Set up Dynatrace Managed for AWS monitoring

You can integrate Dynatrace with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for intelligent monitoring of services running in the Amazon Cloud. AWS integration helps you stay on top of the dynamics of your data center in the cloud.

Overview

Follow these basic steps to integrate Dynatrace Managed with Amazon Web Services (AWS):

1. Create AWS monitoring policy

2. Choose an access method:

   • Key-based access
   • Role-based access

3. Define AWS resource tagging

AWS costs

Dynatrace makes Amazon API requests every 5 minutes. In addition to CloudWatch API calls, Dynatrace makes API calls to the monitored AWS services in order to learn about their instances, tags, etc. The list of called services and actions is available below in the Create the monitoring policy section. Here's a rough estimate of AWS monitoring costs:

AWS monitoring policy

The AWS monitoring policy defines the minimal scope of permissions you need to give to Dynatrace to monitor the services running in your AWS account. Create it once and use anytime when enabling Dynatrace access to your AWS account.

1. Go to Identity and Access Management (IAM) in your Amazon Console.

2. Go to Policies and click Create policy.

3. Select the JSON tab, and paste the predefined policy from the box below.

   Predefined policy in JSON

   jsoncopydownload
   {
   	"Version": "2012-10-17",
   	"Statement": [
   		{
   			"Sid": "VisualEditor0",
   			"Effect": "Allow",
   			"Action": [
   				"acm-pca:ListCertificateAuthorities", 
   				"apigateway:GET", 
   				"apprunner:ListServices", 
   				"appstream:DescribeFleets", 
   				"appsync:ListGraphqlApis", 
   				"athena:ListWorkGroups", 
   				"autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups", 
   				"cloudformation:ListStackResources", 
   				"cloudfront:ListDistributions", 
   				"cloudhsm:DescribeClusters", 
   				"cloudsearch:DescribeDomains", 
   				"cloudwatch:GetMetricData", 
   				"cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics", 
   				"cloudwatch:ListMetrics", 
   				"codebuild:ListProjects", 
   				"datasync:ListTasks", 
   				"dax:DescribeClusters", 
   				"directconnect:DescribeConnections", 
   				"dms:DescribeReplicationInstances", 
   				"dynamodb:ListTables", 
   				"dynamodb:ListTagsOfResource", 
   				"ec2:DescribeAvailabilityZones", 
   				"ec2:DescribeInstances", 
   				"ec2:DescribeNatGateways", 
   				"ec2:DescribeSpotFleetRequests", 
   				"ec2:DescribeTransitGateways", 
   				"ec2:DescribeVolumes", 
   				"ec2:DescribeVpnConnections", 
   				"ecs:ListClusters", 
   				"eks:ListClusters", 
   				"elasticache:DescribeCacheClusters", 
   				"elasticbeanstalk:DescribeEnvironmentResources", 
   				"elasticbeanstalk:DescribeEnvironments", 
   				"elasticfilesystem:DescribeFileSystems", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeInstanceHealth", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeListeners", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeLoadBalancers", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeRules", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTags", 
   				"elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetHealth", 
   				"elasticmapreduce:ListClusters", 
   				"elastictranscoder:ListPipelines", 
   				"es:ListDomainNames", 
   				"events:ListEventBuses", 
   				"firehose:ListDeliveryStreams", 
   				"fsx:DescribeFileSystems", 
   				"gamelift:ListFleets", 
   				"glue:GetJobs", 
   				"inspector:ListAssessmentTemplates", 
   				"kafka:ListClusters", 
   				"kinesis:ListStreams", 
   				"kinesisanalytics:ListApplications", 
   				"kinesisvideo:ListStreams", 
   				"lambda:ListFunctions", 
   				"lambda:ListTags", 
   				"lex:GetBots", 
   				"logs:DescribeLogGroups", 
   				"mediaconnect:ListFlows", 
   				"mediaconvert:DescribeEndpoints", 
   				"mediapackage-vod:ListPackagingConfigurations", 
   				"mediapackage:ListChannels", 
   				"mediatailor:ListPlaybackConfigurations", 
   				"opsworks:DescribeStacks", 
   				"qldb:ListLedgers", 
   				"rds:DescribeDBClusters", 
   				"rds:DescribeDBInstances", 
   				"rds:DescribeEvents", 
   				"rds:ListTagsForResource", 
   				"redshift:DescribeClusters", 
   				"robomaker:ListSimulationJobs", 
   				"route53:ListHostedZones", 
   				"route53resolver:ListResolverEndpoints", 
   				"s3:ListAllMyBuckets", 
   				"sagemaker:ListEndpoints", 
   				"sns:ListTopics", 
   				"sqs:ListQueues", 
   				"storagegateway:ListGateways", 
   				"sts:GetCallerIdentity", 
   				"swf:ListDomains", 
   				"tag:GetResources", 
   				"tag:GetTagKeys", 
   				"transfer:ListServers", 
   				"workmail:ListOrganizations", 
   				"workspaces:DescribeWorkspaces"
   			],
   			"Resource": "*"
   		}
   	]
   }
   

4. Give the policy a name. For example Dynatrace_monitoring_policy. Type it in the Name field.

5. Click Create policy.

Access methods

To get the information required for comprehensive AWS cloud-computing monitoring, Dynatrace needs to identify all the virtualized infrastructure components in your AWS environment and collect performance metrics related to those components. We use this information to understand the context of your applications, services, and hosts. For this to happen, you need to authorize Dynatrace to access your Amazon metrics.

You can enable Dynatrace access to your AWS metrics by either using a private access key (key-based access) or defining a special role for Dynatrace (role-based access). In all the cases, make sure that your Environment ActiveGate or Managed Cluster have a working connection to AWS. Configure your proxy for Managed or ActiveGate, or allow access to *.amazonaws.com in your firewall settings.

As a best practice, use temporary security credentials (IAM roles) instead of access keys, and disable any AWS account root user access keys.

Key-based access

If you decide to use key-based authentication, remember to rotate the keys periodically. Keep in mind that you need to perform this procedure each time you change the key.

Enabling access to your Amazon account using key-based access

Dynatrace can use access keys to make secure REST or Query protocol requests to the AWS service API. You'll need to generate an Access key ID and a Secret access key that Dynatrace can use to get metrics from Amazon Web Services.

1. In your Amazon Console, go to Users and click Add User.

2. Enter a name for the key you want to create (for example, Dynatrace_monitoring_user). In Select AWS access type, select Programmatic access, and click Next:Permissions.

3. Click Attach existing policies directly and choose the monitoring policy you defined, for example Dynatrace_monitoring_policy. Click Next: Review.

4. Review the user details and click Create user.

5. Store the Access Key ID name (AKID) and Secret access key values.
   You can either download the user credentials or copy the credentials displayed online (click Show).

Connecting your Amazon account to Dynatrace using key-based access

Once you've granted AWS access to Dynatrace, it's time to connect Dynatrace to your Amazon AWS account.

1. In the Dynatrace menu, go to Settings > Cloud and virtualization > AWS and click Connect new instance.

2. Select Key-based authentication method.

   • Create a name for this connection. This is mandatory. Dynatrace needs this name to identify and display the connection.
   • In the Access key ID field, paste the identifier of the key you created in Amazon for Dynatrace access.
   • In the Secret access key field, paste the value of the key you created in Amazon for Dynatrace access.
   • Click Connect to verify and save the connection.

3. Once the connection is successfully verified and saved, your AWS account will be listed in the Cloud and virtualization settings page. You should soon begin to see AWS cloud monitoring data.

Role-based access

In a typical setup, you'll create and attach two roles, one for Dynatrace and one for your Environment ActiveGate (or Dynatrace Managed Server) hosted in your AWS infrastructure. In order to successfully integrate Dynatrace with AWS for monitoring of services using the role-based method, at least one of the Dynatrace components must be hosted in your AWS.

Enabling access to your Amazon account using role-based access

The steps described below apply in scenarios where the source and monitored accounts are the same and when they're different accounts. If you want to monitor multiple accounts, repeat Step 1 for each account and add them to the Statement.Resource array in the policy in Step 2.4.

Step 1. Create a monitoring role for Dynatrace on your monitored account

1. In your browser, open a new tab and sign in to Dynatrace to get the External ID. Go to Settings > Cloud and virtualization > AWS, select Connect new instance, select Role-based authentication from the Authentication method list, and then select Copy next to the Token field.

2. Go to Identity and Access Management (IAM) in your Amazon Console.

3. Go to Roles and click Create role.

4. Select the Another AWS account tile and establish trust with the Dynatrace account.

5. Paste the 12-digit account ID (hosting the ActiveGate) that is used to access the monitored account.

6. Select Require external ID option.

7. Paste the External ID you copied in the first step. Click Next: Permissions.

8. In the Attach permissions policies section, choose the monitoring policy you created, for example Dynatrace_monitoring_policy. Click Next: Review.

9. On the Review page, provide the role name, for example Dynatrace_monitoring_role. Remember it, you'll need it later to connect your Amazon account to Dynatrace. Click Create Role.

Step 2. Create a role for the ActiveGate or Dynatrace Managed Server host on your account hosting ActiveGate

Once the Dynatrace_monitoring_role is created on the monitored account, create a role for Environment ActiveGate or Dyntrace Managed Server that will be responsible for AWS monitoring.

1. In your Amazon Console, go to Roles, click Create role. Select AWS service and EC2 as the service that will use the role. Click Next: Permissions and skip to the Review page.

2. On the Review page, provide the role a name, for example Dynatrace_ActiveGate_role and click Create role.

3. Select Dynatrace_ActiveGate_role and click Add inline policy

4. Select the JSON and paste the predefined policy from below. Edit it and add:

   • The 12-digit monitored account number
   • The role name created in previous steps, (for example Dynatrace_monitoring_role), that is used to assume a monitoring role.

   Don't include the < and > characters.

   If you want to monitor multiple target accounts, add monitoring roles Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) of all monitoring accounts to "Resource" array.

   Dynatrace assume policy

   jsoncopydownload
   {
       "Statement": [
           {
               "Resource": [
                   "arn:aws:iam::<12-digit target account number>:role/<role created in previous step (Dynatrace_monitoring_role)>"
               ],
               "Action": [
                   "sts:AssumeRole"
               ],
               "Effect": "Allow"
           }
       ],
       "Version": "2012-10-17"
   }
   

   When done, click Review policy.

5. Name the inline policy you've just created, for example Dynatrace_assume_policy and click Create policy.

6. Go back to the Dynatrace_monitoring_role you created earlier and select Trust relationships tab in the role summary page and click Edit Trust Relationships.

7. Paste the JSON sample below into a text editor. Edit it and add:

   • The 12-digit number of the account hosting the ActiveGate,
   • The role with which your Environment ActiveGate or Dynatrace Managed Server was started, and the external ID you copied in previous steps.

   Don't include the < and > characters.

   Dynatrace trust policy

   jsoncopydownload
   {
     "Version": "2012-10-17",
     "Statement": [
       {
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "sts:AssumeRole",
         "Principal": {
           "AWS": [
             "arn:aws:iam::<12-digit source account number>:role/<role for your Dynatrace Managed Server (Dynatrace_ActiveGate_role)>"
           ]
         },
         "Condition": {
           "StringEquals": {
             "sts:ExternalId": "<External ID generated from tenant>"
           }
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

   Paste the modified text and click Update Trust Policy.

8. Go to the EC2 console, right-click an instance hosting your Environment ActiveGate or Dynatrace Managed Server, and select Security > Modify IAM role.

9. Select the role created earlier, Dynatrace_ActiveGate_role, and click Apply.

Step 3. Modify ActiveGate configuration

1. Edit the custom.properties file of your Environment ActiveGate.

2. Set the following properties as below:

   textcopydownload
   [aws_monitoring]
   use_aws_proxy_role = false
   aws_monitoring_enabled = true

   ActiveGate version 1.183 or earlier

   textcopydownload
   [vertical.topology]
   use_aws_proxy_role = false

   textcopydownload
   [aws_monitoring]
   aws_monitoring_enabled = true

   Multiple ActiveGates

   It's enough to use only one ActiveGate dedicated for AWS monitoring. However, some deployments scenarios, for example for redundancy purposes, might require multiple ActiveGates in your deployment.

   Make sure that only properly configured ActiveGates have aws_monitoring_enabled set to true.

   • They need network access to AWS endpoints.
   • For role-based monitoring, they must have proper roles attached.

   Keep in mind that Dynatrace cluster nodes contain embedded ActiveGates. Make sure to set the aws_monitoring_enabled property to false on these ActiveGates if they're not configured fully for AWS monitoring.

   If the ActiveGate is dedicated to AWS monitoring, you must also set the MSGrouter property to false:

   textcopydownload
   [collector]
   MSGrouter = false

   Remove aws_proxy_account and aws_proxy_role properties.

3. Save the file and restart ActiveGate.

Connecting your Amazon account to Dynatrace using role-based access

Once you've granted AWS access to Dynatrace, it's time to connect Dynatrace to your Amazon AWS account.

1. In Dynatrace, go to Settings > Cloud and virtualization > AWS and click Connect new instance.

2. Select the Role-based authentication method.

   • Create a name for this connection. If you leave this field empty, the name Role will be used on Dynatrace pages to define this connection.
   • In the Role field, type the name of the role you created in Amazon for Dynatrace, for example Dynatrace_monitoring_role.
   • Type your Account ID (the account you want us to pull metrics from).
   • Click Connect to verify and save the connection.

3. Once the connection is successfully verified and saved, your AWS account will be listed in the Cloud and virtualization settings page.
   You should soon begin to see AWS cloud monitoring data.

Define AWS resource tagging

We recommend that you limit the scope of your AWS monitoring and reduce the number API calls to Amazon. You can use tagging to limit the AWS resources (AWS service instances) that are monitored by Dynatrace.

Set up metric events for alerting

To configure metric events for alerting

1. In the Dynatrace menu, go to Settings > Cloud and virtualization > AWS.
2. Under Metric events for alerting, select Manage alerting rules.
3. On the Metric events for alerting page, you can create, enable/disable, and configure recommended alerting rules.

For an overview of all recommended alerting rules for all supporting services, see the list below.

1. Create and enable alerting rules.

   To enable recommended alerting rules, you first need to create them. You can create alerting rules and automatically enable them, or (if you clear Automatically enable created rules) create them and manually enable them after possible configuration changes.

   

   For example, you can create and automatically enable a first batch of alerts. When you start monitoring new services, you can create alerts for these new services without automatically enabling them (because you want to configure them first).

2. Configure alerting rules. How you edit rules depends on whether you chose to automatically enable alerts.

   • If you chose to automatically enable alerts when creating them, go to Adjust recommended alerting rules, expand Enabled recommended alerting rules, and select any rule. This takes you to Edit custom event for alerting, where you can change the configuration rules for that specific service.

     

   • If you didn't choose to automatically enable alerts when creating them, go to Enable recommended alerting rules, expand Disabled recommended alerting rules, and select any of the disabled rules. This takes you to the same Edit custom event for alerting page.

     

3. Disable alerting rules.

4. You can disable all alerting rules, or disable or delete them selectively.

   

   • To disable all alerting rules, go to Adjust recommended alerting rules and select Disable all enabled recommended alerting rules.
   • To disable or delete alerting rules selectively, go to Adjust recommended alerting rules and select Custom events for alerting. On the Custom events for alerting page, you can disable an alert by turning it off in the On/Off column, or you can delete it by selecting x in the Delete column.

   

   Note: If you disable any or all of the alerting rules, you can always re-enable them.