Monitoring AWS Resources with aws cloudwatch (with examples)
Introduction
One of the key aspects of managing AWS resources is monitoring their utilization, performance, and overall health. AWS CloudWatch is a comprehensive monitoring service that allows you to gain system-wide visibility into your resources, measure metrics, collect and monitor log files, and set alarms to help you troubleshoot any issues.
In this article, we will explore various examples of using the aws cloudwatch command to monitor AWS resources. We will cover different use cases such as listing dashboards, displaying dashboard details, listing metrics, listing alarms, creating and updating alarms, and deleting alarms and dashboards.
List Dashboards for Your Account
To list the dashboards for your AWS account, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch list-dashboards
Motivation
The motivation behind this command is to retrieve a list of all the dashboards available for your AWS account. This can be useful when you want to quickly view and access your existing dashboards and their corresponding details.
Example Output
The command will return a JSON object containing information about the dashboards, including their names and ARNs (Amazon Resource Names).
{
"DashboardEntries": [
{
"DashboardName": "SampleDashboard",
"DashboardArn": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:us-east-1:123456789012:dashboard/SampleDashboard"
},
{
"DashboardName": "AnotherDashboard",
"DashboardArn": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:us-east-1:123456789012:dashboard/AnotherDashboard"
}
]
}
Display Details for the Specified Dashboard
To display the details for a specific dashboard, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch get-dashboard --dashboard-name dashboard_name
Replace dashboard_name with the actual name of the dashboard you want to retrieve details for.
Motivation
This command allows you to retrieve detailed information about a specific dashboard, such as its widgets, time range, and associated metrics. You can use this information to analyze the configuration and content of the dashboard.
Example Output
The command will return a JSON object containing various details about the specified dashboard.
{
"DashboardArn": "arn:aws:cloudwatch:us-east-1:123456789012:dashboard/SampleDashboard",
"DashboardBody": "{...dashboard configuration...}",
"DashboardName": "SampleDashboard"
}
The DashboardBody field contains the configuration of the dashboard in JSON format.
List Metrics
To list the available metrics in CloudWatch, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch list-metrics
Motivation
This command allows you to view a list of metrics available for monitoring in CloudWatch. Metrics represent various aspects of your AWS resources, such as CPU utilization, network traffic, or database performance. Listing the metrics can be useful when you want to explore the available data points that can be monitored.
Example Output
The command will return a JSON object containing information about the available metrics, including their namespaces, dimensions, and metric names.
{
"Metrics": [
{
"Namespace": "AWS/EC2",
"Dimensions": [
{
"Name": "InstanceId",
"Value": "i-0123456789abcdef0"
}
],
"MetricName": "CPUUtilization"
},
{
"Namespace": "AWS/RDS",
"Dimensions": [
{
"Name": "DBInstanceIdentifier",
"Value": "my-db-instance"
}
],
"MetricName": "CPUUtilization"
}
]
}
List Alarms
To list the alarms currently configured in CloudWatch, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch describe-alarms
Motivation
This command provides a way to retrieve a list of alarms that you have set up in CloudWatch. Alarms are used to monitor metrics and trigger actions when certain conditions are met. Listing the alarms can help you review their configurations and monitor your resources effectively.
Example Output
The command will return a JSON object containing information about the configured alarms, such as their names, descriptions, and associated metrics.
{
"MetricAlarms": [
{
"AlarmName": "HighCPUUtilization",
"AlarmDescription": "Alert when CPU utilization exceeds 80%",
"StateValue": "ALARM",
"StateReason": "Threshold Crossed: 1 datapoint [99.56 (01/12/21 20:34:00)] was above the threshold (80.0).",
"MetricName": "CPUUtilization",
"Namespace": "AWS/EC2",
"ComparisonOperator": "GreaterThanThreshold",
"Period": 300,
"EvaluationPeriods": 1,
"Threshold": 80.0
},
{
"AlarmName": "NetworkOutAlarm",
"AlarmDescription": "Alert when network outbound exceeds 1 GB",
"StateValue": "OK",
"StateReason": "Threshold Crossed: 1 datapoint [1.02 (01/12/21 20:38:00)] was not greater than or equal to the threshold (1.0).",
"MetricName": "NetworkOut",
"Namespace": "AWS/EC2",
"ComparisonOperator": "GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold",
"Period": 300,
"EvaluationPeriods": 1,
"Threshold": 1.0
}
]
}
Create or Update an Alarm and Associate it with a Metric
To create a new alarm or update an existing one and associate it with a metric, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name alarm_name --evaluation-periods evaluation_periods --comparison-operator comparison_operator
Replace alarm_name with the desired name for the alarm, evaluation_periods with the number of consecutive periods to evaluate the metric, and comparison_operator with the condition to compare the metric against.
Motivation
This command allows you to set up alarms to monitor the metrics of your AWS resources and receive notifications when specific conditions are met. Alarms provide an effective way to automate alerts and respond promptly to potential issues.
Example Output
The command does not return any output unless an error occurs during the execution.
Delete the Specified Alarms
To delete one or more alarms, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch delete-alarms --alarm-names alarm_names
Replace alarm_names with a space-separated list of the names of the alarms you want to delete.
Motivation
Sometimes, alarms become obsolete or are no longer needed. This command allows you to easily remove unnecessary alarms from CloudWatch, reducing clutter and improving management of alarms.
Example Output
The command does not return any output unless an error occurs during the execution.
Delete the Specified Dashboards
To delete one or more dashboards, you can use the following command:
aws cloudwatch delete-dashboards --dashboard-names dashboard_names
Replace dashboard_names with a space-separated list of the names of the dashboards you want to delete.
Motivation
Deleting dashboards can be useful when you want to clean up your CloudWatch environment and remove outdated or unused dashboards. This command provides a convenient way to remove multiple dashboards at once.
Example Output
The command does not return any output unless an error occurs during the execution.
Conclusion
Monitoring your AWS resources is crucial for ensuring their optimal performance and health. AWS CloudWatch provides a comprehensive set of monitoring capabilities, and the aws cloudwatch command allows you to interact with CloudWatch programmatically.
In this article, we covered various examples of using the aws cloudwatch command, including listing dashboards, displaying dashboard details, listing metrics, listing alarms, creating and updating alarms, and deleting alarms and dashboards. These examples demonstrate the versatility and power of the aws cloudwatch command for monitoring AWS resources.
By leveraging the aws cloudwatch command, you can automate monitoring tasks, gain valuable insights into your resources, and take proactive actions to maintain the reliability and performance of your AWS environment.
