AWS CloudFormation CloudWatch Monitoring Overview Create production-ready monitoring and observability infrastructure using AWS CloudFormation templates. This skill covers CloudWatch metrics, alarms, dashboards, log groups, log insights, anomaly detection, synthesized canaries, Application Signals, and best practices for parameters, outputs, and cross-stack references. When to Use Use this skill when: Creating custom CloudWatch metrics Configuring CloudWatch alarms for thresholds and anomaly detection Creating CloudWatch dashboards for multi-region visualization Implementing log groups with retention and encryption Configuring log subscriptions and cross-account log aggregation Implementing synthesized canaries for synthetic monitoring Enabling Application Signals for application performance monitoring Organizing templates with Parameters, Outputs, Mappings, Conditions Implementing cross-stack references with export/import Using Transform for macros and reuse CloudFormation Template Structure Base Template with Standard Format AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch monitoring and observability stack Metadata : AWS::CloudFormation::Interface : ParameterGroups : - Label : default : Monitoring Configuration Parameters : - Environment - LogRetentionDays - EnableAnomalyDetection - Label : default : Alarm Thresholds Parameters : - ErrorRateThreshold - LatencyThreshold - CpuUtilizationThreshold Parameters : Environment : Type : String Default : dev AllowedValues : - dev - staging - production Description : Deployment environment LogRetentionDays : Type : Number Default : 30 AllowedValues : - 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 14 - 30 - 60 - 90 - 120 - 150 - 180 - 365 - 400 - 545 - 731 - 1095 - 1827 - 2190 - 2555 - 2922 - 3285 - 3650 Description : Number of days to retain log events EnableAnomalyDetection : Type : String Default : false AllowedValues : - true - false Description : Enable CloudWatch anomaly detection ErrorRateThreshold : Type : Number Default : 5 Description : Error rate threshold for alarms (percentage) LatencyThreshold : Type : Number Default : 1000 Description : Latency threshold in milliseconds CpuUtilizationThreshold : Type : Number Default : 80 Description : CPU utilization threshold (percentage) Mappings : EnvironmentConfig : dev : LogRetentionDays : 7 ErrorRateThreshold : 10 LatencyThreshold : 2000 CpuUtilizationThreshold : 90 staging : LogRetentionDays : 14 ErrorRateThreshold : 5 LatencyThreshold : 1500 CpuUtilizationThreshold : 85 production : LogRetentionDays : 30 ErrorRateThreshold : 1 LatencyThreshold : 500 CpuUtilizationThreshold : 80 Conditions : IsProduction : !Equals [ !Ref Environment , production ] IsStaging : !Equals [ !Ref Environment , staging ] EnableAnomaly : !Equals [ !Ref EnableAnomalyDetection , true ] Transform : - AWS : : Serverless - 2016-10-31 Resources :
Log Group per applicazione
ApplicationLogGroup : Type : AWS : : Logs : : LogGroup Properties : LogGroupName : !Sub "/aws/applications/${Environment}/application" RetentionInDays : !Ref LogRetentionDays KmsKeyId : !Ref LogKmsKey Tags : - Key : Environment Value : !Ref Environment - Key : Application Value : !Ref ApplicationName Outputs : LogGroupName : Description : Name of the application log group Value : !Ref ApplicationLogGroup Export : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-LogGroupName" Parameters Best Practices AWS-Specific Parameter Types Parameters :
AWS-specific types for validation
CloudWatchNamespace : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Namespace Description : CloudWatch metric namespace AlarmActionArn : Type : AWS : : SNS : : Topic : : Arn Description : SNS topic ARN for alarm actions LogKmsKeyArn : Type : AWS : : KMS : : Key : : Arn Description : KMS key ARN for log encryption DashboardArn : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Dashboard : : Arn Description : Existing dashboard ARN to import AnomalyDetectorArn : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : AnomalyDetector : : Arn Description : Existing anomaly detector ARN Parameter Constraints Parameters : MetricName : Type : String Description : CloudWatch metric name ConstraintDescription : Must be 1 - 256 characters , alphanumeric , underscore , period , dash MinLength : 1 MaxLength : 256 AllowedPattern : "[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+" ThresholdValue : Type : Number Description : Alarm threshold value MinValue : 0 MaxValue : 1000000000 EvaluationPeriods : Type : Number Description : Number of evaluation periods Default : 5 MinValue : 1 MaxValue : 100 ConstraintDescription : Must be between 1 and 100 DatapointsToAlarm : Type : Number Description : Datapoints that must breach to trigger alarm Default : 5 MinValue : 1 MaxValue : 10 Period : Type : Number Description : Metric period in seconds Default : 300 AllowedValues : - 10 - 30 - 60 - 300 - 900 - 3600 - 21600 - 86400 ComparisonOperator : Type : String Description : Alarm comparison operator Default : GreaterThanThreshold AllowedValues : - GreaterThanThreshold - GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold - LessThanThreshold - LessThanOrEqualToThreshold - GreaterThanUpperBound - LessThanLowerBound SSM Parameter References Parameters : AlarmTopicArn : Type : AWS : : SSM : : Parameter : : Value<AWS : : SNS : : Topic : : Arn
Default : /monitoring/alarms/topic - arn Description : SNS topic ARN from SSM Parameter Store DashboardConfig : Type : AWS : : SSM : : Parameter : : Value<String
Default : /monitoring/dashboards/config Description : Dashboard configuration from SSM Outputs and Cross-Stack References Export/Import Patterns
Stack A - Monitoring Stack
AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : Central monitoring infrastructure stack Resources : AlarmTopic : Type : AWS : : SNS : : Topic Properties : TopicName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-alarms" DisplayName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName} Alarm Notifications" LogGroup : Type : AWS : : Logs : : LogGroup Properties : LogGroupName : !Sub "/aws/monitoring/${AWS::StackName}" RetentionInDays : 30 Outputs : AlarmTopicArn : Description : ARN of the alarm SNS topic Value : !Ref AlarmTopic Export : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-AlarmTopicArn" LogGroupName : Description : Name of the log group Value : !Ref LogGroup Export : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-LogGroupName" LogGroupArn : Description : ARN of the log group Value : !GetAtt LogGroup.Arn Export : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-LogGroupArn"
Stack B - Application Stack (imports from Monitoring Stack)
AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : Application stack with monitoring integration Parameters : MonitoringStackName : Type : String Description : Name of the monitoring stack Resources : LambdaFunction : Type : AWS : : Lambda : : Function Properties : FunctionName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-processor" Runtime : python3.11 Handler : app.handler Code : S3Bucket : !Ref CodeBucket S3Key : lambda/function.zip Role : !GetAtt LambdaExecutionRole.Arn ErrorAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-errors" AlarmDescription : Alert on Lambda errors MetricName : Errors Namespace : AWS/Lambda Dimensions : - Name : FunctionName Value : !Ref LambdaFunction Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 Threshold : 1 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold AlarmActions : - !ImportValue !Sub "$ { MonitoringStackName } - AlarmTopicArn" HighLatencyAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-latency" AlarmDescription : Alert on high latency MetricName : Duration Namespace : AWS/Lambda Dimensions : - Name : FunctionName Value : !Ref LambdaFunction Statistic : P99 Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 3 Threshold : 5000 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold AlarmActions : - !ImportValue !Sub "$ { MonitoringStackName } - AlarmTopicArn" Nested Stacks for Modularity AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : Main stack with nested monitoring stacks Resources :
Nested stack for alarms
AlarmsStack : Type : AWS : : CloudFormation : : Stack Properties : TemplateURL : https : //s3.amazonaws.com/bucket/monitoring/alarms.yaml TimeoutInMinutes : 15 Parameters : Environment : !Ref Environment AlarmTopicArn : !Ref AlarmTopicArn
Nested stack for dashboards
DashboardsStack : Type : AWS : : CloudFormation : : Stack Properties : TemplateURL : https : //s3.amazonaws.com/bucket/monitoring/dashboards.yaml TimeoutInMinutes : 15 Parameters : Environment : !Ref Environment LogGroupNames : !Join [ "," , [ !GetAtt AlarmsStack.Outputs.LogGroupName ] ]
Nested stack for log insights
LogInsightsStack : Type : AWS : : CloudFormation : : Stack Properties : TemplateURL : https : //s3.amazonaws.com/bucket/monitoring/log - insights.yaml TimeoutInMinutes : 15 Parameters : Environment : !Ref Environment CloudWatch Metrics and Alarms Base Metric Alarm AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch metric alarms Resources :
Error rate alarm
ErrorRateAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-error-rate" AlarmDescription : Alert when error rate exceeds threshold MetricName : ErrorRate Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName - Name : Environment Value : !Ref Environment Statistic : Average Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 DatapointsToAlarm : 3 Threshold : !Ref ErrorRateThreshold ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic InsufficientDataActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic OKActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic Tags : - Key : Environment Value : !Ref Environment - Key : Severity Value : high
P99 latency alarm
LatencyAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-p99-latency" AlarmDescription : Alert when P99 latency exceeds threshold MetricName : Latency Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName Statistic : p99 ExtendedStatistic : "p99" Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 3 Threshold : !Ref LatencyThreshold ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold TreatMissingData : notBreaching AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic
4xx errors alarm
ClientErrorAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-4xx-errors" AlarmDescription : Alert on high 4xx error rate MetricName : 4XXError Namespace : AWS/ApiGateway Dimensions : - Name : ApiName Value : !Ref ApiName - Name : Stage Value : !Ref StageName Statistic : Sum Period : 300 EvaluationPeriods : 2 Threshold : 100 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic
5xx errors alarm
ServerErrorAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-5xx-errors" AlarmDescription : Alert on high 5xx error rate MetricName : 5XXError Namespace : AWS/ApiGateway Dimensions : - Name : ApiName Value : !Ref ApiName - Name : Stage Value : !Ref StageName Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 2 Threshold : 10 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic Composite Alarm AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch composite alarms Resources :
Base alarm for Lambda errors
LambdaErrorAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-lambda-errors" MetricName : Errors Namespace : AWS/Lambda Dimensions : - Name : FunctionName Value : !Ref LambdaFunction Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 Threshold : 5 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold
Base alarm for Lambda throttles
LambdaThrottleAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-lambda-throttles" MetricName : Throttles Namespace : AWS/Lambda Dimensions : - Name : FunctionName Value : !Ref LambdaFunction Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 Threshold : 3 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold
Composite alarm combining both
LambdaHealthCompositeAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : CompositeAlarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-lambda-health" AlarmDescription : Composite alarm for Lambda function health AlarmRule : !Or - !Ref LambdaErrorAlarm - !Ref LambdaThrottleAlarm ActionsEnabled : true AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic Tags : - Key : Service Value : lambda - Key : Tier Value : application Anomaly Detection Alarm AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch anomaly detection Resources :
Anomaly detector for metric
RequestRateAnomalyDetector : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : AnomalyDetector Properties : MetricName : RequestCount Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName - Name : Environment Value : !Ref Environment Statistic : Sum Configuration : ExcludedTimeRanges : - StartTime : "2023-12-25T00:00:00" EndTime : "2023-12-26T00:00:00" MetricTimeZone : UTC
Alarm based on anomaly detection
AnomalyAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-anomaly-detection" AlarmDescription : Alert on anomalous metric behavior MetricName : RequestCount Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName AnomalyDetectorConfiguration : ExcludeTimeRange : StartTime : "2023-12-25T00:00:00" EndTime : "2023-12-26T00:00:00" Statistic : Sum Period : 300 EvaluationPeriods : 2 Threshold : 2 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanUpperThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic
Alarm for low anomalous value
LowTrafficAnomalyAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-low-traffic" AlarmDescription : Alert on unusually low traffic MetricName : RequestCount Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName AnomalyDetectorConfiguration : Bound : Lower Statistic : Sum Period : 300 EvaluationPeriods : 3 Threshold : 0.5 ComparisonOperator : LessThanLowerThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic CloudWatch Dashboards Dashboard Base AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch dashboard Resources :
Main dashboard
MainDashboard : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Dashboard Properties : DashboardName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-main" DashboardBody : !Sub | { "widgets": [ { "type": "metric", "x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 12, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "API Gateway Requests", "view": "timeSeries", "stacked": false, "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["AWS/ApiGateway", "Count", "ApiName", "${ApiName}", "Stage", "${StageName}"], [".", "4XXError", ".", ".", ".", "."], [".", "5XXError", ".", ".", ".", "."] ], "period": 300, "stat": "Sum" } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 12, "y": 0, "width": 12, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "API Gateway Latency", "view": "timeSeries", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["AWS/ApiGateway", "Latency", "ApiName", "${ApiName}", "Stage", "${StageName}", {"stat": "p99"}], [".", ".", ".", ".", ".", ".", {"stat": "Average"}] ], "period": 300 } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 0, "y": 6, "width": 12, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "Lambda Invocations", "view": "timeSeries", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["AWS/Lambda", "Invocations", "FunctionName", "${LambdaFunction}"], [".", "Errors", ".", "."], [".", "Throttles", ".", "."] ], "period": 60, "stat": "Sum" } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 12, "y": 6, "width": 12, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "Lambda Duration", "view": "timeSeries", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["AWS/Lambda", "Duration", "FunctionName", "${LambdaFunction}", {"stat": "p99"}], [".", ".", ".", ".", {"stat": "Average"}], [".", ".", ".", ".", {"stat": "Maximum"}] ], "period": 60 } }, { "type": "log", "x": 0, "y": 12, "width": 24, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "Application Logs", "view": "table", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "logGroupName": "${ApplicationLogGroup}", "timeRange": { "type": "relative", "from": 3600 }, "filterPattern": "ERROR | WARN" } } ] }
Dashboard for specific service
ServiceDashboard : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Dashboard Properties : DashboardName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-${ServiceName}" DashboardBody : !Sub | { "start": "-PT6H", "widgets": [ { "type": "text", "x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 24, "height": 1, "properties": { "markdown": "# ${ServiceName} - ${Environment} Dashboard" } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 0, "y": 1, "width": 8, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "Request Rate", "view": "timeSeries", "stacked": false, "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["${CustomNamespace}", "RequestCount", "Service", "${ServiceName}", "Environment", "${Environment}"] ], "period": 60, "stat": "Sum" } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 8, "y": 1, "width": 8, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "Error Rate %", "view": "timeSeries", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["${CustomNamespace}", "ErrorCount", "Service", "${ServiceName}"], [".", "RequestCount", ".", "."], [".", "SuccessCount", ".", "."] ], "period": 60, "stat": "Average" } }, { "type": "metric", "x": 16, "y": 1, "width": 8, "height": 6, "properties": { "title": "P99 Latency", "view": "timeSeries", "region": "${AWS::Region}", "metrics": [ ["${CustomNamespace}", "Latency", "Service", "${ServiceName}"] ], "period": 60, "stat": "p99" } } ] } CloudWatch Logs Log Group Configurations AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch log groups configuration Parameters : LogRetentionDays : Type : Number Default : 30 AllowedValues : - 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 14 - 30 - 60 - 90 - 120 - 150 - 180 - 365 - 400 - 545 - 731 - 1095 - 1827 - 2190 - 2555 - 2922 - 3285 - 3650 Resources :
Application log group
ApplicationLogGroup : Type : AWS : : Logs : : LogGroup Properties : LogGroupName : !Sub "/aws/applications/${Environment}/${ApplicationName}" RetentionInDays : !Ref LogRetentionDays KmsKeyId : !Ref LogKmsKeyArn Tags : - Key : Environment Value : !Ref Environment - Key : Application Value : !Ref ApplicationName - Key : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName
Lambda log group
LambdaLogGroup : Type : AWS : : Logs : : LogGroup Properties : LogGroupName : !Sub "/aws/lambda/${LambdaFunctionName}" RetentionInDays : !Ref LogRetentionDays KmsKeyId : !Ref LogKmsKeyArn
Subscription filter for Log Insights
LogSubscriptionFilter : Type : AWS : : Logs : : SubscriptionFilter Properties : DestinationArn : !GetAtt LogDestination.Arn FilterPattern : '[timestamp=*Z, request_id, level, message]' LogGroupName : !Ref ApplicationLogGroup RoleArn : !GetAtt LogSubscriptionRole.Arn
Metric filter for errors
ErrorMetricFilter : Type : AWS : : Logs : : MetricFilter Properties : FilterPattern : '[level="ERROR", msg]' LogGroupName : !Ref ApplicationLogGroup MetricTransformations : - MetricValue : "1" MetricNamespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" MetricName : ErrorCount - MetricValue : "$level" MetricNamespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" MetricName : LogLevel
Metric filter for warnings
WarningMetricFilter : Type : AWS : : Logs : : MetricFilter Properties : FilterPattern : '[level="WARN", msg]' LogGroupName : !Ref ApplicationLogGroup MetricTransformations : - MetricValue : "1" MetricNamespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" MetricName : WarningCount
Log group with custom retention
AuditLogGroup : Type : AWS : : Logs : : LogGroup Properties : LogGroupName : !Sub "/aws/audit/${Environment}/${ApplicationName}" RetentionInDays : 365 KmsKeyId : !Ref LogKmsKeyArn Log Insights Query AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch Logs Insights queries Resources :
Query definition for recent errors
RecentErrorsQuery : Type : AWS : : Logs : : QueryDefinition Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-recent-errors" QueryString : | fields @timestamp, @message | sort @timestamp desc | limit 100 | filter @message like /ERROR/ | display @timestamp, @message, @logStream
Query for performance analysis
PerformanceQuery : Type : AWS : : Logs : : QueryDefinition Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-performance" QueryString : | fields @timestamp, @message, @duration | filter @duration > 1000 | sort @duration desc | limit 50 | display @timestamp, @duration, @message Synthesized Canaries AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch Synthesized Canaries Parameters : CanarySchedule : Type : String Default : rate(5 minutes) Description : Schedule expression for canary Resources :
Canary for API endpoint
ApiCanary : Type : AWS : : Synthetics : : Canary Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-api-check" ArtifactS3Location : !Sub "s3://${ArtifactBucket}/canary/${AWS::StackName}" Code : S3Bucket : !Ref CanariesCodeBucket S3Key : canary/api - check.zip Handler : apiCheck.handler ExecutionRoleArn : !GetAtt CanaryRole.Arn RuntimeVersion : syn - python - selenium - 1.1 Schedule : Expression : !Ref CanarySchedule DurationInSeconds : 120 SuccessRetentionPeriodInDays : 31 FailureRetentionPeriodInDays : 31 Tags : - Key : Environment Value : !Ref Environment - Key : Service Value : api
Alarm for canary failure
CanaryFailureAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-canary-failed" AlarmDescription : Alert when synthesized canary fails MetricName : Failed Namespace : AWS/Synthetics Dimensions : - Name : CanaryName Value : !Ref ApiCanary Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 2 Threshold : 1 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref AlarmTopic
Alarm for canary latency
CanaryLatencyAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-canary-slow" AlarmDescription : Alert when canary latency is high MetricName : Duration Namespace : AWS/Synthetics Dimensions : - Name : CanaryName Value : !Ref ApiCanary Statistic : p99 Period : 300 EvaluationPeriods : 3 Threshold : 5000 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold CanaryRole : Type : AWS : : IAM : : Role Properties : RoleName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-canary-role" AssumeRolePolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Principal : Service : synthetics.amazonaws.com Action : sts : AssumeRole Policies : - PolicyName : SyntheticsLeastPrivilege PolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Action : - synthetics : DescribeCanaries - synthetics : DescribeCanaryRuns - synthetics : GetCanary - synthetics : ListTagsForResource Resource : "" - Effect : Allow Action : - synthetics : StartCanary - synthetics : StopCanary Resource : !Ref ApiCanary - Effect : Allow Action : - logs : CreateLogGroup - logs : CreateLogStream - logs : PutLogEvents - logs : DescribeLogStreams Resource : !Sub "arn:aws:logs:${AWS::Region}:${AWS::AccountId}:log-group:/aws/lambda/cw-syn-canary-" - Effect : Allow Action : - s3 : PutObject - s3 : GetObject Resource : !Sub "s3://${ArtifactBucket}/canary/${AWS::StackName}/*" - Effect : Allow Action : - kms : Decrypt Resource : !Ref KmsKeyArn Condition : StringEquals : kms:ViaService : !Sub "s3.${AWS::Region}.amazonaws.com" CloudWatch Application Signals AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch Application Signals for APM Resources :
Service level indicator for availability
AvailabilitySLI : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : ServiceLevelObjective Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-availability" Description : Service level objective for availability Monitor : MonitorName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-monitor" MonitorType : AWS_SERVICE_LEVEL_INDICATOR ResourceGroup : !Ref ResourceGroup SliMetric : MetricName : Availability Namespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName Target : ComparisonOperator : GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL Threshold : 99.9 Period : RollingInterval : Count : 1 TimeUnit : HOUR Goal : TargetLevel : 99.9
Service level indicator for latency
LatencySLI : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : ServiceLevelIndicator Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-latency-sli" Monitor : MonitorName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-monitor" Metric : MetricName : Latency Namespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName OperationName : GetItem AccountId : !Ref AWS : : AccountId
Monitor for application performance
ApplicationMonitor : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : ApplicationMonitor Properties : MonitorName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-app-monitor" MonitorType : CW_MONITOR Telemetry : - Type : APM Config : Eps : 100 Conditions and Transform Conditions for Environment-Specific Resources AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch with conditional resources Parameters : Environment : Type : String Default : dev AllowedValues : - dev - staging - production Description : Deployment environment Conditions : IsProduction : !Equals [ !Ref Environment , production ] IsStaging : !Equals [ !Ref Environment , staging ] CreateAnomalyDetection : !Or [ !Equals [ !Ref Environment , staging ] , !Equals [ !Ref Environment , production ] ] CreateSLI : !Equals [ !Ref Environment , production ] Resources :
Base alarm for all environments
BaseAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-errors" MetricName : Errors Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 Threshold : 10 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold
Alarm with different thresholds for production
ProductionAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Condition : IsProduction Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-errors-production" MetricName : Errors Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 3 Threshold : 1 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold AlarmActions : - !Ref ProductionAlarmTopic
Anomaly detector only for staging and production
AnomalyDetector : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : AnomalyDetector Condition : CreateAnomalyDetection Properties : MetricName : RequestCount Namespace : !Ref CustomNamespace Dimensions : - Name : Service Value : !Ref ServiceName Statistic : Sum
SLI only for production
ServiceLevelIndicator : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : ServiceLevelIndicator Condition : CreateSLI Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-sli" Monitor : MonitorName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-monitor" Metric : MetricName : Availability Namespace : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}/Application" Transform for Code Reuse AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Transform : AWS : : Serverless - 2016-10-31 Description : Using SAM Transform for CloudWatch resources Globals : Function : Timeout : 30 Runtime : python3.11 Environment : Variables : LOG_LEVEL : INFO LoggingConfiguration : LogGroup : Name : !Sub "/aws/lambda/${FunctionName}" RetentionInDays : 30 Resources :
Lambda function with automatic logging
MonitoredFunction : Type : AWS : : Serverless : : Function Properties : FunctionName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-monitored" Handler : app.handler CodeUri : functions/monitored/ Policies : - PolicyName : LogsLeastPrivilege PolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Action : - logs : CreateLogGroup - logs : CreateLogStream - logs : PutLogEvents - logs : DescribeLogStreams - logs : GetLogEvents - logs : FilterLogEvents Resource : !Sub "arn:aws:logs:${AWS::Region}:${AWS::AccountId}:log-group:/aws/lambda/${AWS::StackName}-" - Effect : Allow Action : - logs : DescribeLogGroups Resource : !Sub "arn:aws:logs:${AWS::Region}:${AWS::AccountId}:log-group:" Events : Api : Type : Api Properties : Path : /health Method : get Best Practices Security Encrypt log groups with KMS keys Use resource-based policies for log access Implement cross-account log aggregation with proper IAM Configure log retention appropriate for compliance Use VPC endpoints for CloudWatch to isolate traffic Implement least privilege for IAM roles Performance Use appropriate metric periods (60s for alarms, 300s for dashboards) Implement composite alarms to reduce alarm fatigue Use anomaly detection for non-linear patterns Configure dashboards with efficient widgets Limit retention period for log groups Monitoring Implement SLI/SLO for service health Use multi-region dashboards for global applications Configure alarms with proper evaluation periods Implement canaries for synthetic monitoring Use Application Signals for APM Deployment Use change sets before deployment Test templates with cfn-lint Organize stacks by ownership (network, app, data) Use nested stacks for modularity Implement stack policies for protection CloudFormation Best Practices Stack Policies Stack policies protect critical resources from unintentional updates. Use them to prevent modifications to production resources. AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CloudWatch stack with protection policies Resources : CriticalAlarm : Type : AWS : : CloudWatch : : Alarm Properties : AlarmName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-critical" MetricName : Errors Namespace : AWS/Lambda Statistic : Sum Period : 60 EvaluationPeriods : 5 Threshold : 1 ComparisonOperator : GreaterThanThreshold Metadata : AWS::CloudFormation::StackPolicy : Statement : - Effect : Deny Principal : "" Action : - Update : Delete - Update : Modify Resource : "" - Effect : Allow Principal : "" Action : - Update : Modify Resource : "" Condition : StringEquals : aws:RequestedOperation : - Describe - List Termination Protection Enable termination protection to prevent accidental stack deletion, especially for production monitoring stacks. Via Console: Select the stack Go to Stack actions > Change termination protection Enable termination protection Via CLI: aws cloudformation update-termination-protection \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack \ --enable-termination-protection Via CloudFormation (Stack Set): Resources : MonitoringStack : Type : AWS : : CloudFormation : : Stack Properties : TemplateURL : !Sub "https://${BucketName}.s3.amazonaws.com/monitoring.yaml" TerminationProtection : true Drift Detection Detect when actual infrastructure differs from the CloudFormation template. Detect drift on a single stack: aws cloudformation detect-drift \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack Get drift detection status: aws cloudFormation describe-stack-drift-detection-process-status \ --stack-drift-detection-id < detection-id
Get resources that have drifted: aws cloudformation list-stack-resources \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack \ --query "StackResourceSummaries[?StackResourceDriftStatus!='IN_SYNC']" Automation with Lambda: AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : Automated drift detection scheduler Resources : DriftDetectionRole : Type : AWS : : IAM : : Role Properties : AssumeRolePolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Principal : Service : lambda.amazonaws.com Action : sts : AssumeRole ManagedPolicyArns : - arn : aws : iam : : aws : policy/service - role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole Policies : - PolicyName : CloudWatchDrift PolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Action : - cloudformation : DetectStackDrift - cloudformation : DescribeStacks - cloudformation : ListStackResources Resource : "" - Effect : Allow Action : - sns : Publish Resource : !Ref AlertTopic DriftDetectionFunction : Type : AWS : : Lambda : : Function Properties : Runtime : python3.11 Handler : drift_detector.handler Code : S3Bucket : !Ref CodeBucket S3Key : functions/drift - detector.zip Role : !GetAtt DriftDetectionRole.Arn Environment : Variables : SNS_TOPIC_ARN : !Ref AlertTopic DriftDetectionRule : Type : AWS : : Events : : Rule Properties : ScheduleExpression : "rate(1 day)" Targets : - Id : DriftDetection Arn : !GetAtt DriftDetectionFunction.Arn AlertTopic : Type : AWS : : SNS : : Topic Properties : TopicName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-drift-alerts" Change Sets Use change sets to preview and review changes before applying them. Create change set: aws cloudformation create-change-set \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack \ --template-body file://updated-template.yaml \ --change-set-name my-changeset \ --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM List change sets: aws cloudformation list-change-sets \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack Describe change set: aws cloudformation describe-change-set \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack \ --change-set-name my-changeset Execute change set: aws cloudformation execute-change-set \ --stack-name my-monitoring-stack \ --change-set-name my-changeset Pipeline integration: AWSTemplateFormatVersion : 2010-09-09 Description : CI/CD pipeline for CloudWatch stacks Resources : Pipeline : Type : AWS : : CodePipeline : : Pipeline Properties : Name : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-pipeline" RoleArn : !GetAtt PipelineRole.Arn Stages : - Name : Source Actions : - Name : SourceAction ActionTypeId : Category : Source Owner : AWS Provider : CodeCommit Version : "1" Configuration : RepositoryName : !Ref RepositoryName BranchName : main OutputArtifacts : - Name : SourceOutput - Name : Validate Actions : - Name : ValidateTemplate ActionTypeId : Category : Test Owner : AWS Provider : CloudFormation Version : "1" Configuration : ActionMode : VALIDATE_ONLY TemplatePath : SourceOutput : : template.yaml InputArtifacts : - Name : SourceOutput - Name : Review Actions : - Name : CreateChangeSet ActionTypeId : Category : Deploy Owner : AWS Provider : CloudFormation Version : "1" Configuration : ActionMode : CHANGE_SET_REPLACE StackName : !Ref StackName ChangeSetName : !Sub "${StackName}-changeset" TemplatePath : SourceOutput : : template.yaml Capabilities : CAPABILITY_IAM , CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM InputArtifacts : - Name : SourceOutput - Name : Approval ActionTypeId : Category : Approval Owner : AWS Provider : Manual Version : "1" Configuration : CustomData : Review changes before deployment - Name : Deploy Actions : - Name : ExecuteChangeSet ActionTypeId : Category : Deploy Owner : AWS Provider : CloudFormation Version : "1" Configuration : ActionMode : CHANGE_SET_EXECUTE StackName : !Ref StackName ChangeSetName : !Sub "${StackName}-changeset" PipelineRole : Type : AWS : : IAM : : Role Properties : AssumeRolePolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Principal : Service : codepipeline.amazonaws.com Action : sts : AssumeRole Policies : - PolicyName : PipelinePolicy PolicyDocument : Version : "2012-10-17" Statement : - Effect : Allow Action : - codecommit : Get - codecommit : List - codecommit : BatchGet Resource : "" - Effect : Allow Action : - s3 : GetObject - s3 : PutObject Resource : !Sub "arn:aws:s3:::${ArtifactBucket}/" - Effect : Allow Action : - cloudformation : * - iam : PassRole Resource : "*" - Effect : Allow Action : - sns : Publish Resource : !Ref ApprovalTopic ApprovalTopic : Type : AWS : : SNS : : Topic Properties : TopicName : !Sub "${AWS::StackName}-approval" Related Resources CloudWatch Documentation AWS CloudFormation User Guide CloudWatch Best Practices Service Level Indicators CloudFormation Drift Detection CloudFormation Change Sets Additional Files For complete details on resources and their properties, consult: REFERENCE.md - Detailed reference guide for all CloudFormation resources EXAMPLES.md - Complete production-ready examples