Alerting policies in GCP - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to specify the metric type for the alerting policy.

GCP

metric_type: "[1]"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acustom.googleapis.com/my_metric

Bstorage.googleapis.com/bucket/size

Clogging.googleapis.com/log_entry_count

Dcompute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a custom metric name when a standard metric is required.

The metric_type field must specify the exact metric to monitor. Here, CPU utilization for compute instances is a common choice.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to set the threshold value for the alert condition.

GCP

threshold_value: [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A1.5

B0.5

C0.8

D2.0

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using values greater than 1 for utilization thresholds.

The threshold value defines when the alert triggers. For CPU utilization, 0.8 means 80% usage.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the alerting policy condition operator.

GCP

comparison: "[1]"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ACOMPARISON_NE

BCOMPARISON_GT

CCOMPARISON_EQ

DCOMPARISON_LT

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using COMPARISON_LT when the alert should trigger on high values.

The operator COMPARISON_GT triggers the alert when the metric exceeds the threshold.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to define the alerting policy's notification channel and display name.

GCP

notification_channels:
  - "[1]"
display_name: "[2]"

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aprojects/my-project/notificationChannels/1234567890

BHigh CPU Alert

Cprojects/my-project/notificationChannels/0987654321

DDisk Space Alert

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using display names in place of notification channel resource names.

The notification_channels field requires the full resource name of the channel. The display_name is a friendly name for the alert.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to complete the alerting policy condition with metric, duration, and trigger count.

GCP

condition:
  filter: "metric.type = '[1]'"
  duration: "[2]"
  trigger:
    count: [3]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acompute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization

B300s

C1

Dstorage.googleapis.com/bucket/size

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using wrong metric names or incorrect duration format.

The filter specifies the metric to monitor. Duration is how long the condition must hold. Trigger count is how many times the condition must be met.

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