Amazon CloudWatch

2017/12/08 - Amazon CloudWatch - 3 updated api methods

Changes  With this launch, you can now create a CloudWatch alarm that alerts you when M out of N datapoints of a metric are breaching your predefined threshold, such as three out of five times in any given five minutes interval or two out of six times in a thirty minutes interval. When M out of N datapoints are not breaching your threshold in an interval, the alarm will be in OK state. Please note that the M datapoints out of N datapoints in an interval can be of any order and does not need to be consecutive. Consequently, you can now get alerted even when the spikes in your metrics are intermittent over an interval.

DescribeAlarms (updated) Link ¶
Changes (response)
{'MetricAlarms': {'DatapointsToAlarm': 'integer'}}

Retrieves the specified alarms. If no alarms are specified, all alarms are returned. Alarms can be retrieved by using only a prefix for the alarm name, the alarm state, or a prefix for any action.

See also: AWS API Documentation

Request Syntax

client.describe_alarms(
    AlarmNames=[
        'string',
    ],
    AlarmNamePrefix='string',
    StateValue='OK'|'ALARM'|'INSUFFICIENT_DATA',
    ActionPrefix='string',
    MaxRecords=123,
    NextToken='string'
)
type AlarmNames

list

param AlarmNames

The names of the alarms.

  • (string) --

type AlarmNamePrefix

string

param AlarmNamePrefix

The alarm name prefix. If this parameter is specified, you cannot specify AlarmNames .

type StateValue

string

param StateValue

The state value to be used in matching alarms.

type ActionPrefix

string

param ActionPrefix

The action name prefix.

type MaxRecords

integer

param MaxRecords

The maximum number of alarm descriptions to retrieve.

type NextToken

string

param NextToken

The token returned by a previous call to indicate that there is more data available.

rtype

dict

returns

Response Syntax

{
    'MetricAlarms': [
        {
            'AlarmName': 'string',
            'AlarmArn': 'string',
            'AlarmDescription': 'string',
            'AlarmConfigurationUpdatedTimestamp': datetime(2015, 1, 1),
            'ActionsEnabled': True|False,
            'OKActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'AlarmActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'InsufficientDataActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'StateValue': 'OK'|'ALARM'|'INSUFFICIENT_DATA',
            'StateReason': 'string',
            'StateReasonData': 'string',
            'StateUpdatedTimestamp': datetime(2015, 1, 1),
            'MetricName': 'string',
            'Namespace': 'string',
            'Statistic': 'SampleCount'|'Average'|'Sum'|'Minimum'|'Maximum',
            'ExtendedStatistic': 'string',
            'Dimensions': [
                {
                    'Name': 'string',
                    'Value': 'string'
                },
            ],
            'Period': 123,
            'Unit': 'Seconds'|'Microseconds'|'Milliseconds'|'Bytes'|'Kilobytes'|'Megabytes'|'Gigabytes'|'Terabytes'|'Bits'|'Kilobits'|'Megabits'|'Gigabits'|'Terabits'|'Percent'|'Count'|'Bytes/Second'|'Kilobytes/Second'|'Megabytes/Second'|'Gigabytes/Second'|'Terabytes/Second'|'Bits/Second'|'Kilobits/Second'|'Megabits/Second'|'Gigabits/Second'|'Terabits/Second'|'Count/Second'|'None',
            'EvaluationPeriods': 123,
            'DatapointsToAlarm': 123,
            'Threshold': 123.0,
            'ComparisonOperator': 'GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold'|'GreaterThanThreshold'|'LessThanThreshold'|'LessThanOrEqualToThreshold',
            'TreatMissingData': 'string',
            'EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile': 'string'
        },
    ],
    'NextToken': 'string'
}

Response Structure

  • (dict) --

    • MetricAlarms (list) --

      The information for the specified alarms.

      • (dict) --

        Represents an alarm.

        • AlarmName (string) --

          The name of the alarm.

        • AlarmArn (string) --

          The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the alarm.

        • AlarmDescription (string) --

          The description of the alarm.

        • AlarmConfigurationUpdatedTimestamp (datetime) --

          The time stamp of the last update to the alarm configuration.

        • ActionsEnabled (boolean) --

          Indicates whether actions should be executed during any changes to the alarm state.

        • OKActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the OK state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • AlarmActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the ALARM state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • InsufficientDataActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the INSUFFICIENT_DATA state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • StateValue (string) --

          The state value for the alarm.

        • StateReason (string) --

          An explanation for the alarm state, in text format.

        • StateReasonData (string) --

          An explanation for the alarm state, in JSON format.

        • StateUpdatedTimestamp (datetime) --

          The time stamp of the last update to the alarm state.

        • MetricName (string) --

          The name of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • Namespace (string) --

          The namespace of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • Statistic (string) --

          The statistic for the metric associated with the alarm, other than percentile. For percentile statistics, use ExtendedStatistic .

        • ExtendedStatistic (string) --

          The percentile statistic for the metric associated with the alarm. Specify a value between p0.0 and p100.

        • Dimensions (list) --

          The dimensions for the metric associated with the alarm.

          • (dict) --

            Expands the identity of a metric.

            • Name (string) --

              The name of the dimension.

            • Value (string) --

              The value representing the dimension measurement.

        • Period (integer) --

          The period, in seconds, over which the statistic is applied.

        • Unit (string) --

          The unit of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • EvaluationPeriods (integer) --

          The number of periods over which data is compared to the specified threshold.

        • DatapointsToAlarm (integer) --

          The number of datapoints that must be breaching to trigger the alarm.

        • Threshold (float) --

          The value to compare with the specified statistic.

        • ComparisonOperator (string) --

          The arithmetic operation to use when comparing the specified statistic and threshold. The specified statistic value is used as the first operand.

        • TreatMissingData (string) --

          Sets how this alarm is to handle missing data points. If this parameter is omitted, the default behavior of missing is used.

        • EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile (string) --

          Used only for alarms based on percentiles. If ignore , the alarm state does not change during periods with too few data points to be statistically significant. If evaluate or this parameter is not used, the alarm is always evaluated and possibly changes state no matter how many data points are available.

    • NextToken (string) --

      The token that marks the start of the next batch of returned results.

DescribeAlarmsForMetric (updated) Link ¶
Changes (response)
{'MetricAlarms': {'DatapointsToAlarm': 'integer'}}

Retrieves the alarms for the specified metric. To filter the results, specify a statistic, period, or unit.

See also: AWS API Documentation

Request Syntax

client.describe_alarms_for_metric(
    MetricName='string',
    Namespace='string',
    Statistic='SampleCount'|'Average'|'Sum'|'Minimum'|'Maximum',
    ExtendedStatistic='string',
    Dimensions=[
        {
            'Name': 'string',
            'Value': 'string'
        },
    ],
    Period=123,
    Unit='Seconds'|'Microseconds'|'Milliseconds'|'Bytes'|'Kilobytes'|'Megabytes'|'Gigabytes'|'Terabytes'|'Bits'|'Kilobits'|'Megabits'|'Gigabits'|'Terabits'|'Percent'|'Count'|'Bytes/Second'|'Kilobytes/Second'|'Megabytes/Second'|'Gigabytes/Second'|'Terabytes/Second'|'Bits/Second'|'Kilobits/Second'|'Megabits/Second'|'Gigabits/Second'|'Terabits/Second'|'Count/Second'|'None'
)
type MetricName

string

param MetricName

[REQUIRED]

The name of the metric.

type Namespace

string

param Namespace

[REQUIRED]

The namespace of the metric.

type Statistic

string

param Statistic

The statistic for the metric, other than percentiles. For percentile statistics, use ExtendedStatistics .

type ExtendedStatistic

string

param ExtendedStatistic

The percentile statistic for the metric. Specify a value between p0.0 and p100.

type Dimensions

list

param Dimensions

The dimensions associated with the metric. If the metric has any associated dimensions, you must specify them in order for the call to succeed.

  • (dict) --

    Expands the identity of a metric.

    • Name (string) -- [REQUIRED]

      The name of the dimension.

    • Value (string) -- [REQUIRED]

      The value representing the dimension measurement.

type Period

integer

param Period

The period, in seconds, over which the statistic is applied.

type Unit

string

param Unit

The unit for the metric.

rtype

dict

returns

Response Syntax

{
    'MetricAlarms': [
        {
            'AlarmName': 'string',
            'AlarmArn': 'string',
            'AlarmDescription': 'string',
            'AlarmConfigurationUpdatedTimestamp': datetime(2015, 1, 1),
            'ActionsEnabled': True|False,
            'OKActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'AlarmActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'InsufficientDataActions': [
                'string',
            ],
            'StateValue': 'OK'|'ALARM'|'INSUFFICIENT_DATA',
            'StateReason': 'string',
            'StateReasonData': 'string',
            'StateUpdatedTimestamp': datetime(2015, 1, 1),
            'MetricName': 'string',
            'Namespace': 'string',
            'Statistic': 'SampleCount'|'Average'|'Sum'|'Minimum'|'Maximum',
            'ExtendedStatistic': 'string',
            'Dimensions': [
                {
                    'Name': 'string',
                    'Value': 'string'
                },
            ],
            'Period': 123,
            'Unit': 'Seconds'|'Microseconds'|'Milliseconds'|'Bytes'|'Kilobytes'|'Megabytes'|'Gigabytes'|'Terabytes'|'Bits'|'Kilobits'|'Megabits'|'Gigabits'|'Terabits'|'Percent'|'Count'|'Bytes/Second'|'Kilobytes/Second'|'Megabytes/Second'|'Gigabytes/Second'|'Terabytes/Second'|'Bits/Second'|'Kilobits/Second'|'Megabits/Second'|'Gigabits/Second'|'Terabits/Second'|'Count/Second'|'None',
            'EvaluationPeriods': 123,
            'DatapointsToAlarm': 123,
            'Threshold': 123.0,
            'ComparisonOperator': 'GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold'|'GreaterThanThreshold'|'LessThanThreshold'|'LessThanOrEqualToThreshold',
            'TreatMissingData': 'string',
            'EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile': 'string'
        },
    ]
}

Response Structure

  • (dict) --

    • MetricAlarms (list) --

      The information for each alarm with the specified metric.

      • (dict) --

        Represents an alarm.

        • AlarmName (string) --

          The name of the alarm.

        • AlarmArn (string) --

          The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the alarm.

        • AlarmDescription (string) --

          The description of the alarm.

        • AlarmConfigurationUpdatedTimestamp (datetime) --

          The time stamp of the last update to the alarm configuration.

        • ActionsEnabled (boolean) --

          Indicates whether actions should be executed during any changes to the alarm state.

        • OKActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the OK state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • AlarmActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the ALARM state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • InsufficientDataActions (list) --

          The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the INSUFFICIENT_DATA state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

          • (string) --

        • StateValue (string) --

          The state value for the alarm.

        • StateReason (string) --

          An explanation for the alarm state, in text format.

        • StateReasonData (string) --

          An explanation for the alarm state, in JSON format.

        • StateUpdatedTimestamp (datetime) --

          The time stamp of the last update to the alarm state.

        • MetricName (string) --

          The name of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • Namespace (string) --

          The namespace of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • Statistic (string) --

          The statistic for the metric associated with the alarm, other than percentile. For percentile statistics, use ExtendedStatistic .

        • ExtendedStatistic (string) --

          The percentile statistic for the metric associated with the alarm. Specify a value between p0.0 and p100.

        • Dimensions (list) --

          The dimensions for the metric associated with the alarm.

          • (dict) --

            Expands the identity of a metric.

            • Name (string) --

              The name of the dimension.

            • Value (string) --

              The value representing the dimension measurement.

        • Period (integer) --

          The period, in seconds, over which the statistic is applied.

        • Unit (string) --

          The unit of the metric associated with the alarm.

        • EvaluationPeriods (integer) --

          The number of periods over which data is compared to the specified threshold.

        • DatapointsToAlarm (integer) --

          The number of datapoints that must be breaching to trigger the alarm.

        • Threshold (float) --

          The value to compare with the specified statistic.

        • ComparisonOperator (string) --

          The arithmetic operation to use when comparing the specified statistic and threshold. The specified statistic value is used as the first operand.

        • TreatMissingData (string) --

          Sets how this alarm is to handle missing data points. If this parameter is omitted, the default behavior of missing is used.

        • EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile (string) --

          Used only for alarms based on percentiles. If ignore , the alarm state does not change during periods with too few data points to be statistically significant. If evaluate or this parameter is not used, the alarm is always evaluated and possibly changes state no matter how many data points are available.

PutMetricAlarm (updated) Link ¶
Changes (request)
{'DatapointsToAlarm': 'integer'}

Creates or updates an alarm and associates it with the specified metric. Optionally, this operation can associate one or more Amazon SNS resources with the alarm.

When this operation creates an alarm, the alarm state is immediately set to INSUFFICIENT_DATA . The alarm is evaluated and its state is set appropriately. Any actions associated with the state are then executed.

When you update an existing alarm, its state is left unchanged, but the update completely overwrites the previous configuration of the alarm.

If you are an IAM user, you must have Amazon EC2 permissions for some operations:

  • ec2:DescribeInstanceStatus and ec2:DescribeInstances for all alarms on EC2 instance status metrics

  • ec2:StopInstances for alarms with stop actions

  • ec2:TerminateInstances for alarms with terminate actions

  • ec2:DescribeInstanceRecoveryAttribute and ec2:RecoverInstances for alarms with recover actions

If you have read/write permissions for Amazon CloudWatch but not for Amazon EC2, you can still create an alarm, but the stop or terminate actions are not performed. However, if you are later granted the required permissions, the alarm actions that you created earlier are performed.

If you are using an IAM role (for example, an EC2 instance profile), you cannot stop or terminate the instance using alarm actions. However, you can still see the alarm state and perform any other actions such as Amazon SNS notifications or Auto Scaling policies.

If you are using temporary security credentials granted using AWS STS, you cannot stop or terminate an EC2 instance using alarm actions.

You must create at least one stop, terminate, or reboot alarm using either the Amazon EC2 or CloudWatch consoles to create the EC2ActionsAccess IAM role. After this IAM role is created, you can create stop, terminate, or reboot alarms using a command-line interface or API.

See also: AWS API Documentation

Request Syntax

client.put_metric_alarm(
    AlarmName='string',
    AlarmDescription='string',
    ActionsEnabled=True|False,
    OKActions=[
        'string',
    ],
    AlarmActions=[
        'string',
    ],
    InsufficientDataActions=[
        'string',
    ],
    MetricName='string',
    Namespace='string',
    Statistic='SampleCount'|'Average'|'Sum'|'Minimum'|'Maximum',
    ExtendedStatistic='string',
    Dimensions=[
        {
            'Name': 'string',
            'Value': 'string'
        },
    ],
    Period=123,
    Unit='Seconds'|'Microseconds'|'Milliseconds'|'Bytes'|'Kilobytes'|'Megabytes'|'Gigabytes'|'Terabytes'|'Bits'|'Kilobits'|'Megabits'|'Gigabits'|'Terabits'|'Percent'|'Count'|'Bytes/Second'|'Kilobytes/Second'|'Megabytes/Second'|'Gigabytes/Second'|'Terabytes/Second'|'Bits/Second'|'Kilobits/Second'|'Megabits/Second'|'Gigabits/Second'|'Terabits/Second'|'Count/Second'|'None',
    EvaluationPeriods=123,
    DatapointsToAlarm=123,
    Threshold=123.0,
    ComparisonOperator='GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold'|'GreaterThanThreshold'|'LessThanThreshold'|'LessThanOrEqualToThreshold',
    TreatMissingData='string',
    EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile='string'
)
type AlarmName

string

param AlarmName

[REQUIRED]

The name for the alarm. This name must be unique within the AWS account.

type AlarmDescription

string

param AlarmDescription

The description for the alarm.

type ActionsEnabled

boolean

param ActionsEnabled

Indicates whether actions should be executed during any changes to the alarm state.

type OKActions

list

param OKActions

The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to an OK state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

Valid Values: arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:stop | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:terminate | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:recover | arn:aws:sns:region :account-id :sns-topic-name | arn:aws:autoscaling:region :account-id :scalingPolicy:policy-id autoScalingGroupName/group-friendly-name :policyName/policy-friendly-name

Valid Values (for use with IAM roles): arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Stop/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Terminate/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Reboot/1.0

  • (string) --

type AlarmActions

list

param AlarmActions

The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the ALARM state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

Valid Values: arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:stop | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:terminate | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:recover | arn:aws:sns:region :account-id :sns-topic-name | arn:aws:autoscaling:region :account-id :scalingPolicy:policy-id autoScalingGroupName/group-friendly-name :policyName/policy-friendly-name

Valid Values (for use with IAM roles): arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Stop/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Terminate/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Reboot/1.0

  • (string) --

type InsufficientDataActions

list

param InsufficientDataActions

The actions to execute when this alarm transitions to the INSUFFICIENT_DATA state from any other state. Each action is specified as an Amazon Resource Name (ARN).

Valid Values: arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:stop | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:terminate | arn:aws:automate:region :ec2:recover | arn:aws:sns:region :account-id :sns-topic-name | arn:aws:autoscaling:region :account-id :scalingPolicy:policy-id autoScalingGroupName/group-friendly-name :policyName/policy-friendly-name

Valid Values (for use with IAM roles): arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Stop/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Terminate/1.0 | arn:aws:swf:region :{account-id }:action/actions/AWS_EC2.InstanceId.Reboot/1.0

  • (string) --

type MetricName

string

param MetricName

[REQUIRED]

The name for the metric associated with the alarm.

type Namespace

string

param Namespace

[REQUIRED]

The namespace for the metric associated with the alarm.

type Statistic

string

param Statistic

The statistic for the metric associated with the alarm, other than percentile. For percentile statistics, use ExtendedStatistic . When you call PutMetricAlarm , you must specify either Statistic or ExtendedStatistic, but not both.

type ExtendedStatistic

string

param ExtendedStatistic

The percentile statistic for the metric associated with the alarm. Specify a value between p0.0 and p100. When you call PutMetricAlarm , you must specify either Statistic or ExtendedStatistic, but not both.

type Dimensions

list

param Dimensions

The dimensions for the metric associated with the alarm.

  • (dict) --

    Expands the identity of a metric.

    • Name (string) -- [REQUIRED]

      The name of the dimension.

    • Value (string) -- [REQUIRED]

      The value representing the dimension measurement.

type Period

integer

param Period

[REQUIRED]

The period, in seconds, over which the specified statistic is applied. Valid values are 10, 30, and any multiple of 60.

Be sure to specify 10 or 30 only for metrics that are stored by a PutMetricData call with a StorageResolution of 1. If you specify a Period of 10 or 30 for a metric that does not have sub-minute resolution, the alarm still attempts to gather data at the period rate that you specify. In this case, it does not receive data for the attempts that do not correspond to a one-minute data resolution, and the alarm may often lapse into INSUFFICENT_DATA status. Specifying 10 or 30 also sets this alarm as a high-resolution alarm, which has a higher charge than other alarms. For more information about pricing, see Amazon CloudWatch Pricing .

An alarm's total current evaluation period can be no longer than one day, so Period multiplied by EvaluationPeriods cannot be more than 86,400 seconds.

type Unit

string

param Unit

The unit of measure for the statistic. For example, the units for the Amazon EC2 NetworkIn metric are Bytes because NetworkIn tracks the number of bytes that an instance receives on all network interfaces. You can also specify a unit when you create a custom metric. Units help provide conceptual meaning to your data. Metric data points that specify a unit of measure, such as Percent, are aggregated separately.

If you specify a unit, you must use a unit that is appropriate for the metric. Otherwise, the CloudWatch alarm can get stuck in the INSUFFICIENT DATA state.

type EvaluationPeriods

integer

param EvaluationPeriods

[REQUIRED]

The number of periods over which data is compared to the specified threshold. An alarm's total current evaluation period can be no longer than one day, so this number multiplied by Period cannot be more than 86,400 seconds.

type DatapointsToAlarm

integer

param DatapointsToAlarm

The number of datapoints that must be breaching to trigger the alarm.

type Threshold

float

param Threshold

[REQUIRED]

The value against which the specified statistic is compared.

type ComparisonOperator

string

param ComparisonOperator

[REQUIRED]

The arithmetic operation to use when comparing the specified statistic and threshold. The specified statistic value is used as the first operand.

type TreatMissingData

string

param TreatMissingData

Sets how this alarm is to handle missing data points. If TreatMissingData is omitted, the default behavior of missing is used. For more information, see Configuring How CloudWatch Alarms Treats Missing Data .

Valid Values: breaching | notBreaching | ignore | missing

type EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile

string

param EvaluateLowSampleCountPercentile

Used only for alarms based on percentiles. If you specify ignore , the alarm state does not change during periods with too few data points to be statistically significant. If you specify evaluate or omit this parameter, the alarm is always evaluated and possibly changes state no matter how many data points are available. For more information, see Percentile-Based CloudWatch Alarms and Low Data Samples .

Valid Values: evaluate | ignore

returns

None