Create a monitoring check using the Cloud Control Panel

This article describes how to create monitoring checks by using Rackspace Monitoring through the Cloud Control Panel. Each of the monitoring checks you can create with the Cloud Control Panel is based on predefined check templates.

You can view the settings for each check template in the Rackspace Monitoring Developer Guide.

You can also use raxmon, a command-line interface, to perform these and other actions on a monitoring check.

For the latest information about Rackspace Monitoring pricing and other general questions, see the Rackspace Monitoring FAQ
and the Rackspace Monitoring main product page.

Note: With General Purpose servers, Rackspace Monitoring monitors only the system disk and does not monitor the data disk.

Create a monitoring check

1. Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.

2. In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.

3. Click Servers > Cloud Servers.

4. In the list of servers, click the name of the server for which you want to create a check.

5. On the server Details page, scroll to the Monitoring Checks section and click Create Check.

6. From the Check Type list, select the service that you want to monitor.

   There are two types of checks that you can monitor:

   a. Remote Service Checks

   • HTTP Check (Website)
   • TCP Check (Port)
   • Ping Check (Server)

   b. Agent Checks

   • Memory
   • CPU
   • Load Average (Linux)
   • Filesystem
   • Network

7. Enter a descriptive name for the monitoring check in the Check Name box.

8. If you selected the HTTP Check (website) check, enter the URL of the website you want to monitor.

   (Optional: HTTP Check Only) Click Advanced Options and enter in the Body Match box a word or phrase that appears on the page when it loads successfully. For example, you can do a body match on the copyright date.

Check parameters

Each check is configured by default to originate from the following regions:
DFW, ORD, and LON. After you create your monitoring check, you can edit the Parameters under Check Details by clicking the edit pencil.

You can change the Check Every and Timeout After.

Check status

The check status is calculated by determining if there is an agreement from a majority of the monitoring zones (two out of three monitoring zones running the check). This method helps to avoid reporting false negatives. A check has to fail in two of the three monitoring zones before the check state is deemed CRITICAL.

The combined results of the check from all three monitoring zones determine the check's state. The check state can be one of the following:

• Green = OK
• Yellow = WARNING
• Red = CRITICAL. The technical contact (the primary contact on the Rackspace account) receives an email describing the situation.