Working with Checks

Rackspace Intelligence provides an interface that you can use to create new checks to generate metrics for your entities, and to update existing checks.

Each check has a designated type. The type instructs the monitoring system how to check the monitored resource. Check types are divided into two categories: agent checks and remote checks.

Check types are divided into two categories: agent checks and remote checks.

Agent Checks

Agent checks monitor an entity's resource utilization. Agent checks are performed by the monitoring agent that is running on a server. For example, a Memory check monitors a server's memory use and can trigger an alarm if it detects memory use above a specified percentage.

Rackspace Intelligence supports the following agent checks:

• Apache
• CPU
• Custom Plugin
• Disk
• Filesystem
• Load Average
• Memory
• MySQL
• Network
• Redis
• SQL Server Buffer Manager
• SQL Server Memory Manager
• SQL Server Plan Cache
• SQL Server Statistics
• SQL Server Version
• Windows PerfOS

For detailed descriptions of these agent checks, see Agent check types. For information on how to install the monitoring agent, see Install and configure the agent.

Remote Checks

Remote checks monitor an entity's internet connectivity. Remote checks are performed by attempting to contact the entity from outside the entity. For example, a Ping check attempts to ping a server and can trigger an alarm if it detects packet loss above a specified percentage.

Rackspace Intelligence supports the following remote checks:

• DNS
• FTP Banner
• HTTP
• IMAP Banner
• Ping
• POP3 Banner
• SMTP
• SMTP Banner
• SSH
• TCP
• Telnet Banner

For detailed descriptions of these remote checks, see Remote check types.

Checks Available through CLI or API

Hostinfo checks, which are a special class of checks that run on demand, cannot be created in the Rackspace Intelligence interface. However, you can create them by using the Rackspace Monitoring CLI or API. These checks are described in Rackspace Cloud Monitoring Checks and Alarms.

Checks and Alerts

Checks can generate alerts. You can observe open alerts within the Rackspace Intelligence dashboard, as explained at Monitor open alerts with Rackspace Intelligence.
You can also choose to notify someone (for example, on-call technical support) or to suppress notification (for example, during scheduled maintenance).

Create a Check

To create a new check, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Rackspace Intelligence interface.
2. On the Monitoring page, click the entity for which you want to create the check.
3. In the Monitoring Checks section of the entity details page, click Create Check.
4. On the Create a Check page, click the Check Type box and select the appropriate check type from the list.
5. In the Check Name box, type a name for the check.
6. Specify any other values for the type of check that you are creating.
7. Optionally, create an alarm for the check. The Create Alarm option appears for certain check types and is automatically selected. You can provide alarm threshold values or clear the check box if you don’t want to create an alarm at this time.
8. Click Create Check or Create Check and Alarm.
   After successfully creating the check, Rackspace Intelligence displays a deatils page with the name of the check.

Edit a Check

To edit a check, navigate to the check's details page and click the Actions menu.

You can perform the following editing actions for checks.

Rename a Check

1. From the Actions menu on the check details page, select Rename Check.
2. In the Rename Check pop-up box, type the new name and then click Rename.

Add an Alarm

For instructions on adding an alarm for a check, see the "Create an alarm" section of Working with alarms.

Modify the Status of a Check

1. From the Actions menu on the check's details page, select Modify Status.
2. To enable the check, select Enabled. To disable the check, select Disabled.
3. Click Save Status.

Modify the Parameters of a Check

1. From the Actions menu on the check's details page, select Modify Parameters.
2. In the dialog box, type the new parameter values, and then click Save Parameters.

Delete a Check

1. From the Actions menu on the check's details page, select Delete Check.
2. To permanently delete the check, click Delete Check.