AWS Application Discovery Service
AWS Application Discovery Service
AWS Application Discovery Service API collects on-prem server inventory and performance data — supports cloud migration planning (capacity assessment, dependency analysis).
Agentless or agent-based collection modes
Migration-planning phase only — not continuous monitoring
Download Application Discovery Agent and deploy to on-prem servers (VMware can use agentless). Data auto-ingests; analysis in Migration Hub.
Uptime · 30-day window
GitHub activity
About this API
Discovery Service is the starting point of AWS's migration-planning toolchain. Problem: enterprises migrating hundreds or thousands of on-prem servers from a datacenter to AWS first need an inventory — what runs on each server, CPU/memory utilization, network dependencies (A calls B, B depends on database C). Manual inventory is a nightmare. Discovery Service offers two collection modes: agent-based (install lightweight agent on each server for detailed metrics) and agentless (VMware vCenter mode, read via vCenter API). After 2-4 weeks of baseline collection, combined with Migration Hub, can estimate post-migration AWS instance types, monthly costs, which services must migrate together (tight dependencies). Essential pre-migration tool for enterprise lift-and-shift projects.
What you can build
- 1Inventory on-prem servers before migration
- 2Identify network dependencies between services
- 3Estimate post-migration AWS instance specs and cost
- 4Generate migration wave plans
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
- Agentless or agent-based collection modes
- Auto-identifies CPU/memory/network usage baselines
- Captures complex dependencies to prevent post-migration outages
Limitations
- Migration-planning phase only — not continuous monitoring
- Limited support for niche platforms/virtualization (e.g. OpenStack)
Getting started
Download Application Discovery Agent and deploy to on-prem servers (VMware can use agentless). Data auto-ingests; analysis in Migration Hub.
FAQ
Is agentless mode accurate?+
For VMware environments, agentless accuracy is sufficient for migration planning. Physical servers or non-VMware virtualization must use agents.
Technical details
- Auth type
- unknown
- Pricing
- unknown
- Protocols
- REST
- SDKs
- python, javascript, go, java
- Response time
- 43 ms
- Last health check
- 6/26/2026, 6:22:15 AM
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