Monitoring and Logs

Learn how to monitor services, view logs, set up alerts, and integrate with observability platforms on Aiven.

Aiven provides built-in monitoring and logging for all services, along with integrations to export metrics and logs to external platforms. Monitor service health, performance, and troubleshoot issues with comprehensive observability tools.

Monitoring overview

Aiven offers multiple levels of monitoring:

Built-in Metrics

• Real-time service metrics
• CPU, memory, disk, network
• Service-specific metrics
• Available in Console

Service Logs

• Service operation logs
• Error and debug messages
• Connection logs
• 4-day retention

Audit Logs

• Organization events
• Project events
• User actions
• Configuration changes

Service metrics

View real-time metrics for all your services:

Built-in metrics

Available for every service without additional configuration:

Host Metrics

Infrastructure-level metrics

CPU Usage · Percentage

Percentage of CPU resources consumed by the service

Memory Usage · Percentage

Percentage of memory utilized by the service

Disk Space Usage · Percentage

Percentage of disk space used

Load Average · Number

5-minute average CPU load indicating system computational load

Disk IOPS (reads) · Operations/sec

Input/output operations per second for disk reads

Disk IOPS (writes) · Operations/sec

Input/output operations per second for disk writes

Network Received · Bytes/sec

Network traffic received by the service

Network Transmitted · Bytes/sec

Network traffic transmitted by the service

Service-Specific

Database and service metrics

Additional metrics depending on service type:

PostgreSQL:

• Active connections
• Transaction rate
• Cache hit ratio
• Replication lag

Kafka:

• Messages per second
• Broker lag
• Topic partition metrics
• Consumer group lag

Redis:

• Connected clients
• Commands per second
• Key evictions
• Memory fragmentation

Viewing metrics

1. Open service in Console

   Navigate to Projects → Select project → Select service

2. View metrics tab

   Click Metrics tab to see real-time charts

3. Adjust time range

   Select time range: 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, 30 days

4. Export via CLI

   # Get metrics via CLI
   avn service metrics \
     --project my-project \
     --service postgres-1 \
     --period hour
   

Advanced metrics integration

For detailed service-specific metrics, set up metrics integration:

1. Create PostgreSQL service

   Store metrics data in PostgreSQL database

   avn service create metrics-db \
     --project my-project \
     --service-type pg \
     --plan business-4 \
     --cloud aws-us-east-1
   
2. Create Grafana service

   Visualize metrics with Grafana dashboards

   avn service create metrics-grafana \
     --project my-project \
     --service-type grafana \
     --plan startup-4 \
     --cloud aws-us-east-1
   
3. Integrate services

   # Connect Grafana to PostgreSQL
   avn service integration-create \
     --project my-project \
     --source-service metrics-db \
     --dest-service metrics-grafana \
     --integration-type dashboard
   
   # Send service metrics to PostgreSQL  
   avn service integration-create \
     --project my-project \
     --source-service postgres-1 \
     --dest-service metrics-db \
     --integration-type metrics
   
4. View dashboards

   Access Grafana using the service URI from Console connection information

Metrics integration requires separate PostgreSQL and Grafana services (additional cost). Predefined dashboards are automatically created and maintained.

Service logs

View logs for troubleshooting and monitoring:

Accessing service logs

Aiven Console

1. Navigate to service

   Select project → Select service

2. View logs tab

   Click Logs tab

3. Filter logs

   • Filter by severity (error, warning, info)
   • Search for specific text
   • Adjust time range

Aiven CLI

# View recent logs
avn service logs \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1

# Follow logs in real-time
avn service logs \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1 \
  --follow

# Filter by severity
avn service logs \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1 \
  --severity error

Log retention

Service logs are retained for 4 days by default. For longer retention, set up log integration with OpenSearch.

Default Log Retention:
  Service Logs: 4 days
  Organization Audit Logs: 90 days
  Project Event Logs: 90 days
  
Extended Retention:
  Method: Log integration with OpenSearch
  Duration: Limited by OpenSearch disk space
  Cost: OpenSearch service cost

Log integration

Send logs to OpenSearch for long-term storage and analysis:

1. Create OpenSearch service

   avn service create logs-opensearch \
     --project my-project \
     --service-type opensearch \
     --plan business-8 \
     --cloud aws-us-east-1
   
2. Enable log integration

   avn service integration-create \
     --project my-project \
     --source-service postgres-1 \
     --dest-service logs-opensearch \
     --integration-type logs
   
3. Access OpenSearch Dashboards

   Use service URI to open OpenSearch Dashboards and analyze logs

4. Configure retention

   Set index lifecycle management in OpenSearch for desired retention period

All services in the project can send logs to the same OpenSearch service. Create one OpenSearch service for centralized logging.

Audit logs

Track administrative actions and changes:

Organization audit logs

View organization-level events:

1. Navigate to organization logs

   Admin → Organization → Events Log

2. Review events

   Events include:

   • User invitations and removals
   • Permission changes
   • Domain verification
   • IdP configuration
   • Billing group changes
   • Organizational unit creation/deletion

Project event logs

View project-level events:

1. Navigate to project logs

   Select project → Event log

2. Review events

   Events include:

   • Service creation/deletion/updates
   • Configuration changes
   • User access changes
   • VPC and peering changes
   • Integration changes
   • Backup operations

API access to audit logs

# Get organization audit logs
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  https://api.aiven.io/v1/organization/{org_id}/audit

# Get project event logs  
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  https://api.aiven.io/v1/project/{project}/events

# Filter by date range
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "https://api.aiven.io/v1/project/{project}/events?from=2024-01-01&to=2024-01-31"

Organization audit logs require organization:audit_logs:read permission. Project logs require project:audit_logs:read permission.

Prometheus integration

Expose metrics in Prometheus format for scraping:

Enabling Prometheus

1. Create Prometheus endpoint

   Navigate to project → Integration endpoints → Add new endpoint → Prometheus

2. Enable for service

   Service → Overview → Service integrations → Manage integrations → Prometheus → Enable

3. Get metrics endpoint

   Service → Overview → Connection information → Prometheus tab

   Copy the Service URI and credentials

4. Configure Prometheus scraper

   # prometheus.yml
   scrape_configs:
     - job_name: 'aiven-postgres'
       scheme: https
       basic_auth:
         username: <PROMETHEUS_USER>
         password: <PROMETHEUS_PASSWORD>
       tls_config:
         ca_file: ca.pem
       static_configs:
         - targets: ['<SERVICE_HOST>:<PROMETHEUS_PORT>']
   

Prometheus in VPC

If using VPC peering, enable public Prometheus access:

# Enable public access to Prometheus endpoint
avn service update \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1 \
  -c public_access.prometheus=true

Prometheus metrics

Available metrics include:

• System metrics: CPU, memory, disk, network
• Service metrics: Connections, queries, cache hits
• Custom metrics: Application-specific (service dependent)

# Example metrics query
curl -u <USER>:<PASS> https://<SERVICE_HOST>:<PORT>/metrics

# Output:
# cpu_usage_percent{host="node1"} 45.2
# memory_usage_percent{host="node1"} 67.8
# pg_stat_database_numbackends{datname="defaultdb"} 15

External integrations

Integrate Aiven metrics and logs with external platforms:

Datadog integration

Send metrics to Datadog:

1. Create Datadog endpoint

   Project → Integration endpoints → Datadog

   Enter your Datadog API key and site (US/EU)

2. Enable for service

   Service → Integrations → Datadog → Enable

3. View in Datadog

   Metrics appear in Datadog with aiven. prefix

# Create Datadog integration via CLI
avn service integration-endpoint-create \
  --project my-project \
  --endpoint-name datadog-us \
  --endpoint-type datadog \
  --user-config '{"datadog_api_key": "<API_KEY>", "site": "datadoghq.com"}'

avn service integration-create \
  --project my-project \
  --source-service postgres-1 \
  --endpoint-id <ENDPOINT_ID> \
  --integration-type datadog

Jolokia (JMX) integration

Access JMX metrics for Kafka and other Java services:

1. Enable Jolokia

   Available for Kafka, Kafka Connect, and other Java-based services

2. Get Jolokia URL

   Service → Connection information → Jolokia tab

3. Query JMX metrics

   curl -u <USER>:<PASS> \
     https://<SERVICE_HOST>:<JOLOKIA_PORT>/jolokia/read/kafka.server:type=BrokerTopicMetrics,name=MessagesInPerSec
   

Rsyslog integration

Send logs to external syslog servers:

# Create rsyslog endpoint
avn service integration-endpoint-create \
  --project my-project \
  --endpoint-name syslog-server \
  --endpoint-type rsyslog \
  --user-config '{"server": "syslog.company.com", "port": 514, "format": "rfc5424"}'

# Enable for service  
avn service integration-create \
  --project my-project \
  --source-service postgres-1 \
  --endpoint-id <ENDPOINT_ID> \
  --integration-type rsyslog

Alerts and notifications

Set up alerts for service issues:

Email notifications

Manage project and service notifications:

1. Configure notification emails

   Project settings → Notifications

2. Add email addresses

   Add technical contacts for alerts

3. Select notification types

   • Service maintenance announcements
   • Service issues and outages
   • Backup failures
   • High resource usage warnings

Service contacts

Add contacts per service:

# Add service contact
avn service contact-create \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1 \
  --email [e-mail]

# List contacts  
avn service contact-list \
  --project my-project \
  --service postgres-1

Grafana alerts

Set up alerts in Grafana for metrics:

1. Create alert in Grafana

   Open Grafana dashboard → Edit panel → Alert tab

2. Configure alert rule

   • Set threshold (e.g., CPU > 80%)
   • Set evaluation interval
   • Configure for clause (duration)
3. Add notification channel

   • Email, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.
   • Configure webhook URL or credentials
4. Test alert

   Trigger test notification to verify setup

Common alert scenarios

High CPU usage

Alert: CPU usage > 80% for 10 minutes

Actions:

1. Review slow queries or processes
2. Check for unusual traffic patterns
3. Consider upgrading service plan

Low disk space

Alert: Disk usage > 85%

Actions:

1. Review disk usage by table/index
2. Clean up unnecessary data
3. Enable disk autoscaler
4. Upgrade to larger plan

High connection count

Alert: Connections > 80% of max

Actions:

1. Check for connection leaks in applications
2. Implement connection pooling
3. Review connection limits
4. Upgrade service plan

Replication lag

Alert: Replication lag > 60 seconds

Actions:

1. Check network connectivity
2. Review write load on primary
3. Check replica performance
4. Contact support if persists

Monitoring best practices

1. Set up metrics integration early

   Deploy PostgreSQL + Grafana for detailed metrics from day one

2. Configure log integration

   Send logs to OpenSearch for longer retention and analysis

3. Create baseline metrics

   Monitor normal performance patterns to identify anomalies

4. Set appropriate alert thresholds

   Avoid alert fatigue - set thresholds that indicate real issues

5. Monitor key service metrics

   Focus on:

   • Resource utilization (CPU, memory, disk)
   • Connection count and errors
   • Query performance and slow queries
   • Replication lag (if applicable)
6. Review logs regularly

   Check error logs weekly to catch issues before they become critical

7. Use audit logs for security

   Monitor audit logs for suspicious activity or unauthorized changes

8. Test alerting

   Regularly verify alert notifications are being delivered

9. Document runbooks

   Create procedures for responding to common alerts

10. Automate where possible

    Use disk autoscaler and other automation to reduce manual intervention

Troubleshooting

Metrics not appearing in Grafana

Cause: Integration not properly configured or needs time to populate

Solution:

1. Verify metrics integration is active
2. Wait 1-2 minutes for initial data
3. Check PostgreSQL has space and is running
4. Verify network connectivity if using VPC

Cannot access Prometheus endpoint

Cause: Service in VPC without public Prometheus access

Solution:

1. Enable public access: public_access.prometheus=true
2. Or access from peered VPC
3. Check IP allowlist includes your scraper’s IP

Logs not appearing in OpenSearch

Cause: Integration not enabled or OpenSearch full

Solution:

1. Verify log integration is active
2. Check OpenSearch disk space
3. Review index lifecycle management settings
4. Check for ingestion errors in OpenSearch

Not receiving alert emails

Cause: Email addresses not configured or notifications disabled

Solution:

1. Verify email addresses in project notifications
2. Check spam folder
3. Verify notification types are enabled
4. Test with manual service restart

API reference

Get service metrics

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  https://api.aiven.io/v1/project/{project}/service/{service}/metrics

Next steps

Service Integrations

Set up metrics and log integrations

Security

Review security audit logs

VPC & Networking

Configure network for Prometheus access

Users & Permissions

Grant audit log access permissions