- Proactive Monitoring: Catch performance issues before they affect your application.
- Automated Alerts: Get notified via email, SMS, or webhook when CPU usage is too high.
- Easy Setup: the AWS Management Console makes setup simple.
- Customizable Thresholds: Tailor the alarm to match your instance’s expected workload.
For creating a CPU usage alarm using the AWS Management Console
Open the CloudWatch Console
Go to CloudWatch in the AWS Console
Navigate to Alarms
In the navigation pane on the left, choose Alarms, then click on All Alarms.
Create a New Alarm
Select Create alarm, then click Select metric.
Choose Your EC2 Metric
Go to the All metrics tab.
Choose EC2 metrics
Select a metric category, such as per instance metrics.
Find the row corresponding to your target instance, with InstanceId and CPU utilization in the metric name column.
Tick the checkbox next to it and click select metric.
Set Conditions for the Alarm
Under specify metric and conditions:
Statistic: Choose Average or a custom percentile.
Period: Set the evaluation period
Threshold type: Select static.
Condition: Choose Greater than, then enter a CPU percentage threshold.
Advanced Configuration
Datapoints to alarm: Specify how many consecutive evaluation periods must breach the threshold.
For example: 2 out of 3 data points to trigger an alarm.
Low sample rates: Choose whether to ignore or evaluate when sample size is too small.
Set Notifications
Under Notification, choose In alarm.
Select an existing SNS topic or create a new one to receive alerts.
Add multiple notification types if needed, or remove notifications altogether.
Name and Describe the Alarm
Enter a meaningful name and description.
You can include markdown in the description for documentation or runbook links.
Review and Create
Double-check your settings under Preview and create.
Click Create alarm to finish.
Setting up
Creating a CPU usage alarm in AWS CloudWatch is a smart and simple way to stay ahead of potential performance issues. With just a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, you can monitor your EC2 instance usage in real time and receive instant notifications when your defined thresholds are breached.
If you’re looking for professional guidance beyond creating a CPU usage alarm in AWS CloudWatch, our team at Skynats is here to help. With our comprehensive AWS Management Services, we assist businesses in setting up, optimizing, and monitoring their AWS infrastructure for maximum efficiency and cost savings.
