AWS CloudWatch

CloudWatch is an AWS monitoring and observability tool that collects monitoring and operational data. This workflow lets you send actionable alerts to on-call resources when xMatters gets a signal from AWS CloudWatch. Responders can initiate an incident with the press of a button, or you can build on the flow to perform automated resolution tasks.

How it works

When an alert is generated by an AWS CloudWatch subscription, it sends a JSON-formatted webhook to xMatters, based on user-defined alert rules. An AWS CloudWatch trigger in xMatters parses the webhook and initiates a flow. If the signal comes in from a new AWS Cloudwatch subscription, the workflow automatically confirms the subscription so the subscription owner does not have to. The webhook includes essential alert data you can use to enrich notifications to users or when building automated tasks. If a user other than the subscription owner deletes the subscription, the subscription owner is notified of the deletion and is provided with a link to re-subscribe.

Install the workflow

The following instructions describe how to install the workflow through the xMatters one-click installation process.

  1. Go to the Workflow Templates page and click the AWS CloudWatch tile.
  2. On the Set up the Workflow tab, give the workflow a name that identifies its purpose (this must be unique in your instance), add an optional description, and set the default incident type (if applicable). Any built-in Initiate Incident steps in the workflow will automatically be set to the selected incident type.
    • You can edit these later, if needed.

  3. Click Next to set up the connection.
  4. Choose the authentication method. A trigger URL is generated based on the selected authentication method.
  5. Copy the trigger URL — you’ll use this to configure the webhook in AWS CloudWatch.
    • The trigger URL includes the recipients parameter, which specifies who should be notified. By default, this parameter is set to notify you (the logged in user), but you can set it to target any user or group you want.

  6. Send a test signal to the trigger URL to test the connection.
  7. Click Open Workflow to view and customize the workflow, or Close to return to the Workflows page.

Configure AWS CloudWatch to send requests to the trigger URL

To have AWS CloudWatch send alerts to the flow trigger, you need to configure a webhook and set it to use the trigger URL.

  1. In AWS CloudWatch, go to the Amazon SNS panel.
  2. Click Topics, then click Create Topic to create a Simple Notification Service (SNS) Topic for the xMatters webhook. You can also edit an existing SNS topic.

  3. Give the webhook a unique name and a display name, then click Create topic.
  4. On the Amazon SNS panel, click Subscriptions, then click Create Subscription.

  5. In the Details section:
    • In the Topic ARN box, select the SNS Topic you just created.
    • In the Protocol box, select HTTPS.
    • In the Endpoint field, paste the trigger URL.

  6. Add the target names of any recipients you want to notify when the alert fires.
    • For URL authentication, use an ampersand to attach recipients. For example, if you want to notify Emma Pearson and the on-call members in the group responsible for the Antares service, you'd add &recipients=epearson,antares to the end of the URL.
    • For other authentication types, use a question mark to attach recipients. For example, if you want to notify Barry Gull and the on-call members in the group responsible for the Cassiopeia service, you'd add ?recipients=bgull,cassiopeia to the end of the URL.
    • You must URL-encode any special characters or spaces in the target names.
  7. Click Create Subscription.

You're ready to use the webhook to trigger automated flows, including steps such as sending alerts and initiating incidents, though we always recommend testing before putting things into use.

Set recipients in the trigger URL

The trigger expects the recipients in the trigger URL. When you copy the URL from xMatters, it includes the recipients parameter: recipients=<yourname>. Of course, you don’t want to receive all the alerts.

To change the recipients for alerts from this webhook, swap out your name for the people or groups you want to target.

  • For URL authentication, use an ampersand to attach recipients. For example, if you want to notify Emma Pearson and the on-call members in the group responsible for the Antares service, you'd add &recipients=epearson,antares to the URL.
  • For other authentication types, use a question mark to attach recipients. For example, if you want to notify Barry Gull and the on-call members in the group responsible for the Cassiopeia service, you'd add ?recipients=bgull,cassiopeia to the URL.

Remember to URL-encode any special characters, including spaces, in your group names.

We recommend using groups so you can take advantage of the xMatters group features — rotations, escalations, and absences — to reach the right on-call people to jump on an issue.

How to use the workflow

When a condition you've set fires, it sends a signal to xMatters, which creates an alert and notifies the individual or the on-call members of the people or groups you set as recipients in the webhook URL. When the trigger receives a signal saying the issue is resolved, it automatically terminates related alerts in xMatters.

The person responding to the notification has the following response options:

  • Acknowledge: Acknowledges the notifications and stops escalations.
  • Escalate: Immediately escalates the alert to the next on-call resolver in a targeted group.
  • Close: Ends the xMatters alert and stops notifying all targeted recipients.
  • Initiate Incident: Initiates an incident in xMatters.

Next Steps

Now that you've installed the workflow, you can use it as-is, or customize it to suit your needs better. Here are some examples of things you can add to the workflow to customize it: