Manage cloud monitoring alerts

Cloud monitoring alerts can trigger events and notify users when events occur, such as when:

• Polling reaches or surpasses a set threshold for API requests.
• Polling exceeds free request limits set by cloud services.
• The status of a cloud instance/VM or volume changes.
• A cloud service throttles API requests to control the consumption of resources used by an instance/VM.

To manage cloud-related alerts in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Alerts & Activity > Alerts > Manage Alerts, and type "cloud" in the search field. You can also display alerts in the Cloud Summary and Cloud Instance/VMs Details pages, as shown in the following example:

Many alerts include email notifications and reset actions that can be customized on the Manage Alerts page in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console.

Some events that trigger alerts and notifications are actions that can be performed against instances/VMs including Stop, Reboot, Delete, and Unmanage.

The SolarWinds Platform does not record actions that occur in the AWS Management Console or Azure Portal for auditing purposes or list them as events in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console.

The following cloud monitoring alerts are available in the SolarWinds Platform:

Alert	Description
AWS cloud instance is in a warning or critical state	A cloud instance encounters polling or access issues triggering a warning or critical state. The alert triggers based on global cloud thresholds.
Alert me when AWS throttling is applied for cloud account	The SolarWinds Platform aggregates throttling is applied for instances or volumes into a single alert and continue checking each minute for throttled instances or volumes. The email notification indicates the number of affected instances and volumes. Affected instances and volumes display in an Unknown - AWS Throttling Applied state. See Manage AWS throttling.
Alert me when AWS throttling is applied for cloud instance	Disabled by default, this alert checks every minute if throttling is applied to cloud instances. Conditions check for the instance status of Unknown and AWS Throttling applied through EC2 API calls. See Manage AWS throttling.
Alert me when AWS throttling is applied for cloud volume	Disabled by default, this alert checks every minute if throttling is applied to cloud attached volumes. Conditions check for the attached volume status of Unknown and AWS Throttling applied through EC2 API calls. See Manage AWS throttling.
AWS CloudWatch polling limit threshold exceeded	AWS CloudWatch provides a 1 million free polling requests limit per calendar month for all API metric polling. If the polling limit threshold is exceeded, this alert triggers. Amazon Web Services does not halt polling or CloudWatch metrics. They charge an additional cost for the month based on the exceeded polls for the remaining time frame.
Azure throttling is applied for cloud account	This alert notifies you when Azure throttling is applied while calling Azure Monitor API for Cloud Account. See Azure throttling.
Azure throttling is applied for VM	This alert will notify you when Azure throttling is applied on VM while calling the Azure Monitor API. See Azure throttling.
Azure throttling is applied for cloud volume	This alert notifies you when Azure throttling is applied on cloud volume while calling Azure Monitor API. See Azure throttling.

Events display with warning and critical indicators based on errors and exceeded thresholds. If a number of events trigger for an instance/VM or volume, SAM and integrated VMAN aggregate the events into a single event without overwhelming the event list and essential monitoring. The following example displays an aggregated critical event:

To learn about troubleshooting cloud-related alerts, see Troubleshoot cloud monitoring.

Managing cloud service alerts

Although you cannot edit out-of-the-box alerts, you can use an existing alert as a template to create new alerts with custom triggers, conditions, and actions.

The SolarWinds Platform Cloud Infrastructure Monitoring feature does not import alerts or alarms from cloud service platforms.

Here is an overview about duplicating existing cloud alerts to create custom alerts. See Create new alerts to monitor your environment for details.

1. Click Alerts & Activity > Alerts, click Manage Alerts.
2. In the search field, enter Cloud.

3. Select an alert and click Duplicate & Edit.

4. Change the name of the alert and add a description to describe the intent of the alert.

   For example, duplicate the alert for a cloud instance in a warning or critical state to add conditions for specific polled metrics and actions to stop the instance and send notifications.

5. Follow the alert wizard prompts to set conditions and actions.
6. Review and save the alert when complete.

Alerts use the following terminology:

• Conditions set triggers for alerts. Create as many conditions as needed for multiple scenarios where one or all conditions are met, including custom properties.

  Example: Trigger alert when CPU load spikes above 90% for over 5 minutes.

• Reset conditions configure the event that resets an alert.

  Example: If an alert triggers when the power state is off, set it to reset when the cloud power state is on.

• Actions and escalation steps are completed by the SolarWinds Platform Web Console when an alert is triggered. Create as many actions and escalations as needed.

  Example: Send an email notification every 10 minutes until the alert is acknowledged. If the alert is not acknowledged within 10 minutes, send an escalation email to management. Use a management action as needed such as stop or reboot.

• Reset Actions occur when the alert is reset.

  Example: Write an event and data to the log when the alert actions complete.

• Alert Integration triggers the alert in other SolarWinds products integrated with the SolarWinds Platform including ServiceNow Integration and Web Help Desk.