Demo Synthetics Canaries

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create, configure, and manage Synthetic Canaries in AWS CloudWatch Synthetics to continuously monitor your website’s availability and performance.

1. Accessing Synthetic Canaries

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to CloudWatch under Services.
3. In the left pane, select Synthetics > Canaries.
4. Click Create Canary.

CloudWatch provides several built-in blueprints:

For this demo, we’ll select the Heartbeat monitoring blueprint.

2. Configuring the Canary

1. Under Select blueprint, choose Heartbeat monitoring.
2. Enter Name: KodeKloud-monitoring.
3. Provide the Endpoint URL, e.g., https://www.kodekloud.com.

Below the setup, you can review and customize the default script, configure VPC settings, tags, and tracing options.

3. Scheduling Executions

Select a run schedule:

• Run continuously (minimum 1-minute interval)
• Run on schedule (CRON expression)
• Run once

For this tutorial, choose Run continuously and set the frequency to 1 minute.

Scroll down and click Create Canary. Deployment takes about 5–10 minutes.

4. Monitoring Canary Metrics

After the canary is active, return to the Synthetics dashboard to view:

• A pie chart of passed vs. failed runs
• Average runtime, status, and success rate

Click your canary’s name to access the Runs view:

• Steps Executed: Each scripted step (e.g., open URL)
• Screenshots: Page captures at each step
• Logs: Console output from the script
• HAR file: HTTP archive for detailed analysis
• Execution info: Timestamps, duration, runtime environment

This insight ensures uptime, measures performance, and validates essential user paths.

5. Pausing and Stopping a Canary

To stop a running canary:

1. In the Synthetics console, select your canary.
2. Click Actions > Stop.
3. Confirm the stop operation.

6. Organizing Canaries into Groups

Group related canaries (up to 10 per group) for streamlined management:

1. Navigate to Synthetics > Canary groups.
2. Click Create group, specify a name, and add existing canaries.

7. Building a GUI Workflow Canary

For advanced end-to-end testing:

1. Click Create Canary.
2. Choose a Visual monitoring or Browser-based blueprint.
3. Use the Inline editor or Import from S3 for custom Node.js scripts.

A GUI workflow canary can:

• Validate login flows
• Measure form submission times
• Navigate menus and verify element visibility

Automate these tests at regular intervals to detect performance regressions and trigger alerts.

8. Deleting a Canary

When a canary is no longer needed:

1. Select it in the Synthetics console.
2. Choose Actions > Delete.
3. Optionally remove its IAM role.

Deleting a canary cleans up its CloudWatch alarms, logs, metrics, and IAM resources.

Links and References

• AWS CloudWatch Synthetics Documentation
• AWS CloudWatch Pricing
• AWS IAM Roles Guide