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Set Up New Relic To Pull CloudWatch Logs Effortlessly

9 min read 11-15- 2024
Set Up New Relic To Pull CloudWatch Logs Effortlessly

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New Relic is a powerful tool that helps developers and DevOps teams monitor and optimize their applications and infrastructure in real time. Integrating New Relic with AWS CloudWatch allows you to pull CloudWatch logs effortlessly, providing a comprehensive view of your system's performance. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps necessary to set up New Relic to pull CloudWatch logs, ensuring that you can harness the full power of these tools. 🚀

What is New Relic?

New Relic is a software analytics and performance monitoring tool that gives you visibility into your applications and infrastructure. It allows you to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and receive insights into how your software is performing, making it easier to identify and fix issues as they arise. 📊

What is AWS CloudWatch?

AWS CloudWatch is a monitoring and observability service that provides data and insights into AWS resources, applications, and services. It collects metrics and logs, enabling you to monitor your AWS infrastructure and applications in real time. 💻

Why Integrate New Relic with CloudWatch?

Integrating New Relic with CloudWatch allows you to centralize your monitoring efforts. By pulling CloudWatch logs into New Relic, you gain access to:

  • Enhanced monitoring capabilities 📈
  • Comprehensive performance metrics
  • Simplified troubleshooting processes
  • Real-time alerts and notifications

Prerequisites

Before you begin the integration process, ensure that you have the following:

  • An active New Relic account
  • An AWS account with access to CloudWatch
  • Permissions to create IAM roles and policies in AWS
  • The New Relic Infrastructure agent installed on your server

Step-by-Step Guide to Set Up New Relic to Pull CloudWatch Logs

Step 1: Create an IAM Role in AWS

To allow New Relic to access your CloudWatch logs, you'll need to create an IAM role with the appropriate permissions.

  1. Log in to your AWS Management Console.

  2. Navigate to the IAM Dashboard.

  3. Click on "Roles" and then "Create role."

  4. Choose "AWS Service" and select "EC2" as the use case.

  5. Click on "Next: Permissions."

  6. Attach the following policy:

    • CloudWatchReadOnlyAccess
    • Optionally, you can create a custom policy with more specific permissions for enhanced security.

  7. Click on "Next: Tags" and then "Next: Review."

  8. Name your role (e.g., NewRelicCloudWatchRole) and create the role.

Step 2: Install and Configure the New Relic Infrastructure Agent

If you haven't already installed the New Relic Infrastructure agent on your server, follow these steps:

  1. Install the agent:

    Depending on your operating system, use the appropriate package manager to install the New Relic Infrastructure agent. Here’s an example for Ubuntu:

    curl -Ls https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/gpg/newrelic-infra.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb https://download.newrelic.com/infrastructure_agent/linux/apt bionic main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/newrelic-infra.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install newrelic-infra -y

  2. Configure the agent:

    Open the New Relic infrastructure configuration file, typically located at /etc/newrelic-infra.yml, and update it with your New Relic license key. Add the AWS access key and secret key if necessary for accessing CloudWatch logs:

    license_key: YOUR_NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY
aws:
  access_key: YOUR_AWS_ACCESS_KEY
  secret_key: YOUR_AWS_SECRET_KEY

Step 3: Enable CloudWatch Logs Integration

To enable CloudWatch logs integration in New Relic, follow these steps:

  1. In the New Relic UI, navigate to the Infrastructure section.
  2. Select the "Integrations" tab.
  3. Click on "AWS" and then "CloudWatch."
  4. Follow the prompts to connect your AWS account. You may need to enter the IAM role ARN you created earlier.

Step 4: Configure Log Retrieval

Once CloudWatch integration is enabled, configure the specific log groups from which you want to pull logs:

  1. In the New Relic UI, go to the "CloudWatch" settings within the Infrastructure dashboard.
  2. Under "Logs," specify the log groups you want to monitor.
  3. Set up any desired filters to refine which logs get pulled.

Step 5: Verify the Integration

After completing the setup, it’s essential to verify that everything is working correctly:

  1. Go to the New Relic dashboard.
  2. Check the "Logs" section to see if the logs from CloudWatch are appearing.
  3. Ensure that your alerts and notifications are configured to notify you of any anomalies.

Key Considerations

  • Always monitor your AWS costs associated with CloudWatch and New Relic usage. 📊
  • Review the permissions assigned to the IAM role regularly to ensure they are not overly permissive.
  • Periodically review your New Relic dashboard to optimize your monitoring setup based on changing needs.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • If CloudWatch logs do not appear in New Relic, ensure that the IAM role permissions are correctly set up.
  • Check the connectivity between your New Relic agent and AWS services to confirm it’s working smoothly.
  • Review the New Relic logs for any potential error messages that could guide your troubleshooting efforts.

Best Practices

  1. Set Up Alerts and Notifications: Use New Relic’s alerting system to notify you of critical issues. Ensure alerts are actionable and lead to a quick resolution. 🔔
  2. Regularly Review and Optimize: Keep an eye on your metrics and log data. Regularly review them to identify trends and areas for improvement.
  3. Utilize Dashboards Effectively: Create custom dashboards within New Relic that give you a real-time overview of your application performance and AWS resources. 🖥️

Conclusion

Integrating New Relic with AWS CloudWatch allows developers and operations teams to gain valuable insights into their applications and infrastructure. By following this guide, you should be able to set up New Relic to pull CloudWatch logs effortlessly, enhancing your monitoring capabilities and simplifying the troubleshooting process. Make the most of these tools to ensure that your applications run smoothly and efficiently! 🌟

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