.BACKUP_SERVICE_ROLE.arn

  resources = [
    aws_fsx_lustre_file_system.FSX_FILESYSTEM.arn,
  ]
}

Substitute:

  • FSX_FILESYSTEM with your FSx filesystem resource name.
  • FSX_SUBNET with the subnet resource that hosts FSx.
  • BACKUP_SERVICE_ROLE, FSX_BACKUP_PLAN, FSX_BACKUP_VAULT names as desired.

This change does not replace the FSx filesystem; it only creates/updates backup-related resources.

Verification with terraform plan should show:

  • aws_backup_selection.FSX_FILESYSTEM_SELECTION being created (and, if you added them, the IAM role, policy attachment, backup vault, and backup plan).

Additional Reading:​