Create a single-step detection task

Single-step detection sends simulated requests from Alibaba Cloud data centers to your sites over the Internet or virtual private clouds (VPCs), then monitors availability and network performance based on the results. You can create detection tasks using various network protocols, define alert rules on status metrics, and receive alert notifications when issues are detected.

How single-step detection works

Single-step detection runs scheduled probe tasks that simulate real user access to your sites or API endpoints. Each task sends requests from one or more detection points — distributed globally across carriers and regions — and reports metrics such as response time, availability, and DNS resolution results.

Use single-step detection for:

Service availability monitoring: Detect HTTP/HTTPS endpoints from detection points worldwide. Alert rules trigger when status codes indicate failures, so you can respond before users are affected.
DNS resolution monitoring: Detect DNS hijacking or poisoning by comparing resolution results from carrier DNS servers against your configured DNS records.
Network quality analysis: Send PING requests from multiple carrier detection points to measure latency and packet loss across different regions and carriers.

Supported protocols

Detection tasks run from PCs, mobile devices, or VPC environments. The available protocols depend on the probe source:

Probe source	Supported protocols
PCs	HTTP, HTTPS, PING, DNS, TCP, UDP, SMTP, POP3, FTP
Mobile devices	HTTP, HTTPS, PING, DNS
VPC	A subset of the above protocols; available options are shown in the console when you select VPC as the probe source.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

Activated Network Analysis and Monitoring. Activation is free; charges apply only based on actual resource usage. Follow the on-screen prompts when you first open Site Monitoring in the console to complete activation.

Step 1: Start the task creation form

Log on to the Cloud Monitor console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Network Analysis and Monitoring > Site Monitoring.
On the Monitoring Tasks tab, click Create Task.
On the task creation page, set Probe Point Type to the probe source you want: PC, Mobile, or VPC.

Step 2: Configure basic settings

Parameter	Description
Task name	A name to identify the detection task.
Detection address	The URL, IP address, or domain name to monitor. For HTTP/HTTPS, include the full URL (for example, `https://example.com`). For DNS, enter the domain name to resolve.
Detection protocol	The network protocol for the probe request. Select the protocol based on your monitoring goal — see Supported protocols.

Step 3: Select detection points

Detection points are the geographic locations from which probe requests are sent.

Parameter	Description
Detection points	Select one or more detection points. For Internet probes, choose from carrier detection points across provinces and countries. For VPC probes, choose detection points within the same VPC.
Detection frequency	How often the task sends probe requests. Common values range from 1 minute to 60 minutes. More frequent probing increases detection granularity but also resource consumption.

Step 4: Configure alert rules

Alert rules define when Cloud Monitor sends notifications based on detection results.

Parameter	Description
Alert metrics	The status metric to evaluate — for example, availability percentage or response time.
Alert condition	The threshold that triggers the alert — for example, availability drops below a set percentage over a specified time window.
Alert contact group	The contact group that receives alert notifications.
Notification method	How alerts are delivered: email, SMS, phone call, or DingTalk.

Step 5: Submit the task

After configuring all parameters, click Create. The task appears on the Monitoring Tasks tab and starts running at the next scheduled interval.

View detection results

To view detection results after the task runs:

On the Monitoring Tasks tab, click the task name.
On the Overview tab, review alert history, analysis reports, and detection results.
On the Monitoring Analysis tab, review scatter plot analysis, geographical analysis, carrier analysis, and detection error analysis.

What's next

Manage site monitoring tasks: Modify, disable, enable, or delete detection tasks.
Create a multi-step detection task: Chain multiple requests in a single task to simulate full user journeys.
IP address pool of detection points: Find the IP address ranges of detection points to allowlist them in your firewall.