AWSSupport-CalculateEBSPerformanceMetrics - AWS Systems Manager Automation runbook reference

AWSSupport-CalculateEBSPerformanceMetrics

Description

The AWSSupport-CalculateEBSPerformanceMetrics runbook helps diagnose Amazon EBS performance issues by calculating and publishing performance metrics to a CloudWatch dashboard. The dashboard displays the estimated average IOPS and throughput for a target Amazon EBS volume or all the volumes attached to the target Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance. For Amazon EC2 instances, it also shows the instance's average IOPS and throughput. The runbook outputs the link to the newly created CloudWatch dashboard that displays the relevant calculated CloudWatch metrics. The CloudWatch dashboard is created in your account with the name: AWSSupport-<ResourceId>-EBS-Performance-<automation:EXECUTION_ID>.

How does it work?

The runbook performs the following steps:

  • Ensures that the specified timestamps are valid.

  • Validates if the Resource ID (Amazon EBS Volume or Amazon EC2 Instance) is valid.

  • When you provide an Amazon EC2 as a ResourceID, it creates a CloudWatch dashboard with Actual Total IOPS/Throughput for that Amazon EC2 instance and Estimated Average IOPS/Throughput graph for all Amazon EBS volumes attached to an Amazon EC2 instance.

  • When you provide an Amazon EBS Volume as a ResourceID, it creates a CloudWatch dashboard with Estimated Average IOPS/Throughput graph for that volume.

  • After the CloudWatch dashboard is generated, if Estimated Average IOPS or Estimated Average Throughput is more than Maximum IOPS or Maximum Throughput, respectively, then microbursting is possible for the volume or volumes attached to an Amazon EC2 instance.

Note

For burstable volumes (gp2, sc2, and st1), the maximum IOPS/throughput should be consider, until you have burst balance. After burst balance is completely utilized i.e. it becomes zero, consider baseline IOPS/throughput metrics.

Important

Creating the CloudWatch dashboard might result in your extra charges to your account. For more information, consult the Amazon CloudWatch Pricing guide.

Run this Automation (console)

Document type

Automation

Owner

Amazon

Platforms

Linux, macOS, Windows

Parameters

Required IAM permissions

The AutomationAssumeRole parameter requires the following actions to use the runbook successfully.

  • ec2:DescribeVolumes

  • ec2:DescribeInstances

  • ec2:DescribeInstanceTypes

  • cloudwatch:PutDashboard

Sample Policy


        {
            "Version": "2012-10-17",
            "Statement": [
                {
                    "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
                    "Effect": "Allow",
                    "Action": "cloudwatch:PutDashboard",
                    "Resource": "arn:aws:cloudwatch::Account-id:dashboard/*-EBS-Performance-*"
                },
                {
                    "Sid": "VisualEditor1",
                    "Effect": "Allow",
                    "Action": [
                        "ec2:DescribeInstances",
                        "ec2:DescribeVolumes",
                        "ec2:DescribeInstanceTypes"
                    ],
                    "Resource": "*"
                }
            ]
        }

Instructions

Follow these steps to configure the automation:

  1. Navigate to AWSSupport-CalculateEBSPerformanceMetrics in Systems Manager under Documents.

  2. Select Execute automation.

  3. For the input parameters, enter the following:

    • AutomationAssumeRole (Optional):

      The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the AWS AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) role that allows Systems Manager Automation to perform the actions on your behalf. If no role is specified, Systems Manager Automation uses the permissions of the user who starts this runbook.

    • ResourceID (Required):

      The ID of the Amazon EC2 instance or Amazon EBS volume.

    • Start time (Required):

      The start time to view the data in CloudWatch. The time must be in the format yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss and in UTC.

    • End time (Required):

      The end time to view the data in CloudWatch. The time must be in the format yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss and in UTC.

    Input parameters form for AWS Systems Manager Automation with fields for role, resource ID, and time range.

  4. Select Execute.

  5. The automation initiates.

  6. The document performs the following steps:

    • CheckResourceIdAndTimeStamps:

      Checks if end time is greater than start time by at least one minute and if the resource provided exists.

    • CreateCloudWatchDashboard:

      Calculates Amazon EBS performance and displays a graph based on your Resource ID. If you provide an Amazon EBS Volume ID for the parameter Resource ID, this runbook creates a CloudWatch dashboard with estimated average IOPS and estimated average throughput for the Amazon EBS volume. If you provide an Amazon EC2 Instance ID for the parameter Resource ID, this runbook creates a CloudWatch dashboard with Average Total IOPS and Average Total Throughput for Amazon EC2 instance and with Estimated average IOPS and estimated average throughput for all Amazon EBS volumes attached to the Amazon EC2 instance.

  7. After completed, review the Outputs section for the detailed results of the execution:

    CloudWatch dashboard creation output showing a URL link and a message with instructions.

    Example CloudWatch Dashboard For Resource ID as Amazon EC2 instance

    CloudWatch dashboard showing EC2 instance metrics with graphs for IOPS, throughput, and volume performance.

    Example CloudWatch Dashboard For Resource ID as Amazon EBS volume id

    CloudWatch dashboard showing EBS volume performance metrics with IOPS and throughput graphs.

References

Systems Manager Automation

AWS service documentation