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Monitoring Stacks using Amazon CloudWatch
AWS OpsWorks uses Amazon CloudWatch to provide thirteen custom metrics with detailed monitoring for each instance in the stack and summarizes the data for your convenience on the Monitoring page. You can view metrics for the entire stack, a specified layer, or a specified instance. AWS OpsWorks metrics are distinct from Amazon EC2 metrics. If you want additional detailed metrics, you can enable them through the CloudWatch console, but they will typically require additional charges.
You can also view the underlying data on CloudWatch, as follows:
To view OpsWorks metrics on CloudWatch
Open the Amazon CloudWatch console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/.
From the navigation bar, select US East (Northern Virginia) Region. AWS OpsWorks currently sends all CloudWatch metrics to US East (Northern Virginia) Region, regardless of the stack's region.
Click Metrics in the navigation pane.
Under OpsWorks Metrics:, click Instance Metrics, Layer Metrics, or Stack Metrics.
You can also view AWS OpsWorks metrics by clicking OpsWorks in the navigation pane.
Note
AWS OpsWorks collects metrics using a process running on each instance (the instance agent) and CloudWatch collects metrics using the hypervisor, so the values on the CloudWatch console might differ slightly from the corresponding values on the Monitoring page.
You can also use CloudWatch console to set alarms. For a list of CloudWatch metrics, see AWS OpsWorks Dimensions and Metrics. For more information, see Amazon CloudWatch.
Metrics
The Monitoring page displays graphs of the following custom metrics.
CPU graph ranges from 0 - 100% and can display the following metrics:
CPU Idle – The percentage of time that the CPU is idle.
CPU User – The percentage of time that the CPU is handling user operations.
CPU System – The percentage of time that the CPU is handling system operations.
CPU IO wait – The percentage of time that the CPU is waiting for input/output operations.
CPU Nice – The percentage of time that the CPU is handling processes with a positive nice value, which have lower scheduling priority. For information, see nice(Unix).
Memory graph ranges from 0 to the total amount of memory and can display the following metrics:
Memory Total – The total amount of memory.
Memory Used – The amount of memory in use.
Memory SWAP – The amount of swap space.
Memory Free – The amount of free memory.
Memory Buffers – The amount of buffered memory.
Load graph ranges from 0 to the current maximum value and displays the following metrics:
Load (1 min) – The load averaged over a 1-minute window.
Load (5 min) – The load averaged over a 5-minute window.
Load (15 min) – The load averaged over a 15-minute window.
Processes graph ranges from 0 to the current maximum value, and displays a single metric: the number of active processes.
Stack Metrics
To view a summary of metrics for an entire stack, select a stack in the AWS OpsWorks Dashboard and then click Monitoring in the navigation pane. The following example is for a stack with a PHP App Server and MySQL layer.
The stack view displays graphs of the four types of metrics for each layer over a specified time period: 1 hour, 8 hours, 24 hours, 1 week, or 2 weeks. Note the following:
AWS OpsWorks periodically updates the graphs; the countdown timer at the upper right indicates the time remaining until the next update,
If a layer has more than one instance, the graphs display average values for the layer.
You can specify the time period by clicking the list at the upper right and selecting your preferred value.
For each metric type, you can use the list at the top of the graph to select the particular metric that you want to view.
Layer Metrics
To view metrics for a particular layer, click the layer name in the Monitoring Layers view. The following example shows metrics for the PHP App Server layer, which has two instances.
The metric types are the same as for the stack metrics, and for each type, you can use the list at the top of the graph to select the particular metric that you want to view.
Tip
You can also display layer metrics by going to the layer's details page and clicking Monitoring at the upper right.
Instance Metrics
To view metrics for a particular instance, click the instance name in the layer monitoring view. The following example shows metrics for the PHP App Server layer's php-app1 instance.
The graphs summarize all the available metrics for each metric type. To get exact values for a particular point in time, use your mouse to move the slider (indicated by the red arrow in the previous illustration) to the appropriate position.
Tip
You can also display instance metrics by going to the instance's details page and clicking Monitoring at the upper right.
