Alerting policies in GCP - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is an alerting policy in Google Cloud Monitoring?

An alerting policy is a set of rules that watches your cloud resources and sends notifications when something unusual happens, like high CPU usage or low disk space.

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What are the main components of an alerting policy?

An alerting policy includes conditions (what to watch), notification channels (where to send alerts), and documentation (details about the alert).

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How does a condition in an alerting policy work?

A condition defines a specific metric or log to monitor and sets thresholds that trigger an alert when crossed.

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Why is it important to configure notification channels in alerting policies?

Notification channels tell Google Cloud where to send alerts, such as email, SMS, or chat apps, so the right people get notified quickly.

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What is the benefit of adding documentation to an alerting policy?

Documentation helps explain what the alert means and what actions to take, making it easier for teams to respond effectively.

What triggers an alert in a Google Cloud alerting policy?

A When a new VM instance is created

B When a monitored metric crosses a set threshold

C When a user logs into the cloud console

D When billing exceeds a budget

Alerts are triggered when monitored metrics meet or exceed the thresholds defined in the alerting policy conditions.

Which of the following is NOT a notification channel in Google Cloud alerting policies?

A Physical mail

B SMS

C Slack

D Email

Google Cloud supports email, SMS, and chat apps like Slack, but not physical mail as a notification channel.

What is the purpose of documentation in an alerting policy?

A To configure notification channels

B To store metric data

C To explain the alert and response steps

D To create new VM instances

Documentation provides context and instructions for the alert, helping teams understand and respond properly.

Which component defines what to monitor in an alerting policy?

A Condition

B Notification channel

C Documentation

D Billing account

Conditions specify the metrics or logs to watch and the thresholds that trigger alerts.

How can alerting policies help your team?

A By creating new resources

B By automatically fixing issues

C By increasing cloud costs

D By notifying the team about problems early

Alerting policies notify your team early about issues so they can act quickly to fix them.

Describe the key parts of a Google Cloud alerting policy and how they work together.

Think about what you watch, who you tell, and what you explain.

Explain why setting up notification channels is important in alerting policies.

Consider how alerts reach your team.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of an alerting policy in Google Cloud Monitoring?

easy

A. To watch cloud metrics and notify when something needs attention

B. To deploy virtual machines automatically

C. To store data backups securely

D. To manage user access permissions

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the role of alerting policies

   An alerting policy monitors cloud metrics continuously to detect issues.

2. Step 2: Identify the main function

   When a condition is met, it sends notifications to inform the team.

3. Final Answer:

   To watch cloud metrics and notify when something needs attention -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Alerting policy = notify on metric issues [OK]

Hint: Alerting policies notify on metric changes [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing alerting with deployment
• Thinking alerting manages backups
• Mixing alerting with access control

2. Which of the following is the correct way to specify a notification channel in a Google Cloud alerting policy configuration?

easy

A. "channels": "my-project/notification/12345"

B. "notifyChannel": "12345"

C. "notification": "channel-12345"

D. "notificationChannels": ["projects/my-project/notificationChannels/12345"]

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall notification channel format

   Google Cloud expects notification channels as full resource names in an array.

2. Step 2: Match correct syntax

   "notificationChannels": ["projects/my-project/notificationChannels/12345"] uses the correct JSON key and full resource path format.

3. Final Answer:

   "notificationChannels": ["projects/my-project/notificationChannels/12345"] -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Notification channels use full resource names in array [OK]

Hint: Use full resource names in an array for notificationChannels [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using wrong key names like notifyChannel
• Providing notification channel as a string, not array
• Omitting project prefix in resource name

3. Given this alerting policy condition snippet:

{"conditionThreshold": {"filter": "metric.type=\"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization\"", "comparison": "COMPARISON_GT", "thresholdValue": 0.8, "duration": "300s"}}

What triggers this alert?

medium

A. CPU utilization is less than 80% for 5 minutes

B. CPU utilization is greater than 80% for 5 minutes

C. CPU utilization is exactly 80% at any time

D. CPU utilization is greater than 80% for 30 seconds

Solution

1. Step 1: Interpret the condition filter and comparison

   The filter targets CPU utilization metric, and comparison is greater than 0.8 (80%).

2. Step 2: Understand the duration

   The duration is 300 seconds, meaning the condition must hold for 5 minutes continuously.

3. Final Answer:

   CPU utilization is greater than 80% for 5 minutes -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Threshold > 0.8 for 300s = alert [OK]

Hint: Check comparison and duration for alert trigger [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing greater than with less than
• Ignoring duration requirement
• Assuming exact equality triggers alert

4. You created an alerting policy but no notifications are sent when the condition is met. What is the most likely cause?

medium

A. Notification channels are not configured or linked properly

B. The metric filter is too broad

C. The alerting policy is disabled by default

D. The project has no billing account

Solution

1. Step 1: Check notification channel setup

   If no notifications arrive, the most common cause is missing or incorrect notification channels.

2. Step 2: Verify alerting policy status and billing

   Alerting policies are enabled by default and billing issues usually don't block notifications.

3. Final Answer:

   Notification channels are not configured or linked properly -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   No notifications usually mean missing channels [OK]

Hint: Verify notification channels linked to policy [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming alerting policies are disabled by default
• Blaming billing for notification failure
• Ignoring notification channel configuration

5. You want to create an alerting policy that notifies your team only if CPU usage is above 70% for 10 minutes, but only during business hours (9 AM to 5 PM). Which approach best achieves this?

hard

A. Set the alert threshold to 70% and rely on team to ignore alerts outside business hours

B. Create an alerting policy without conditions and manually check CPU usage during business hours

C. Use an alerting policy with a condition on CPU usage and add a time window using an uptime check or schedule-based notification channel

D. Configure the alerting policy to notify continuously regardless of time

Solution

1. Step 1: Define CPU usage condition with duration

   Set condition threshold to >70% CPU usage sustained for 10 minutes.

2. Step 2: Limit notifications to business hours

   Use scheduling features like uptime checks or notification channel schedules to restrict alerts to 9 AM-5 PM.

3. Final Answer:

   Use an alerting policy with a condition on CPU usage and add a time window using an uptime check or schedule-based notification channel -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Combine metric condition + time window for precise alerts [OK]

Hint: Combine metric condition with time-based notification [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring time restrictions in alerting policy
• Relying on manual checks instead of automation
• Not setting duration for CPU usage condition