Lab - Automating Error Monitoring with AWS CloudWatch Alarms and SNS Notifications

Step 1: Create a Lambda Function

·       Go to the Lambda Service in the AWS Management Console.

·       Click Create Function.

·       Select Author from Scratch.

·       Enter a function name.

·       Set the runtime to Node.js 20.

·       Click Create Function to finish.

  Step 2: Monitor Lambda Metrics

·       After the function is created, navigate to your Lambda function.

·       Select the Monitor tab, then click on the Metrics sub-tab.

·       You will see metrics like Error Count and Success Rate (%).

·       These metrics will allow us to set up an alarm that triggers when the error count exceeds a certain threshold.

 Step 3: Create an SNS Topic for Notifications

·       Navigate to the Simple Notification Service (SNS) in the AWS console.

·       In the left panel, click Topics.

·       Click Create Topic.

·       Select Standard as the type of the topic.

·       Enter a name for the topic.

·       Click Create Topic.

 Step 4: Subscribe to the SNS Topic

·       After the topic is created, go to the Subscriptions tab for that topic.

·       Click Create Subscription.

·       In the Create Subscription section:

·       Select Email as the protocol.

·       Enter your email address where you want to receive notifications.

·       Click Create Subscription.

 The status of the subscription will be Pending. Go to your email and confirm the subscription.

After confirmation, the status will change to Confirmed.

 Step 5: Test the Lambda Function

·       Return to your Lambda function, and go to the Code tab.

·       Click the dropdown next to the Test button, then select Configure Test Event.

·       Enter an event name.

·       Click Save.

 Now, click Test to execute your Lambda function.

Note: The error metrics may take some time to reflect in the Monitor tab.

 Step 6: Create a CloudWatch Alarm

·       Go to the CloudWatch service in the AWS console.

·       Click Create Alarm.

·       Click Select Metrics.

·       In the Metrics section, select Lambda Metrics.

·       Choose the By Function Name option.

·       Select your Lambda function, and choose the Errors metric.

·       Click Select Metric.

·       In the Specify Metric and Conditions section:

·       In the Statistics field, change the default Average to Maximum.

 Step 7: Set Up Notifications for the Alarm

·       In the Notifications section, set the Alarm State Trigger to In Alarm.

·       Under Send a Notification to, select Existing SNS Topic.

·       Choose the SNS topic you created earlier.

·       The email endpoint you provided will appear in the notification settings.

·       Click Next.

Step 8: Name and Create the Alarm

·       Enter a name for your alarm.

·       Click Next, then Create Alarm.

Step 9: Trigger the Alarm with a Lambda Error

·       Go back to your Lambda function.

·       Introduce an intentional error in the code (for example, change JSON to JON).

·       Click Deploy to save your changes.

·       Click Test 4 to 5 times to invoke the function and produce errors.

 Step 10: Verify the CloudWatch Alarm

·       Go back to the CloudWatch service.

·       Check the state of your alarm, which will be set to In Alarm if errors were detected.

 Step 11: Receive SNS Email Notification

·       Once the alarm state changes to In Alarm, you should receive an email notification at the email address you provided during the SNS subscription setup.

Conclusion

Following these steps, you have successfully configured a CloudWatch Alarm for Lambda errors and set up SNS to notify you via email when the alarm is triggered.