Monitoring your EBS (Elastic Block Store) disk space is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and preventing outages due to storage limits. AWS CloudWatch provides a comprehensive monitoring service, but setting it up for EBS disk space monitoring requires some configuration. This guide will walk you through the steps to configure CloudWatch for EBS disk space monitoring on both Linux and Windows systems, create dashboards, and set up alarms to stay ahead of any potential issues.

Introduction: CloudWatch Agent Setup Not Preconfigured for EBS Disk Space Monitoring

By default, the CloudWatch agent is not preconfigured to monitor EBS disk space. This necessitates manual setup to ensure that your EBS volumes are effectively monitored. The process involves installing and configuring the CloudWatch agent on your EC2 instances, creating a CloudWatch dashboard, and setting up alarms for proactive monitoring.

Initial Steps: Configuring the CloudWatch Agent

1. Linux-Based Systems

Installing the CloudWatch Agent

  1. Download and Install the CloudWatch Agent:

    sudo yum install amazon-cloudwatch-agent -y
  1. Configure the Agent: Create a configuration file named amazon-cloudwatch-agent.json:

    {

  “metrics”: {

    “metrics_collected”: {

      “disk”: {

        “measurement”: [

          “used_percent”

        ],

        “resources”: [

          “*”

        ],

        “ignore_file_system_types”: [

          “sysfs”, “proc”, “devtmpfs”

        ]

      }

    }

  }

}

  1. Start the Agent:

    sudo /opt/aws/amazon-cloudwatch-agent/bin/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl -a fetch-config -m ec2 -c file:/path/to/amazon-cloudwatch-agent.json -s

2. Windows-Based Systems

Installing the CloudWatch Agent

  1. Download and Install the CloudWatch Agent: Download the MSI installer from the AWS website and run it on your Windows instance.
  2. Configure the Agent: Use the AWS-provided configuration wizard or create a JSON configuration file similar to the Linux example. Save it as amazon-cloudwatch-agent.json.
  1. Start the Agent: Open PowerShell and run:

    & “C:\Program Files\Amazon\AmazonCloudWatchAgent\amazon-cloudwatch-agent-ctl.ps1” -a fetch-config -m ec2 -c file:C:\path\to\amazon-cloudwatch-agent.json -s

Creating a CloudWatch Dashboard to Monitor Disk Space

  1. Open CloudWatch Console: Navigate to the CloudWatch console in the AWS Management Console.
  2. Create Dashboard:
    • Click “Dashboards” in the left-hand menu and then “Create dashboard.”
    • Enter a name for your dashboard and select “Create.”
  3. Add Widget:
    • Choose “Add widget” and select “Line” or “Number.”
    • Select the appropriate metric for disk space usage (EBSVolume).
  4. Configure Widget:
    • Select the instance ID and volume ID for the EBS volume you want to monitor.
    • Choose “Add to dashboard.”

Configuring Alarms for Disk Space Monitoring

1. Linux Systems

  1. Create Alarm:
    • In the CloudWatch console, navigate to “Alarms” and select “Create alarm”.
  2. Select Metric:
    • Choose the disk usage metric you configured earlier.
  3. Set Conditions:
    • Define the threshold for disk usage (e.g., 80% used).
    • Configure the alarm actions, such as sending notifications via SNS (Simple Notification Service).
  4. Review and Create:
    • Review the configuration and create the alarm.

2. Windows Systems

  1. Create Alarm:
    • Like the Linux setup, navigate to “Alarms” and select “Create alarm”.
  2. Select Metric:
    • Choose the appropriate disk usage metric.
  3. Set Conditions:
    • Define the threshold for disk usage.
    • Configure the alarm actions.
  4. Review and Create:
    • Review the settings and create the alarm.

Conclusion

Setting up CloudWatch dashboards and alarms for EBS disk space monitoring on both Linux and Windows systems is essential for maintaining system performance and avoiding disruptions. With these configurations in place, you can ensure you are alerted well before any disk space issues impact your operations.

References

Automating Amazon CloudWatch dashboard creation for Amazon EBS volume KPIs

Creating a CloudWatch dashboard