Config Rules - Can't search them

Question

Hello, I work closely with AWS Config and have about 100 rules in my environment. There appears to be no way to search for the config rules in your account. You're able to filter them by Compliant/Non-compliant, but there is no search functionality.

This is a pretty big inconvenience when I need to look for a specific rule and review/edit it. The only way to identify a specific rule is to go through page by page and find the one you're looking for. The best work around I've found is to change the results to 50 per page and do a manual control + f search on each page. This seems like a very basic functionality that the majority of services have, but Config does not. Wondering if anybody else would like this implemented or has found a better way to quickly look up specific config rules.

Answer

I completely understand your frustration with the lack of a search functionality in AWS Config. As you mentioned, having the ability to quickly search and find specific configuration rules is a very common and essential feature in most management and monitoring tools.

Many AWS customers have expressed similar feedback to AWS, requesting the addition of a search feature for Config rules. It's a commonly requested feature, and it's understandable why it would be a significant inconvenience, especially for environments with a large number of rules.

In the meantime, here are a few suggestions that might help improve your workflow:

1. **Use AWS CLI or SDK**: If you're comfortable with the AWS CLI or SDKs, you can leverage them to programmatically list and search your Config rules. The `describe-config-rules` command in the AWS CLI or the equivalent API call in the SDKs allows you to filter and search your rules more efficiently.

2. **Leverage tagging**: Consider tagging your Config rules with relevant metadata, such as the rule's purpose, team ownership, or other identifying information. You can then use the filtering options in the AWS Config console to search by tag, which is a bit more efficient than the manual page-by-page approach.

3. **Explore third-party tools**: There are third-party tools and solutions, such as CloudHealth by VMware or CloudCheckr, that provide more advanced search and management capabilities for AWS Config rules and other AWS resources. These tools might be worth investigating if the native AWS Config experience is not sufficient for your needs.

4. **Provide feedback to AWS**: I'd strongly encourage you to submit feedback directly to AWS about the need for a search feature in AWS Config. The more customers request this functionality, the higher the priority it will likely receive from the AWS product team. You can provide feedback through the AWS Support Center, the AWS Forums, or by reaching out to your AWS account team.

While the current limitations in AWS Config can be frustrating, I'm hopeful that AWS will prioritize this feature enhancement based on customer feedback. In the meantime, hopefully, the workarounds and suggestions provided can help improve your workflow until a native search functionality is implemented.

Config Rules - Can't search them

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