<%NUMBERING1%>.<%NUMBERING2%>.<%NUMBERING3%> PRTG Manual: Amazon CloudWatch RDS Sensor

The Amazon CloudWatch RDS sensor monitors the performance of the Amazon Cloud service Relational Database Service (RDS).

The sensor can show the following:

  • CPU utilization
  • CPU credit usage and CPU credit balance
  • Memory usage
  • Database input/output (I/O)
  • Network I/O
  • Storage information

See Supported Metrics for a list of data that this sensor can potentially show in dedicated channels.

icon-i-round-blueWhich channels the sensor actually shows might depend on the monitored device and the sensor setup.

Amazon CloudWatch RDS Sensor

Amazon CloudWatch RDS Sensor

Sensor in Other Languages

  • Dutch: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • French: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • German: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Japanese: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Portuguese: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Russian: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Simplified Chinese: Amazon CloudWatch RDS
  • Spanish: Amazon CloudWatch RDS

Remarks

  • icon-betaThis sensor is in beta status. The operating methods and the available settings can change at any time. Do not expect that all functions work properly, or that this sensor works as expected at all. Be aware that this sensor can be removed from PRTG at any time.
  • Requires access rights for CloudWatch queries. For details, see the Knowledge Base: How do I set permissions for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) API key to use certain sensors in PRTG?
  • Requires .NET 4.7.2 or later on the probe system.
  • Define Credentials for AWS in settings that are higher in the Object Hierarchy, for example, in the settings of the parent device.
  • The minimum scanning interval for this sensor is 15 minutes.
  • This sensor supports the IPv6 protocol.
  • This sensor only shows the channels for which it receives data from Amazon. You can check the availability of data in your CloudWatch Console on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) website. To know which channels are possible for the various services of this sensor, see section Supported Metrics. If the sensor has not received data from Amazon for more than 6 hours, it shows a Down status.
  • Configure notification triggers with a latency of 0 seconds to receive all notifications for this sensor ([...] for at least 0 seconds).
  • To know which dimensions you can monitor, see section Supported Dimensions.
  • Amazon charges you for each AWS API request that the sensor sends to the Amazon servers. For details, see the Knowledge Base: How much does Amazon charge for using Amazon CloudWatch sensors in PRTG?

Requirement: Permissions for the AWS API Key

Amazon CloudWatch sensors need sufficient rights to query data from the AWS API.

icon-square-cyanFor more information, see the Knowledge Base: How do I set permissions for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) API key to use certain sensors in PRTG?

Requirement: .NET Framework

This sensor requires the Microsoft .NET Framework. .NET 4.7.2 or later must be installed on the probe system (on every cluster node, if on a cluster probe). If the framework is missing, you cannot create this sensor.

icon-square-cyanFor more information, see the Knowledge Base: Which .NET version does PRTG require?

Add Sensor

The Add Sensor dialog appears when you manually add a new sensor to a device. It only shows the setting fields that are required for creating the sensor. Therefore, you do not see all setting fields in this dialog. You can change (nearly) all settings in the sensor's Settings tab later.

PRTG looks for available instances.

icon-i-round-blueThis can take up to several minutes.

Select the services that you want to monitor. PRTG creates one sensor for each service that you select in the Add Sensor dialog. The settings you select are valid for all sensors that you create when you finish this dialog.

The following settings in the Add Sensor dialog differ in comparison to the sensor's Settings tab.

Amazon CloudWatch Specific

Setting

Description

Services

Select the engines or database instances that you want to add a sensor for. You see a list with the names of all items that you can monitor. Add check marks in front of the respective lines to select the desired items. You can also use the check box in the table header to select all items or cancel the selection.

icon-i-round-bluePRTG creates one sensor for each selection.

To better find what you want to monitor, especially in large tables, use the search function in the upper-right corner.

Basic Sensor Settings

Click the Settings tab of a sensor to change its settings.

icon-i-round-blueUsually, a sensor connects to the IP Address or DNS Name of the parent device on which you created the sensor. See the device settings for details. For some sensors, you can explicitly define the monitoring target in the sensor settings. See below for details on available settings.

Setting

Description

Sensor Name

Enter a meaningful name to identify the sensor. By default, PRTG shows this name in the device tree, as well as in alarms, logs, notifications, reports, maps, libraries, and tickets.

Parent Tags

Shows tags that this sensor inherits from its parent device, group, and probe. This setting is shown for your information only and cannot be changed here.

Tags

Enter one or more tags. Confirm each tag with the Spacebar key, a comma, or the Enter key. You can use tags to group objects and use tag-filtered views later on. Tags are not case-sensitive. Tags are automatically inherited. You can add additional tags to the sensor.

icon-i-round-blueIt is not possible to enter tags with a leading plus (+) or minus (-) sign, nor tags with parentheses (()) or angle brackets (<>).

There are default tags that are automatically predefined in a sensor's settings when you add a sensor. See section Default Tags below.

Priority

Select a priority for the sensor. This setting determines where the sensor is placed in sensor lists. A sensor with a top priority is at the top of a list. Choose from one star (low priority) to five stars (top priority).

Default Tags

cloudwatchsensor, rds

Amazon CloudWatch Specific

Setting

Description

Region

Shows the region in which the monitored AWS instance runs. It is one of the following regions:

  • US East (Northern Virginia)
  • US East (Ohio)
  • US West (Northern California)
  • US West (Oregon)
  • Europe (Stockholm)
  • Europe (Ireland)
  • Europe (London)
  • Europe (Paris)
  • Europe (Frankfurt)
  • Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
  • Asia Pacific (Seoul)
  • Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
  • Asia Pacific (Singapore)
  • Asia Pacific (Sydney)
  • South America (São Paulo)
  • Canada (Central)

Once you have created the sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

icon-i-round-blueFor more information, see the List of Supported Regions and Their Codes below.

Description

Shows the description of the AWS service instance that this sensor monitors. Once you have created the sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

ID

Shows the ID of the AWS instance that this sensor monitors. Once you have created the sensor, you cannot change this value. It is shown for reference purposes only. If you need to change this value, add the sensor anew.

Result Handling

Define what PRTG does with the sensor results:

  • Discard sensor result: Do not store the sensor result.
  • Write sensor result to disk (file name: Result of Sensor [ID].txt): Store the last result received from the sensor to the \Logs\sensors subfolder of the PRTG data directory on the probe system (master node, if in a cluster). File names: Result of Sensor [ID].txt and Result of Sensor [ID].Data.txt. This is for debugging purposes. PRTG overwrites these files with each scanning interval.

icon-prtg-on-demandThis option is not available when the sensor runs on the hosted probe of a PRTG hosted by Paessler instance.

Sensor Display

Setting

Description

Primary Channel

Select a channel from the list to define it as the primary channel. In the device tree, the last value of the primary channel is always displayed below the sensor's name. The available options depend on what channels are available for this sensor.

icon-i-round-blueYou can set a different primary channel later by clicking the pin symbol of a channel on the sensor's Overview tab.

Graph Type

Define how different channels are shown for this sensor:

  • Show channels independently (default): Show a graph for each channel.
  • Stack channels on top of each other: Stack channels on top of each other to create a multi-channel graph. This generates a graph that visualizes the different components of your total traffic.
    icon-i-round-blueThis option cannot be used in combination with manual Vertical Axis Scaling (available in the channel settings).

Stack Unit

This field is only visible if you enable Stack channels on top of each other as Graph Type. Select a unit from the list. All channels with this unit are stacked on top of each other. By default, you cannot exclude single channels from stacking if they use the selected unit. However, there is an advanced procedure to do so.

Inherited Settings

By default, all of the following settings are inherited from objects that are higher in the hierarchy and should be changed there if necessary. Often, best practice is to change them centrally in the root group settings. For more information, see section Inheritance of Settings. To change a setting for this object only, disable inheritance by clicking the button next to inherit from under the corresponding setting name. You then see the options described below.

Scanning Interval

Click inherited_settings_button to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.

Setting

Description

Scanning Interval

Select a scanning interval (seconds, minutes, or hours). The scanning interval determines the amount of time that the sensor waits between two scans. You can change the available intervals in the system administration on PRTG on premises installations.

If a Sensor Query Fails

Define the number of scanning intervals that the sensor has time to reach and check a device again in case a sensor query fails. Depending on the option that you select, the sensor can try to reach and check a device again several times before the sensor shows a Down status. This can avoid false alarms if the monitored device only has temporary issues. For previous scanning intervals with failed requests, the sensor shows a Warning status. Choose from:

  • Set sensor to down immediately: Set the sensor to a Down status immediately after the first failed request.
  • Set sensor to warning for 1 interval, then set to down (recommended): Set the sensor to a Warning status after the first failed request. If the following request also fails, the sensor shows an error.
  • Set sensor to warning for 2 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after three consecutively failed requests.
  • Set sensor to warning for 3 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after four consecutively failed requests.
  • Set sensor to warning for 4 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after five consecutively failed requests.
  • Set sensor to warning for 5 intervals, then set to down: Set the sensor to a Down status only after six consecutively failed requests.

icon-i-round-blueSensors that monitor via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) always wait at least one scanning interval before they show a Down status. It is not possible to immediately set a WMI sensor to a Down status, so the first option does not apply to these sensors. All other options can apply.

icon-i-round-blueIf you define error limits for a sensor's channels, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" option applies.

icon-i-round-blueIf a channel uses lookup values, the sensor immediately shows a Down status. No "wait" options apply.

icon-i-round-blueThis sensor has a fixed minimum scanning interval for performance reasons. You cannot run the sensor in shorter intervals than this minimum interval. Consequently, shorter scanning intervals as defined in System Administration—Monitoring are not available for this sensor.

For Amazon CloudWatch sensors, the minimum scanning interval is 15 minutes.

Schedules, Dependencies, and Maintenance Window

icon-i-round-blueYou cannot interrupt the inheritance for schedules, dependencies, and maintenance windows. The corresponding settings from the parent objects are always active. However, you can define additional settings here. They are active at the same time as the parent objects' settings.

Setting

Description

Schedule

Select a schedule from the list. Schedules can be used to monitor for a certain time span (days or hours) every week.

icon-square-cyanYou can create schedules, edit schedules, or pause monitoring for a specific time span. For more information, see section Account Settings—Schedules.

icon-i-round-blueSchedules are generally inherited. New schedules are added to schedules that you already set up, so all schedules are active at the same time.

Maintenance Window

Specify if you want to set up a one-time maintenance window. During a maintenance window, the selected object and all child objects are not monitored. They are in a Paused status instead. Choose between:

  • Not set (monitor continuously): No maintenance window is set and monitoring is always active.
  • Set up a one-time maintenance window: Pause monitoring within a maintenance window. You can define a time span for a monitoring pause below and change it even for an active maintenance window.

icon-i-round-blueTo terminate an active maintenance window before the defined end date, change the time entry in Maintenance Ends to a date in the past.

Maintenance Begins

This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the start date and time of the maintenance window.

Maintenance Ends

This field is only visible if you enable Set up a one-time maintenance window above. Use the date time picker to enter the end date and time of the maintenance window.

Dependency Type

Define a dependency type. You can use dependencies to pause monitoring for an object depending on the status of a different object. You can choose from:

  • Use parent: Use the dependency type of the parent object.
  • Select a sensor: Use the dependency type of the parent object. Additionally, pause the current object if a specific sensor is in a Down status or in a Paused status caused by another dependency.
  • Master sensor for parent: Make this sensor the master object for its parent device. The sensor influences the behavior of its parent device: If the sensor is in a Down status, the device is paused. For example, it is a good idea to make a Ping sensor the master object for its parent device to pause monitoring for all other sensors on the device in case the device cannot even be pinged. Additionally, the sensor is paused if the parent group is paused by another dependency.

icon-i-round-blueTo test your dependencies, select Simulate Error Status from the context menu of an object that other objects depend on. A few seconds later, all dependent objects are paused. You can check all dependencies under Devices | Dependencies in the main menu bar.

Dependency

This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Click the Search button and use the object selector to select a sensor on which the current object will depend.

Dependency Delay (Sec.)

This field is only visible if you enable Select a sensor above. Define a time span in seconds for dependency delay.

After the master sensor for this dependency comes back to an Up status, monitoring of the dependent objects is additionally delayed by the defined time span. This can prevent false alarms, for example, after a server restart, by giving systems more time for all services to start up. Enter an integer value.

icon-i-round-redThis setting is not available if you set this sensor to Use parent or to be the Master sensor for parent. In this case, define delays in the parent device settings or in its parent group settings.

Access Rights

Click inherited_settings_button to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.

Setting

Description

User Group Access

Define the user groups that have access to the sensor. You see a table with user groups and group access rights. The table contains all user groups in your setup. For each user group, you can choose from the following group access rights:

  • Inherited: Inherit the access rights settings of the parent object.
  • No access: Users in this user group cannot see or edit the sensor. The sensor neither shows up in lists nor in the device tree.
  • Read access: Users in this group can see the sensor and view its monitoring results. They cannot edit any settings.
  • Write access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, and edit its settings. They cannot edit its access rights settings.
  • Full access: Users in this group can see the sensor, view its monitoring results, edit its settings, and edit its access rights settings.

icon-square-cyanFor more details on access rights, see section Access Rights Management.

Channel Unit Configuration

Click inherited_settings_button to interrupt the inheritance. See section Inheritance of Settings for more information.

Setting

Description

Channel Unit Types

For each type of channel, define the unit in which data is displayed. If defined on probe, group, or device level, these settings can be inherited to all sensors underneath. You can set units for the following channel types (if available):

  • Bandwidth
  • Memory
  • Disk
  • File
  • Custom

icon-i-round-blueCustom channel types can be set on sensor level only.

Supported Metrics

The Amazon CloudWatch RDS sensor supports the following metrics:

  • CPUUtilization (Average)
  • CPUCreditUsage (Average)
  • CPUCreditBalance (Average)
  • DatabaseConnections (Sum)
  • FreeableMemory (Sum)
  • FreeStorageSpace (Average)
  • SwapUsage (Sum)
  • BinLogDiskUsage (Sum)
  • DiskQueueDepth (Sum)
  • ReplicLag (Average)
  • ReadIOPS (Sum)
  • WriteIOPS (Sum)
  • ReadLatency (Average)
  • WriteLatency (Average)
  • ReadThroughput (Sum)
  • WriteThroughput (Sum)
  • NetworkReceiveThroughput (Sum)
  • NetworkTransmitThroughput (Sum)

Supported Dimensions

The Amazon CloudWatch RDS sensor supports the following dimensions:

  • Engine
  • DB Instance

Supported Regions and Their Codes

Region

Code

US East (Northern Virginia)

us-east-1

US East (Ohio)

us-east-2

US West (Northern California)

us-west-1

US West (Oregon)

us-west-2

Europe (Stockholm)

eu-north-1

Europe (Ireland)

eu-west-1

Europe (London)

eu-west-2

Europe (Paris)

eu-west-3

Europe (Frankfurt)

eu-central-1

Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

ap-northeast-1

Asia Pacific (Seoul)

ap-northeast-2

Asia Pacific (Mumbai)

ap-south-1

Asia Pacific (Singapore)

ap-southeast-1

Asia Pacific (Sydney)

ap-southeast-2

South America (São Paulo)

sa-east-1

Canada (Central)

ca-central-1

More

icon-square-blueKNOWLEDGE BASE

How do I set permissions for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) API key to use certain sensors in PRTG?

How much does Amazon charge for using Amazon CloudWatch sensors in PRTG?

Which .NET version does PRTG require?

Edit Channels

To change display settings, spike filtering, and limits, switch to the sensor's Overview tab and click the gear icon of a specific channel. For detailed information, see section Sensor Channel Settings.

Notification Triggers

Click the Notification Triggers tab to change notification triggers. For detailed information, see section Sensor Notification Triggers Settings.

Others

For more general information about settings, see section Object Settings.

Sensor Settings Overview

For information about sensor settings, see the following sections: