Cloud Monitoring overview in GCP - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to create a basic alert policy in Cloud Monitoring using gcloud CLI.

GCP

gcloud monitoring policies create --notification-channels=[1] --condition-display-name="High CPU Usage" --condition-filter="metric.type=\"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization\"" --condition-threshold-value=0.8

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

Aemail-channel

Bcpu-channel

Cdisk-channel

Dmemory-channel

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a metric name instead of a notification channel ID.

Leaving the notification channel blank.

The --notification-channels flag requires the ID of a notification channel, such as an email channel, to send alerts.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to list all monitored resource descriptors in Cloud Monitoring.

GCP

gcloud monitoring resource-descriptors [1]

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

Adescribe

Bcreate

Cdelete

Dlist

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using describe which shows details for one resource only.

Using create or delete which modify resources.

The list command shows all monitored resource descriptors available in Cloud Monitoring.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the command to create a metric descriptor for custom metrics.

GCP

gcloud monitoring metric-descriptors create [1] --metric-kind=GAUGE --value-type=DOUBLE --unit="1" --description="Custom metric"

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

Amy_metric

Bcustom.googleapis.com/my_metric

Ccompute.googleapis.com/my_metric

Dmetric/custom/my_metric

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Omitting the required prefix for custom metrics.

Using a Google Cloud predefined metric prefix.

Custom metric types must start with custom.googleapis.com/ to be valid in Cloud Monitoring.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a filter for CPU utilization metric with resource type 'gce_instance'.

GCP

filter="metric.type=[1] AND resource.type=[2]"

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

Acompute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization

Bgce_instance

Ccustom.googleapis.com/cpu_utilization

Daws_ec2_instance

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a custom metric type instead of the predefined CPU utilization metric.

Using a resource type from another cloud provider.

The metric type for CPU utilization on Google Compute Engine instances is compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization and the resource type is gce_instance.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a JSON snippet for a Cloud Monitoring alert policy condition.

GCP

{
  "displayName": "High Memory Usage",
  "condition": {
    "displayName": [1],
    "conditionThreshold": {
      "filter": [2],
      "comparison": [3]
    }
  }
}

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

A"High Memory Usage Condition"

B"metric.type=\"compute.googleapis.com/instance/memory/utilization\""

C"COMPARISON_GT"

D"memory_condition"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted strings for JSON values.

Using incorrect comparison operators.

The displayName is a string describing the condition. The filter specifies the metric type for memory utilization. The comparison uses COMPARISON_GT to trigger when usage is greater than the threshold.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of Cloud Monitoring in Google Cloud Platform?

easy

A. To watch and track the health and performance of cloud resources

B. To create virtual machines automatically

C. To store large amounts of data securely

D. To manage user permissions and roles

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand Cloud Monitoring's role

   Cloud Monitoring is designed to observe and report on the status and performance of cloud resources.

2. Step 2: Compare options with this role

   Options B, C, and D describe other services like Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, and IAM, not monitoring.

3. Final Answer:

   To watch and track the health and performance of cloud resources -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Cloud Monitoring = watch cloud health [OK]

Hint: Monitoring means watching resource health and performance [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing monitoring with storage or VM creation
• Thinking monitoring manages user access
• Assuming monitoring creates resources automatically

2. Which command correctly lists all alert policies using the gcloud tool?

easy

A. gcloud alert-policies show

B. gcloud monitoring alerts list

C. gcloud monitoring alert-policies list

D. gcloud monitoring policies get

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall gcloud command structure for alert policies

   The correct command to list alert policies is under 'monitoring alert-policies list'.

2. Step 2: Verify each option's correctness

   gcloud monitoring alert-policies list matches the correct syntax. Options A, B, and D use incorrect verbs or resource names.

3. Final Answer:

   gcloud monitoring alert-policies list -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   List alert policies = gcloud monitoring alert-policies list [OK]

Hint: Use 'gcloud monitoring alert-policies list' to see alerts [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using 'alerts' instead of 'alert-policies'
• Using 'show' instead of 'list' to list policies
• Mixing command verbs and resource names

3. What will be the output of this command?

gcloud monitoring metrics list --filter="metric.type=compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization" --limit=1

medium

A. Deletes the CPU utilization metric

B. Shows an error because the filter syntax is wrong

C. Lists all metrics without filtering

D. Lists one metric descriptor for CPU utilization of Compute Engine instances

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the command components

   The command lists metric descriptors filtered by CPU utilization metric type, limiting output to one.

2. Step 2: Analyze expected output

   The output will show one metric descriptor matching the filter. No deletion or error occurs.

3. Final Answer:

   Lists one metric descriptor for CPU utilization of Compute Engine instances -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Filter + limit = one matching metric listed [OK]

Hint: Filter with --filter and limit results with --limit [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming filter syntax is invalid
• Expecting all metrics without filter
• Confusing list with delete command

4. You tried to create an alert policy with this command:

gcloud monitoring alert-policies create --notification-channels=1234567890 --condition-display-name="High CPU" --condition-filter="metric.type=compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization" --condition-threshold-value=0.8

But it failed. What is the likely error?

medium

A. Missing required flag --condition-aggregations

B. Notification channel ID is invalid or missing

C. Condition filter syntax is incorrect

D. Threshold value must be a string, not a number

Solution

1. Step 1: Check notification channel usage

   The notification channel ID must be a valid existing channel; '1234567890' is likely a placeholder or invalid.

2. Step 2: Verify other flags

   Flags like condition filter and threshold value are syntactically correct; aggregation is optional.

3. Final Answer:

   Notification channel ID is invalid or missing -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Invalid notification channel causes failure [OK]

Hint: Check notification channel IDs exist before using [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming aggregation is always required
• Misformatting condition filter
• Using wrong data type for threshold

5. You want to create a dashboard that shows CPU utilization and memory usage for your Compute Engine instances. Which steps should you follow?

hard

A. Use Cloud Console to create a dashboard, add widgets for CPU and memory metrics, then save

B. Run gcloud commands to create a dashboard and add metrics in one command

C. Create alert policies for CPU and memory, then dashboards are created automatically

D. Use Cloud Storage to upload a JSON file with dashboard configuration

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand dashboard creation process

   Dashboards are created in Cloud Console by adding widgets for desired metrics.

2. Step 2: Evaluate options for dashboard creation

   Use Cloud Console to create a dashboard, add widgets for CPU and memory metrics, then save describes the correct manual process. Run gcloud commands to create a dashboard and add metrics in one command is incorrect as gcloud does not support full dashboard creation in one command. Create alert policies for CPU and memory, then dashboards are created automatically confuses alerts with dashboards. Use Cloud Storage to upload a JSON file with dashboard configuration misuses Cloud Storage.

3. Final Answer:

   Use Cloud Console to create a dashboard, add widgets for CPU and memory metrics, then save -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Dashboards made via Console with widgets [OK]

Hint: Create dashboards in Console by adding metric widgets [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking gcloud can create dashboards fully
• Confusing alert policies with dashboards
• Uploading dashboard configs to Cloud Storage