Use AWS Elemental Workflow monitor to map supported connections across a media workflow, then pair that topology view with the service-specific metrics, alerts, logs, events, and audit records that reveal what is failing. A signal map is a starting point—not proof that every production dependency is represented or healthy.
Choose monitoring by the question you need to answer
AWS media workflows do not have one universal health signal. A channel can be running while playback requests fail; a metric can cross a threshold without explaining the cause; and an API change may explain an incident even when service metrics look normal. Match the monitoring mechanism to the failure mode.
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| Operational question | Useful signal | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Is a resource running or in an alert state? | Service state and service alerts | The resource’s reported state or a condition detected by the service. |
| Is media flowing, and is a metric changing? | CloudWatch metrics and dashboards | Time-series behavior suitable for trends and threshold alarms; the metric set and resolution vary by service. |
| Are requests reaching the origin or playback path? | Request/access logs and manifest information | Request-level evidence that can help diagnose delivery behavior, including stale manifests in applicable MediaPackage workflows. |
| Did a resource change or an API call occur? | Events and CloudTrail | Event-driven operational signals and an audit trail for API activity or configuration changes. |
| What is connected to what? | Workflow monitor signal maps | A topology view of supported, discovered resources and their connections. |
Metrics, alerts, events, logs, and CloudTrail are distinct evidence sources. Use more than one when the incident crosses service boundaries.
Build an end-to-end view with Workflow monitor
AWS Elemental Workflow monitor is available through the AWS console and API. It can discover supported interconnected resources into signal maps and apply reusable CloudWatch alarm and EventBridge rule templates. The documented discovery set includes AWS Elemental MediaConnect, MediaLive, MediaPackage, MediaTailor, Amazon S3, and Amazon CloudFront; do not assume that an unlisted AWS service or every dependency is automatically mapped.
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- Inventory the actual workflow. List the MediaConnect flows, MediaLive channels or multiplexes, MediaPackage channels, channel groups or origin endpoints, and any relevant MediaTailor, S3, or CloudFront resources. Record the real production path separately from the map.
- Start discovery from a supported resource. Open Workflow monitor in the AWS console, or use its API, and initiate discovery from a supported resource in the workflow. Review the resulting signal map and discovered connections.
- Validate the map against production. Check resource identities, upstream and downstream relationships, and any dependencies that operators know exist. Treat omissions as a prompt to investigate coverage, not as evidence that the dependency is unimportant.
- Import a relevant alarm template group. AWS provides recommended groups for different services and workflow types. They are curated starting points with predefined settings, not a guarantee that the thresholds satisfy your service-level objective.
- Review every alarm before relying on it. Check the metric, statistic, comparison operator, threshold, and evaluation period against the workflow’s objective and normal operating behavior. Customize the imported template and add custom templates for important signals that it does not cover.
- Set up EventBridge rules and destinations. Decide which alarm or resource events should trigger notifications or operational actions, and verify that rules route them to the intended target.
- Deploy repeatably when useful. Workflow monitor can convert alarm and EventBridge templates into CloudFormation templates. Review the generated resources and their lifecycle before deploying them across environments.
- Exercise the alert path safely. In an authorized test or controlled operational exercise, confirm that the expected signal appears, the rule matches it, and the notification or action reaches its destination. Do not infer working alert coverage merely because a template was imported.
Use MediaLive monitoring for channel state, alerts, and activity
MediaLive exposes separate views for different operational questions. Its documented monitoring mechanisms include the console, SDK/API, CloudWatch Events, CloudWatch metrics, CloudWatch Logs, and CloudTrail.
- Channel or multiplex state: use the resource’s state when checking whether it is running or in a particular lifecycle condition.
- Alerts: inspect service alerts for conditions MediaLive reports; an alert is not interchangeable with a CloudWatch metric threshold.
- Metrics: use CloudWatch to follow time-series signals and build alarms that reflect the workflow’s own objectives.
- Channel and multiplex logs: inspect running logs for operational detail that a state label or chart cannot provide.
- Schedule activity: use schedule logs when investigating scheduled actions or timing-related behavior.
- API-call activity: use CloudTrail when the question is which API activity or configuration change may have affected the channel.
AWS documents 15-month retention for MediaLive CloudWatch metrics. That retention applies to metrics, not automatically to every log or other monitoring record; check the retention settings for each evidence source you depend on.
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Diagnose MediaPackage with metrics, request logs, and manifest evidence
MediaPackage monitoring includes CloudWatch metrics, alarms, CloudWatch Events, CloudTrail, access logs, and manifest update headers. These views answer different questions: metrics show changing service behavior, access logs provide request evidence, and audit or event records help identify operational changes.
- Start with the correct generation. Identify whether the workflow uses the earlier MediaPackage generation or MediaPackage v2 before selecting metric names, dimensions, or dashboards. Do not carry metric names or resource dimensions from one generation into the other without checking that they apply.
- Use metrics and alarms for trends or thresholds. MediaPackage v2 documentation says its metrics are published every minute, if not sooner, and describes 15-month CloudWatch retention. These facts concern v2 metrics; confirm the applicable documentation for the generation actually deployed.
- Check access logs when requests are the concern. Request records can help distinguish an origin-side issue from a problem inferred only from a channel’s overall state.
- Inspect manifest update headers for stale-manifest cases. AWS identifies these headers as useful when troubleshooting stale manifests in workflows without dynamic ad insertion. That qualification matters: do not assume the same diagnostic applies to a workflow using dynamic ad insertion.
- Use CloudTrail for accountability. When the question is who changed configuration or called an API, inspect audit activity rather than relying on a metric chart alone.
Set MediaConnect dashboard periods to match metric resolution
AWS documents 15-month retention for MediaConnect metrics. Most MediaConnect metrics can be viewed at periods as short as one second, but MediaConnect Gateway metrics require a period of at least one minute. A one-second chart period is therefore not valid for Gateway metrics.
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Choose a dashboard period that the selected metric supports and that helps answer the incident question. A short period can expose brief changes where supported; a longer period can make broader trends easier to interpret. Do not treat chart resolution as proof of end-to-end detection latency or as a universal alarm evaluation setting.
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AWS-recommended alarm templates are workflow-specific starting points with curated metrics and predefined settings. Operators can import and customize them, but a preset does not establish that a particular threshold is right for a service-level objective. The available facts do not support a universal threshold or alarm period for all media workflows.
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- Write down the operational condition an alarm should detect and the response it should trigger.
- Confirm that the chosen metric actually represents that condition for the service and resource generation in use.
- Review the statistic, threshold, comparison operator, and evaluation period together; changing one can change the alarm’s behavior.
- Use an event rule where an event-driven action is needed, rather than assuming that a metric alarm captures every resource change.
- Test routing and response with an authorized exercise, then adjust thresholds using the workflow’s observed behavior and current service guidance.
Account for deployment and monitoring costs
AWS states that Workflow monitor itself has no direct charge, while resources it creates or uses can incur charges. Potential cost areas identified in the Workflow monitor guidance include CloudWatch and EventBridge resources, an S3 bucket used for deployment templates, and MediaPackage preview data transfer. Review current AWS pricing and the resources a deployment creates before rolling it out; the cost depends on what you enable and use.
Troubleshoot common monitoring gaps
- A resource is missing from the signal map: confirm that it belongs to the documented discovery set, start discovery from a supported resource, and compare the map with your independently maintained workflow inventory.
- The map looks healthy but viewers or downstream services fail: the map describes discovered topology, not every playback outcome. Check service metrics, alerts, request/access logs, and relevant downstream behavior.
- An alarm does not fire: verify the metric and dimensions, statistic, comparison operator, threshold, evaluation period, and rule or notification destination. Then validate the path with a controlled exercise.
- A MediaConnect Gateway chart rejects a short period: select a period of at least one minute for Gateway metrics; one-second periods apply only to most MediaConnect metrics.
- A MediaPackage manifest appears stale: inspect manifest update headers where applicable, and account for the documented qualification that this guidance concerns workflows without dynamic ad insertion.
- You cannot match a MediaPackage metric to a dashboard: establish whether the resource is MediaPackage v2 or the earlier generation before using metric names or dimensions.
- An incident has no obvious metric explanation: inspect service alerts and logs, then check events or CloudTrail for resource changes or API calls around the relevant time.
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