Express Connect integrates with CloudMonitor to monitor physical connections in real time. Set up alert rules to receive notifications when a circuit fails, so you can respond quickly and keep services running.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure that you have:
An active connection over an Express Connect circuit. See Create a connection in classic mode or Access a shared Express Connect circuit.
An alert contact or alert contact group. See Create an alert contact or an alert contact group.
View port connection status
Check the real-time connection status of your Express Connect circuit to detect port anomalies early.
Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the destination region.
On the Physical Connection page, find the target circuit and check the Status column.
The status is only available after the circuit is installed, payment is complete, and the service is activated.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Available | The circuit is running normally. |
| Unavailable | Payment is incomplete, or the circuit is faulty. |
| - | Status is unknown. Refresh the page and try again. |
Set up alert rules
Configure alert rules so CloudMonitor sends you a notification when a circuit anomaly is detected. An alert fires only after the monitored metric meets the conditions you specify.
Log on to the Express Connect console.
In the top navigation bar, select the destination region.
On the Physical Connection page, find the target Express Connect circuit instance ID and click Set Alert Threshold in the Status column.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Alerts > Alert Rules.
On the Alert Rules page, click Create Alert Rule.
On the Create Alarm Rule page, configure the parameters described below, then click Confirm.
The following table describes the key parameters. For all other parameters, see Create an alert rule.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Product | The Alibaba Cloud service to monitor. Select Express Connect - Physical Connections. |
| Resource Range | The resources to which the alert rule applies. All Resources covers all resources of the service. Application Groups covers all resources in an application group. Instances covers specific instances. |
| Rule Description | The conditions that trigger an alert. Click Add Rule, then configure one of the following metric types in the Configure Rule Description panel: Simple Metric — select a metric and set a threshold and alert level. Combined Metrics — select an alert level and configure conditions for two or more metrics. An alert fires only when all metric conditions are met simultaneously. For example, if the rule includes both port packet loss and bandwidth utilization, the alert does not fire if only packet loss exceeds its threshold. Expression — select an alert level and define an alert expression. See Alert rule expressions. Dynamic threshold — see Overview and Create a dynamic threshold-based alert rule. Note Dynamic threshold is available only through invitational preview. Submit a ticket to apply. |
Monitoring metrics
The following metrics are available for dedicated Express Connect circuits.
Shared Express Connect circuit ports support only the Express Connect Circuit Status metric.
| Metric | Description | MetricName | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhysicalConnectionStatus | Connection status of the circuit. 1 = Available (running normally); 0 = Unavailable (incomplete payment or faulty circuit). | PhysicalConnectionStatus | Status |
| PhysicalConnectionErrorPkgCountTx | Number of outbound error packets. Unit: count. | PhysicalConnectionErrorPkgCountTx | Value |
| PhysicalConnectionRateInFromIDCtoVpc | Bits per second sent from the IDC to the VPC. Unit: bit/s. | PhysicalConnectionRateInFromIDCtoVpc | Value |
| PhysicalConnectionRateInFromVpctoIDC | Bits per second sent from the VPC to the IDC. Unit: bit/s. | PhysicalConnectionRateInFromVpctoIDC | Value |
| Inbound Port Bandwidth Usage | Percentage of inbound port bandwidth in use. | PhysicalConnectionInUtilizationRate | Value |
| Outbound Port Bandwidth Usage | Percentage of outbound port bandwidth in use. | PhysicalConnectionOutUtilizationRate | Value |
| Outbound Packets Dropped on Port | Packets that fail to be sent from the port per second. Unit: pps. | PhysicalConnectionRateLimitOutDropPps | Value |
| Port Inbound Optical Loss Status | Attenuation of the optical signal received by the port. Unit: dBm. | PhysicalConnectionLightLevelRx | RXPowerChannel1, RXPowerChannel2, RXPowerChannel3, RXPowerChannel4, RXPowerHighWarning, RXPowerLowWarning |
| Port Outbound Optical Loss Status | Attenuation of the optical signal sent from the port. Unit: dBm. | PhysicalConnectionLightLevelTx | TXPowerChannel1, TXPowerChannel2, TXPowerChannel3, TXPowerChannel4, TXPowerHighWarning, TXPowerLowWarning |
View monitoring data
Query historical port metrics to help with capacity planning and fault analysis.
Log on to the CloudMonitor console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Cloud Resource Monitoring > Cloud Service Monitoring and search for Express Connect - Physical Connections.
At the top of the Express Connect - Physical Connections page, select the region of the Express Connect circuit instance. Find the target instance and click Monitoring Charts in the Actions column.
By default, the chart shows data from the last 1 hour. Select a preset range—1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, or 14 days—or specify a custom time range above the chart.