Keeping a close watch on your applications and servers is essential to maintaining a healthy and reliable infrastructure. Datadog offers robust monitoring capabilities, while Terraform automates the setup process, making it easier and more efficient. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to use Terraform to configure monitors in Datadog, step by step.

What You Need

Before we start, make sure you have:

1. Datadog Account: Sign up if you don’t have one.
2. API and Application Keys: Generate these from your Datadog dashboard.
3. Terraform Installed: Download and install Terraform from the official website.

Steps to Set Up

Step 1: Create a Terraform Project

First, create a folder for your project and navigate to it:

Then, create a file called main.tf:

Step 2: Configure Datadog Provider

Open main.tf and add your Datadog keys:

Replace YOUR_DATADOG_API_KEY and YOUR_DATADOG_APP_KEY with your actual keys.

Step 3: Define a Monitor

Next, let’s create a monitor that alerts you if CPU usage goes over 80% for more than 5 minutes:

Here’s what each part does:

• name: Name of the monitor.
• type: Type of monitor (here, a metric alert).
• query: Condition for the alert (CPU usage over 80%).
• message: Message you receive if the alert triggers.
• tags: Tags to help organize your monitors.
• options: Additional settings, including alert thresholds.

Step 4: Run Terraform

First, initialize Terraform to set up your project:

Then, apply your configuration to create the monitor:

Terraform will show you what it plans to do. Type yes to confirm.

Step 5: Check Your Monitor in Datadog

After running Terraform, go to your Datadog dashboard. You should see the new “High CPU Utilization” monitor.

Conclusion

Using Terraform with Datadog makes it easy to automate and manage your monitors. Following these simple steps, you can set up monitors to keep your applications running smoothly.

For more information, check out the Datadog Terraform provider and Terraform documentation.

Extra Tips

1. Version Control: Use Git or another version control system to keep track of your changes.
2. Modular Code: Break down your Terraform code into modules as it grows.
3. Variables: Use variables in Terraform to manage different environments easily.

By automating with Terraform, you save time and reduce errors, making your monitoring setup more reliable. Happy monitoring!

Blog post by Jagveer Loky, member of cyberstorm.mu