This lab focuses on setting up a CloudWatch alarm to monitor CPU utilization on an EC2 instance, configuring an SNS topic to receive email alerts when CPU utilization exceeds a defined threshold, and creating a CloudWatch dashboard for real-time monitoring. Additionally, it involves installing the stress tool on the EC2 instance to simulate high CPU usage for testing the alarm and notification system.

Summary

• Launch EC2 Instance.
• Create SNS Topic and Subscription.
• Create a CloudWatch Alarm.
• Create a CloudWatch Dashboard.
• Connect to EC2 and Install Stress Tool.

Launch EC2 Instance:

Launch an EC2 instance with the following specifications:

• Instance Type: t2.nano
• Network: Assign a public IP.
• Security Group: Allow SSH (port 22) from your IP.

Create SNS Topic and Subscription:

• Go to the SNS (Simple Notification Service) section in the AWS Management Console.
• Click on Topics > Create Topic.
• Choose Standard as the type.
• Provide a Name for the topic (e.g., EC2-CPU-Alerts).
• Click Create Topic.

• In the newly created topic, click on Create Subscription.
• Set the protocol to Email.
• Enter your email address and click Create Subscription.
• Confirm the subscription by checking your email and clicking on the verification link.

Create a CloudWatch Alarm:

• Go to the CloudWatch section in the AWS Management Console.
• Select Alarms from the sidebar, then click Create Alarm.
• Click Select Metric.
• Navigate to EC2 > Per-Instance Metrics > CPUUtilization.
• Choose the Instance ID of your EC2 instance.
• Set the Statistic to Average and the Period to 1 minute.
• Set the Threshold Type to Static and enter 60 as the value (for greater than 60% CPU utilization).
• Click Next.
• Under Actions, choose Select an existing SNS topic and pick the topic you created earlier.
• Click Next.
• Provide an Alarm Name (e.g., High-CPU-Utilization-Alarm).
• Click Create Alarm.

Create a CloudWatch Dashboard:

• In the CloudWatch console, navigate to Dashboards.
• Click Create Dashboard.
• Provide a Name for the dashboard (e.g., EC2-Monitoring-Dashboard).
• Click Add Widget.
• Choose Line and click Configure.
• Select the same metric used in your alarm (EC2 CPU Utilization).
• Click Create Widget.
• Save the dashboard.

Connect to EC2 and Install Stress Tool:

• Connect your EC2 instance.
• Run the following commands to update the instance and install the stress tool:
• sudo yum update -y
• sudo yum install stress -y
• Use the stress tool to generate CPU load:
• stress --cpu 1 --timeout 300

CPU utilization crosses the threshold:

Alarm Generated:

This lab should give you a hands-on understanding of setting up CloudWatch alarms with SNS and monitoring an EC2 instance's CPU utilization.