# Configuring groups
Groups are a collection of traces that are defined by a filter expression. You can use groups to generate additional service graphs and supply Amazon CloudWatch metrics. You can use the AWS X-Ray console or X-Ray API to create and manage groups for your services. This topic describes how to create and manage groups by using the X-Ray console. For information about how to manage groups by using the X-Ray API, see [Groups](xray-api-configuration.md#xray-api-configuration-groups).
You can create groups of traces for trace maps, traces, or analytics. When you create a group, the group becomes available as a filter on the group dropdown menu on all three pages: **Trace Map**, **Traces**, and **Analytics**.
![\[Group menu\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-menu.png)
Groups are identified by their name or an Amazon Resource Name (ARN), and contain a filter expression. The service compares incoming traces to the expression and stores them accordingly. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md).
Updating a group's filter expression doesn't change data that's already recorded. The update applies only to subsequent traces. This can result in a merged graph of the new and old expressions. To avoid this, delete a current group and create a new one.
**Note**
Groups are billed by the number of retrieved traces that match the filter expression. For more information, see [AWS X-Ray pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/xray/pricing/).
**Topics**
+ [
## Create a group
](#xray-console-group-create-console)
+ [
## Apply a group
](#xray-console-group-apply)
+ [
## Edit a group
](#xray-console-group-edit)
+ [
## Clone a group
](#xray-console-group-clone)
+ [
## Delete a group
](#xray-console-group-delete)
+ [
## View group metrics in Amazon CloudWatch
](#xray-console-group-cloudwatch)
## Create a group
**Note**
You can now configure X-Ray groups from within the Amazon CloudWatch console. You can also continue to use the X-Ray console.
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Choose **Settings** in the left navigation pane.
1. Choose **View settings** under **Groups** within the **X-Ray traces** section.
1. Choose **Create group** above the list of groups.
1. On the **Create group** page, enter a name for the group. A group name can have a maximum of 32 characters, and contain alphanumeric characters and dashes. Group names are case sensitive.
1. Enter a filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`. and requests to the service where the response time was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
fault = true AND http.url CONTAINS "example/game" AND responsetime >= 5
```
1. In **Insights**, enable or disable insights access for the group. For more information about insights, see [Using X-Ray insights](xray-console-insights.md).
![\[Insights check boxes on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-insights-cw.png)
1. In **Tags**, choose **Add new tag** to enter a tag key, and optionally, a tag value. Continue to add additional tags as desired. Tag keys must be unique. To delete a tag, choose **Remove** underneath each tag. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
![\[Tag fields on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-tags-cw.png)
1. Choose **Create group**.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Open the **Create group** page from the **Groups** page in the left navigation pane, or from the group menu on one of the following pages: **Trace Map**, **Traces**, and **Analytics**.
1. On the **Create group** page, enter a name for the group. A group name can have a maximum of 32 characters, and contain alphanumeric characters and dashes. Group names are case sensitive.
1. Enter a filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`. and requests to the service where the response time was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
fault = true AND http.url CONTAINS "example/game" AND responsetime >= 5
```
1. In **Insights**, enable or disable insights access for the group. For more information about insights, see [Using X-Ray insights](xray-console-insights.md).
![\[Insights check boxes on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-insights.png)
1. In **Tags**, enter a tag key, and optionally, a tag value. As you add a tag, a new line appears for you to enter another tag. Tag keys must be unique. To delete a tag, choose **X** at the end of the tag's row. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
![\[Tag fields on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-tags.png)
1. Choose **Create group**.
------
## Apply a group
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Open one of the following pages from the navigation pane under **X-Ray traces**:
+ **Trace Map**
+ **Traces**
1. Enter a group name into the **Filter by X-Ray group** filter. The data shown on the page changes to match the filter expression set in the group.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Open one of the following pages from the navigation pane:
+ **Trace Map**
+ **Traces**
+ **Analytics**
1. On the group menu, choose the group that you created in [Create a group](#xray-console-group-create-console). The data shown on the page changes to match the filter expression set in the group.
------
## Edit a group
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Choose **Settings** in the left navigation pane.
1. Choose **View settings** under **Groups** within the **X-Ray traces** section.
1. Choose a group from the **Groups** section and then choose **Edit**.
1. Although you can't rename a group, you can update the filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`, where the request URL address contains `example/game`, and response time for requests was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
fault = true AND http.url CONTAINS "example/game" AND responsetime >= 5
```
1. In **Insights**, enable or disable insights access for the group. For more information about insights, see [Using X-Ray insights](xray-console-insights.md).
![\[Insights check boxes on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-insights-cw.png)
1. In **Tags**, choose **Add new tag** to enter a tag key, and optionally, a tag value. Continue to add additional tags as desired. Tag keys must be unique. To delete a tag, choose **Remove** underneath each tag. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
![\[Tag fields on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-tags-cw.png)
1. When you're finished updating the group, choose **Update group**.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Do one of the following to open the **Edit group** page.
1. On the **Groups** page, choose the name of a group to edit it.
1. On the group menu on one of the following pages, point to a group, and then choose **Edit**.
+ **Trace Map**
+ **Traces**
+ **Analytics**
1. Although you can't rename a group, you can update the filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`, where the request URL address contains `example/game`, and response time for requests was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
fault = true AND http.url CONTAINS "example/game" AND responsetime >= 5
```
1. In **Insights**, enable or disable insights and insights notifications for the group. For more information about insights, see [Using X-Ray insights](xray-console-insights.md).
![\[Insights check boxes on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-insights.png)
1. In **Tags**, edit tag keys and values. Tag keys must be unique. Tag values are optional; you can delete values, if you want. To delete a tag, choose **X** at the end of the tag's row. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
![\[Tag fields on Group page\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/xray/latest/devguide/images/group-tags.png)
1. When you're finished updating the group, choose **Update group**.
------
## Clone a group
Cloning a group creates a new group that has the filter expression and tags of an existing group. When you clone a group, the new group has the same name as the group from which it's cloned, with `-clone` appended to the name.
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Choose **Settings** in the left navigation pane.
1. Choose **View settings** under **Groups** within the **X-Ray traces** section.
1. Choose a group from the **Groups** section and then choose **Clone**.
1. On the **Create group** page, the name of the group is *group-name*`-clone`. Optionally, enter a new name for the group. A group name can have a maximum of 32 characters, and contain alphanumeric characters and dashes. Group names are case sensitive.
1. You can keep the filter expression from the existing group, or optionally, enter a new filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`. and requests to the service where the response time was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
service("api.example.com") { fault = true OR responsetime >= 5 }
```
1. In **Tags**, edit tag keys and values, if needed. Tag keys must be unique. Tag values are optional; you can delete values if you want. To delete a tag, choose **X** at the end of the tag's row. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
1. Choose **Create group**.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Open the **Groups** page from the left navigation pane, and the choose the name of a group that you want to clone.
1. Choose **Clone group** from the **Actions** menu.
1. On the **Create group** page, the name of the group is *group-name*`-clone`. Optionally, enter a new name for the group. A group name can have a maximum of 32 characters, and contain alphanumeric characters and dashes. Group names are case sensitive.
1. You can keep the filter expression from the existing group, or optionally, enter a new filter expression. For more information about how to build a filter expression, see [Using filter expressions](xray-console-filters.md). In the following example, the group filters for fault traces from the service `api.example.com`. and requests to the service where the response time was greater than or equal to five seconds.
```
service("api.example.com") { fault = true OR responsetime >= 5 }
```
1. In **Tags**, edit tag keys and values, if needed. Tag keys must be unique. Tag values are optional; you can delete values if you want. To delete a tag, choose **X** at the end of the tag's row. For more information about tags, see [Tagging X-Ray sampling rules and groups](xray-tagging.md).
1. Choose **Create group**.
------
## Delete a group
Follow steps in this section to delete a group. You can't delete the **Default** group.
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Choose **Settings** in the left navigation pane.
1. Choose **View settings** under **Groups** within the **X-Ray traces** section.
1. Choose a group from the **Groups** section and then choose **Delete**.
1. When you're prompted to confirm, choose **Delete**.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Open the **Groups** page from the left navigation pane, and the choose the name of a group that you want to delete.
1. On the **Actions** menu, choose **Delete group**.
1. When you're prompted to confirm, choose **Delete**.
------
## View group metrics in Amazon CloudWatch
After a group is created, incoming traces are checked against the group’s filter expression as they're stored in the X-Ray service. Metrics for the number of traces matching each criteria are published to Amazon CloudWatch every minute. Choosing **View metric** on the **Edit group** page opens the CloudWatch console to the **Metric** page. For more information about how to use CloudWatch metrics, see [Using Amazon CloudWatch Metrics](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/working_with_metrics.html) in the *Amazon CloudWatch User Guide*.
------
#### [ CloudWatch console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).
1. Choose **Settings** in the left navigation pane.
1. Choose **View settings** under **Groups** within the **X-Ray traces** section.
1. Choose a group from the **Groups** section and then choose **Edit**.
1. On the **Edit group** page, choose **View metric**.
The CloudWatch console **Metrics** page opens in a new tab.
------
#### [ X-Ray console ]
1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the X-Ray console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home](https://console.aws.amazon.com/xray/home).
1. Open the **Groups** page from the left navigation pane, and the choose the name of a group that you want to view metrics for.
1. On the **Edit group** page, choose **View metric**.
The CloudWatch console **Metrics** page opens in a new tab.
------