Create a classic metric alert rule with a Resource Manager template
Warning
This article describes how to create older classic metric alert rules. Azure Monitor now supports newer near-real time metric alerts and a new alerts experience. Classic alerts are retired for public cloud users. Classic alerts for Azure Government cloud and Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet will retire on 29 February 2024.
This article shows how you can use an Azure Resource Manager templateto configure Azure classic metric alert rules. This enables you to automatically set up alert rules on your resources when they are created to ensure that all resources are monitored correctly.
The basic steps are as follows:
- Create a template as a JSON file that describes how to create the alert rule.
- Deploy the template using any deployment method.
Below we describe how to create a Resource Manager template first for an alert rule alone, then for an alert rule during the creation of another resource.
Resource Manager template for a classic metric alert rule
To create an alert rule using a Resource Manager template, you create a resource of type Microsoft.Insights/alertRules and fill in all related properties. Below is a template that creates an alert rule.
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2015-01-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"alertName": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"description": "Name of alert"
}
},
"alertDescription": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "Description of alert"
}
},
"isEnabled": {
"type": "bool",
"defaultValue": true,
"metadata": {
"description": "Specifies whether alerts are enabled"
}
},
"resourceId": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "Resource ID of the resource emitting the metric that will be used for the comparison."
}
},
"metricName": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "Name of the metric used in the comparison to activate the alert."
}
},
"operator": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "GreaterThan",
"allowedValues": [
"GreaterThan",
"GreaterThanOrEqual",
"LessThan",
"LessThanOrEqual"
],
"metadata": {
"description": "Operator comparing the current value with the threshold value."
}
},
"threshold": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "The threshold value at which the alert is activated."
}
},
"aggregation": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "Average",
"allowedValues": [
"Average",
"Last",
"Maximum",
"Minimum",
"Total"
],
"metadata": {
"description": "How the data that is collected should be combined over time."
}
},
"windowSize": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "PT5M",
"metadata": {
"description": "Period of time used to monitor alert activity based on the threshold. Must be between five minutes and one day. ISO 8601 duration format."
}
},
"sendToServiceOwners": {
"type": "bool",
"defaultValue": true,
"metadata": {
"description": "Specifies whether alerts are sent to service owners"
}
},
"customEmailAddresses": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "Comma-delimited email addresses where the alerts are also sent"
}
},
"webhookUrl": {
"type": "string",
"defaultValue": "",
"metadata": {
"description": "URL of a webhook that will receive an HTTP POST when the alert activates."
}
}
},
"variables": {
"customEmails": "[split(parameters('customEmailAddresses'), ',')]"
},
"resources": [
{
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertRules",
"name": "[parameters('alertName')]",
"location": "[resourceGroup().location]",
"apiVersion": "2016-03-01",
"properties": {
"name": "[parameters('alertName')]",
"description": "[parameters('alertDescription')]",
"isEnabled": "[parameters('isEnabled')]",
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[parameters('resourceId')]",
"metricName": "[parameters('metricName')]"
},
"operator": "[parameters('operator')]",
"threshold": "[parameters('threshold')]",
"windowSize": "[parameters('windowSize')]",
"timeAggregation": "[parameters('aggregation')]"
},
"actions": [
{
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": "[parameters('sendToServiceOwners')]",
"customEmails": "[variables('customEmails')]"
},
{
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleWebhookAction",
"serviceUri": "[parameters('webhookUrl')]",
"properties": {}
}
]
}
}
]
}
An explanation of the schema and properties for an alert rule is available here.
Resource Manager template for a resource with a classic metric alert rule
An alert rule on a Resource Manager template is most often useful when creating an alert rule while creating a resource. For example, you may want to ensure that a “CPU % > 80” rule is set up every time you deploy a Virtual Machine. To do this, you add the alert rule as a resource in the resource array for your VM template and add a dependency using the dependsOn property to the VM resource ID. Here’s a full example that creates a Windows VM and adds an alert rule that notifies subscription admins when the CPU utilization goes above 80%.
{
"$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2014-04-01-preview/deploymentTemplate.json#",
"contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
"parameters": {
"newStorageAccountName": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"Description": "The name of the storage account where the VM disk is stored."
}
},
"adminUsername": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"Description": "The name of the administrator account on the VM."
}
},
"adminPassword": {
"type": "securestring",
"metadata": {
"Description": "The administrator account password on the VM."
}
},
"dnsNameForPublicIP": {
"type": "string",
"metadata": {
"Description": "The name of the public IP address used to access the VM."
}
}
},
"variables": {
"location": "Central US",
"imagePublisher": "MicrosoftWindowsServer",
"imageOffer": "WindowsServer",
"windowsOSVersion": "2012-R2-Datacenter",
"OSDiskName": "osdisk1",
"nicName": "nc1",
"addressPrefix": "10.0.0.0/16",
"subnetName": "sn1",
"subnetPrefix": "10.0.0.0/24",
"storageAccountType": "Standard_LRS",
"publicIPAddressName": "ip1",
"publicIPAddressType": "Dynamic",
"vmStorageAccountContainerName": "vhds",
"vmName": "vm1",
"vmSize": "Standard_A0",
"virtualNetworkName": "vn1",
"vnetID": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks',variables('virtualNetworkName'))]",
"subnetRef": "[concat(variables('vnetID'),'/subnets/',variables('subnetName'))]",
"vmID":"[resourceId('Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines',variables('vmName'))]",
"alertName": "highCPUOnVM",
"alertDescription":"CPU is over 80%",
"alertIsEnabled": true,
"resourceId": "",
"metricName": "Percentage CPU",
"operator": "GreaterThan",
"threshold": "80",
"windowSize": "PT5M",
"aggregation": "Average",
"customEmails": "",
"sendToServiceOwners": true,
"webhookUrl": "http://testwebhook.test"
},
"resources": [
{
"type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
"name": "[parameters('newStorageAccountName')]",
"apiVersion": "2015-06-15",
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"properties": {
"accountType": "[variables('storageAccountType')]"
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2016-03-30",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses",
"name": "[variables('publicIPAddressName')]",
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"properties": {
"publicIPAllocationMethod": "[variables('publicIPAddressType')]",
"dnsSettings": {
"domainNameLabel": "[parameters('dnsNameForPublicIP')]"
}
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2016-03-30",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
"name": "[variables('virtualNetworkName')]",
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"properties": {
"addressSpace": {
"addressPrefixes": [
"[variables('addressPrefix')]"
]
},
"subnets": [
{
"name": "[variables('subnetName')]",
"properties": {
"addressPrefix": "[variables('subnetPrefix')]"
}
}
]
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2016-03-30",
"type": "Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces",
"name": "[variables('nicName')]",
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"dependsOn": [
"[concat('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses/', variables('publicIPAddressName'))]",
"[concat('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/', variables('virtualNetworkName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"ipConfigurations": [
{
"name": "ipconfig1",
"properties": {
"privateIPAllocationMethod": "Dynamic",
"publicIPAddress": {
"id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses',variables('publicIPAddressName'))]"
},
"subnet": {
"id": "[variables('subnetRef')]"
}
}
}
]
}
},
{
"apiVersion": "2016-03-30",
"type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
"name": "[variables('vmName')]",
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"dependsOn": [
"[concat('Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/', parameters('newStorageAccountName'))]",
"[concat('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces/', variables('nicName'))]"
],
"properties": {
"hardwareProfile": {
"vmSize": "[variables('vmSize')]"
},
"osProfile": {
"computername": "[variables('vmName')]",
"adminUsername": "[parameters('adminUsername')]",
"adminPassword": "[parameters('adminPassword')]"
},
"storageProfile": {
"imageReference": {
"publisher": "[variables('imagePublisher')]",
"offer": "[variables('imageOffer')]",
"sku": "[variables('windowsOSVersion')]",
"version": "latest"
},
"osDisk": {
"name": "osdisk",
"vhd": {
"uri": "[concat('http://',parameters('newStorageAccountName'),'.blob.core.windows.net/',variables('vmStorageAccountContainerName'),'/',variables('OSDiskName'),'.vhd')]"
},
"caching": "ReadWrite",
"createOption": "FromImage"
}
},
"networkProfile": {
"networkInterfaces": [
{
"id": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces',variables('nicName'))]"
}
]
}
}
},
{
"type": "Microsoft.Insights/alertRules",
"name": "[variables('alertName')]",
"dependsOn": [
"[variables('vmID')]"
],
"location": "[variables('location')]",
"apiVersion": "2016-03-01",
"properties": {
"name": "[variables('alertName')]",
"description": "variables('alertDescription')",
"isEnabled": "[variables('alertIsEnabled')]",
"condition": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.ThresholdRuleCondition",
"dataSource": {
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleMetricDataSource",
"resourceUri": "[variables('vmID')]",
"metricName": "[variables('metricName')]"
},
"operator": "[variables('operator')]",
"threshold": "[variables('threshold')]",
"windowSize": "[variables('windowSize')]",
"timeAggregation": "[variables('aggregation')]"
},
"actions": [
{
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleEmailAction",
"sendToServiceOwners": "[variables('sendToServiceOwners')]",
"customEmails": "[variables('customEmails')]"
},
{
"odata.type": "Microsoft.Azure.Management.Insights.Models.RuleWebhookAction",
"serviceUri": "[variables('webhookUrl')]",
"properties": {}
}
]
}
}
]
}
Next Steps
- Read more about Alerts
- Add Diagnostic Settings to your Resource Manager template
- For the JSON syntax and properties, see Microsoft.Insights/alertrules template reference.