# Using Amazon CloudWatch dashboards Dashboards Amazon CloudWatch includes automatic pre-built dashboards and also enables you to create your own dashboards. Dashboards help you to monitor your resources in a single view, even those resources that are spread across different Regions. You can use CloudWatch dashboards to create customized views of the telemetry data for your AWS resources. With customizable dashboards, you can create the following: + A single view for selected metrics and alarms to help you assess the health of your resources and applications across one or more Regions. You can select the color used for each metric on each graph, so that you can easily track the same metric across multiple graphs. + An operational playbook that provides guidance for team members during operational events about how to respond to specific incidents. + A common view of critical resource and application measurements that can be shared by team members for faster communication flow during operational events. If you have multiple AWS accounts, you can set up *CloudWatch cross-account observability* and then create rich cross-account dashboards in your monitoring accounts. You can seamlessly search, visualize, and analyze your metrics, logs, and traces without account boundaries. With CloudWatch cross-account observability, you can do the following in a dashboard in a monitoring account: + Search, view, and create graphs of metrics that reside in source accounts. A single graph can include metrics from multiple accounts. + Create alarms in the monitoring account that watch metrics in source accounts. + View the log events from log groups located in source accounts, and run CloudWatch Logs Insights queries of log groups in source accounts. A single CloudWatch Logs Insights query in a monitoring account can query multiple log groups in multiple source accounts at once. + View nodes from source accounts in a trace map in X-Ray. You can then filter the map to specific source accounts. When you are signed in to a monitoring account, a blue **Monitoring account** badge appears at the top right of every page that supports CloudWatch cross-account observability functionality. For more information about setting up CloudWatch cross-account observability, see [CloudWatch cross-account observability](CloudWatch-Unified-Cross-Account.md). You can create dashboards from the console or using the AWS CLI or `PutDashboard` API operation. You can add dashboards to a favorites list, where you can access not only your favorite dashboards, but also your recently visited dashboards. For more information, see [Add a dashboard to your favorites list](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/add-dashboard-to-favorites.html). To access CloudWatch dashboards, you need one of the following: + The `AdministratorAccess` policy + The `CloudWatchFullAccess` policy + A custom policy that includes one or more of these specific permissions: + `cloudwatch:GetDashboard` and `cloudwatch:ListDashboards` to be able to view dashboards + `cloudwatch:PutDashboard` to be able to create or modify dashboards + `cloudwatch:DeleteDashboards` to be able to delete dashboards **Topics** + [Getting started with automatic dashboards](GettingStarted.md) + [Creating a customized dashboard](create_dashboard.md) + [Creating a cross-account cross-Region dashboard with the console](create_xaxr_dashboard.md) + [ ## Create a cross-account cross-Region dashboard programmatically ](#create_xaxr_dashboard_API) + [Creating a graph with metrics from different accounts and Regions](#create-graph-xaxr-dashboard) + [Adding an alarm from a different account to a cross-account dashboard](create-alarm-xaxr-dashboard.md) + [Creating dashboards with variables](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables.md) + [Using widgets on dashboards](create-and-work-with-widgets.md) + [Sharing dashboards](cloudwatch-dashboard-sharing.md) + [Using live data](cloudwatch-live-data.md) + [Viewing an animated dashboard](cloudwatch-animated-dashboard.md) + [Add a dashboard to your favorites list](add-dashboard-to-favorites.md) + [Changing the period override setting or refresh interval](change_dashboard_refresh_interval.md) + [Changing the time range or time zone format](change_dashboard_time_format.md) # Getting started with CloudWatch automatic dashboards Getting started with automatic dashboards The CloudWatch home page automatically displays metrics about every AWS service you use. You can additionally create custom dashboards to display metrics about your custom applications, and display custom collections of metrics that you choose. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). The CloudWatch overview home page appears. ![\[An example of a CloudWatch overview home page, showing alarms and their current state, and examples of other metrics graph widgets that might appear on the overview home page.\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/images/CW-default-dashboard-update.png) The overview displays the following items, refreshed automatically. + **Alarms by AWS service** displays a list of AWS services you use in your account, along with the state of alarms in those services. Next to that, two or four alarms in your account are displayed. The number depends on how many AWS services you use. The alarms shown are those in the ALARM state or those that most recently changed state. These upper areas help you quickly assess the health of your AWS services, by seeing the alarm states in every service and the alarms that most recently changed state. This helps you monitor and quickly diagnose issues. + Below these areas is the *default dashboard*, if one exists. The default dashboard is a custom dashboard that you have created and named **CloudWatch-Default**. This is a convenient way for you to add metrics about your own custom services or applications to the overview page, or to bring forward additional key metrics from AWS services that you most want to monitor. **Note** The automatic dashboards on the CloudWatch home page display only information from the current account, even if the account is a monitoring account set up for CloudWatch cross-account observability. For information about creating custom cross-account dashboards, see [Creating a CloudWatch cross-account cross-Region dashboard with the AWS Management Console](create_xaxr_dashboard.md). From this overview, you can see a cross-service dashboard of metrics from multiple AWS service, or focus your view to a specific resource group or a specific AWS service. This enables you to narrow your view to a subset of resources in which you are interested. **Topics** + [ # Viewing the cross-service CloudWatch dashboard ](CloudWatch_Automatic_Dashboards_Cross_Service.md) + [ # Removing a service from appearing in the CloudWatch cross-service dashboard ](Remove_service_from_Cross_Service_Dashboard.md) + [ # Viewing a CloudWatch dashboard for a single AWS service ](CloudWatch_Automatic_Dashboards_Focus_Service.md) + [ # Viewing a CloudWatch dashboard for a resource group ](CloudWatch_Automatic_Dashboards_Resource_Group.md) # Viewing the cross-service CloudWatch dashboard Viewing the cross-service dashboard You can switch to the Cross-service dashboard screen and interact with dashboards for all of the AWS services that you're using. The CloudWatch Console displays your dashboards in alphabetical order and displays one or two key metrics from each service. **Note** If you're using five or more AWS services, the CloudWatch Console won't display the Cross-service dashboard on the Overview screen. **To view the Cross-service dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). You're directed to the Overview screen. 1. From the Overview screen, select the dropdown that reads **Overview**, and then choose **Cross service dashboard**. You're directed to the Cross service dashboard screen. 1. (Optional) If you're using the original interface, scroll to the section **Cross-service dashboard**, and then choose **View Cross-service dashboard**. You're directed to the Cross-service dashboard screen. 1. You can focus on a particular service in two ways: 1. To see more key metrics for a service, choose its name from the list at the top of the screen, where **Cross service dashboard** is currently shown. Or, you can choose **View *Service* dashboard** next to the service name. An automatic dashboard for that service is displayed, showing more metrics for that service. Additionally, for some services, the bottom of the service dashboard displays resources related to that service. You can choose one of those resources to that service console and focus further on that resource. 1. To see all the alarms related to a service, choose the button on the right of the screen next to that service name. The text on this button indicates how many alarms you have created in this service, and whether any are in the ALARM state. When the alarms are displayed, multiple alarms that have similar settings (such as dimensions, threshold, or period) may be shown in a single graph. You can then view details about an alarm and see the alarm history. To do so, hover on the alarm graph, and choose the actions icon, **View in alarms**. The alarms view appears in a new browser tab, displaying a list of your alarms, along with details about the chosen alarm. To see the history for this alarm, choose the **History** tab. 1. You can focus on resources in a particular resource group. To do so, choose the resource group from the list at the top of the page where **All resources** is displayed. For more information, see [Viewing a CloudWatch dashboard for a resource group](CloudWatch_Automatic_Dashboards_Resource_Group.md). 1. To change the time range shown in all graphs and alarms currently displayed, select the range you want next to **Time range** at the top of the screen. Choose **custom** to select from more time range options than those displayed by default. 1. Alarms are always refreshed once a minute. To refresh the view, choose the refresh icon (two curved arrows) at the top right of the screen. To change the automatic refresh rate for items on the screen other than alarms, choose the down arrow next to the refresh icon and choose the refresh rate you want. You can also choose to turn off automatic refresh. # Removing a service from appearing in the CloudWatch cross-service dashboard Removing a service from appearing in the cross-service dashboard You can prevent a service's metrics from appearing in the cross-service dashboard. This helps you focus your cross-service dashboard on the services you most want to monitor. If you remove a service from the cross-service dashboard, the alarms for that service still appear in the views of your alarms. **To remove a service's metrics from the cross-service dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). The home page appears. 1. At the top of the page, under **Overview**, choose the service you want to remove. The view changes to show metrics from only that service. 1. Choose **Actions**, then clear the check box next to **Show on cross service dashboard**. # Viewing a CloudWatch dashboard for a single AWS service Viewing a dashboard for a single service On the CloudWatch home page, you can focus the view to a single AWS service. You can drill down further by focusing on both a single AWS service and a resource group at the same time. The following procedure shows only how to focus on an AWS service. **To focus on a single service** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). The home page appears. 1. For **Overview**, where **Overview** is currently shown in the drop down menu, choose **Service dashboards**. 1. Choose the service that you want to focus on. The view changes to display graphs of key metrics from the selected service. 1. To switch to viewing the alarms for this service, select the check box for **In alarm**, **Insufficient data**, or **OK** near the top of the screen where the service name is currently displayed. 1. When viewing metrics, you can focus on a particular metric in several ways: 1. To see more details about the metrics in any graph, hover on the graph, and choose the actions icon, **View in metrics**. The graph appears in a new tab, with the relevant metrics listed below the graph. You can customize your view of this graph, changing the metrics and resources shown, the statistic, the period, and other factors to get a better understanding of the current situation. 1. You can view log events from the time range shown in the graph. This may help you discover events that happened in your infrastructure that are causing an unexpected change in your metrics. To see the log events, hover on the graph, and choose the actions icon, **View in logs**. The CloudWatch Logs view appears in a new tab, displaying a list of your log groups. To see the log events in one of these log groups that occurred during the time range shown in the original graph, choose that log group. 1. When viewing alarms, you can focus on a particular alarm in several ways: 1. To see more details about an alarm, hover on the alarm, and choose the actions icon, **View in alarms**. The alarms view appears in a new tab, displaying a list of your alarms, along with details about the chosen alarm. To see the history for this alarm, choose the **History** tab. 1. Alarms are always refreshed one time per minute. To refresh the view, choose the refresh icon (two curved arrows) at the top right of the screen. To change the automatic refresh rate for items on the screen other than alarms, choose the down arrow next to the refresh icon and choose a refresh rate. You can also choose to turn off automatic refresh. 1. To change the time range shown in all graphs and alarms currently displayed, next to **Time range** at the top of the screen, choose the range. To select from more time range options than those displayed by default, choose **custom**. 1. To return to the cross-service dashboard, choose **Overview** in the list at the top of the screen that currently shows the service you are focusing on. Alternatively, from any view, you can choose **CloudWatch** at the top of the screen to clear all filters and return to the overview page. # Viewing a CloudWatch dashboard for a resource group Viewing a dashboard for a resource group You can focus your view to display metrics and alarms from a single resource group. Using resource groups enables you to use tags to organize projects, focus on a subset of your architecture, or distinguish between your production and development environments. They also enable you to focus on each of these resource groups on the CloudWatch overview. For more information, see [What Is AWS Resource Groups?](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ARG/latest/userguide/welcome.html). When you focus on a resource group, the display changes to show only the services where you have tagged resources as part of this resource group. The recent alarms area shows only the alarms that are associated with resources that are part of the resource group. Additionally, if you have created a dashboard with the name **CloudWatch-Default-*ResourceGroupName***, it is displayed in the **Default dashboard** area. You can drill down further by focusing on both a single AWS service and a resource group at the same time. The following procedure shows just how to focus on a resource group. **To focus on a single resource group** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. At the top of the page, where **All resources** is displayed, choose a resource group. 1. To see more metrics related to this resource group, near the bottom of the screen, choose **View cross service dashboard**. The cross-service dashboard appears, showing only the services related to this resource group. For each service, one or two key metrics are displayed. 1. To change the time range shown in all graphs and alarms currently displayed, for **Time range** at the top of the screen, select a range. To select from more time range options than those displayed by default, choose **custom**. 1. Alarms are always refreshed one time per minute. To refresh the view, choose the refresh icon (two curved arrows) at the top right of the screen. To change the automatic refresh rate for items on the screen other than alarms, choose the down arrow next to the refresh icon and choose a refresh rate. You can also choose to turn off automatic refresh. 1. To return to showing information about all the resources in your account, near the top of the screen where the name of the resource group is currently displayed, choose **All resources**. # Creating a customized CloudWatch dashboard Creating a customized dashboard To get started, create a CloudWatch dashboard. You can create multiple dashboards, and you can add dashboards to a favorites list. You aren't limited to the number of dashboards that you can have in your AWS account. All dashboards are global. They are not Region-specific. The following procedure shows you how to create a dashboard from the CloudWatch console. You can use the `PutDashboard` API operation to create a dashboard from the command line interface. The API operation contains a JSON string that defines your dashboard content. For more information about creating a dashboard with the `PutDashboard` API operation, see [PutDashboard](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/API_PutDashboard.html) in the *Amazon CloudWatch API Reference*. **Tip** If you're creating a new dashboard with the `PutDashboard` API operation, you can use the JSON string from a dashboard that already exists. **To create a dashboard from the console** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose **Create dashboard**. 1. In the **Create new dashboard** dialog box, enter a name for the dashboard, and then choose **Create dashboard**. If you use the name **CloudWatch-Default** or **CloudWatch-Default-*ResourceGroupName***, the dashboard appears in the overview of the CloudWatch home page under **Default Dashboard**. For more information, see [Getting started with CloudWatch automatic dashboards](GettingStarted.md). 1. In the **Add to this dashboard** dialog box, do one of the following: + To add a graph to the dashboard, choose **Line** or **Stacked area**, and then choose **Configure**. In the **Add metric graph** dialog box, select the metric(s) to graph, and then choose **Create widget**. If a metric doesn't appear in the dialog box because it hasn't published data in more than 14 days, you can add it manually. For more information, see [Graph metrics manually on a CloudWatch dashboard](add_old_metrics_to_graph.md). + To add a number displaying a metric to the dashboard, choose **Number**, and then choose **Configure**. In the **Add metric graph** dialog box, select the metric(s) to graph, and then choose **Create widget**. + To add a text block to the dashboard, choose **Text**, and then choose **Configure**. In the **New text widget** dialog box, for **Markdown**, format your text using [Markdown](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-markdown.html), and then choose **Create widget**. 1. (Optional) Choose **Add widget**, and then repeat step 4 to add another widget to the dashboard. You can repeat this step multiple times. For each graph on the dashboard, there is an information icon at the upper right. Choose this icon to see the descriptions of the metrics in the graph. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Creating a CloudWatch cross-account cross-Region dashboard with the AWS Management Console Creating a cross-account cross-Region dashboard with the console You can create *cross-account cross-Region dashboards*, which summarize your CloudWatch data from multiple AWS accounts and multiple Regions into one dashboard. From this high-level dashboard you can get a view of your entire application, and also drill down into more specific dashboards without having to sign in and out of accounts or switch Regions. **Prerequisite** Before you can create a cross-account cross-Region dashboard, you must enable at least one sharing account and at least one monitoring account. Additionally, to be able to use the CloudWatch console to create a cross-account dashboard, you must enable the console for cross-account functionality. For more information, see [Cross-account cross-Region CloudWatch console](Cross-Account-Cross-Region.md). **To create a cross-account cross-Region dashboard** 1. Sign in to the monitoring account. 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**. 1. Choose a dashboard, or create a new one. 1. At the top of the screen, you can switch between accounts and Regions. As you create your dashboard, you can include widgets from multiple accounts and Regions. Widgets include graphs, alarms, and CloudWatch Logs Insights widgets. ## Create a cross-account cross-Region dashboard programmatically You can use the AWS APIs and SDKs to create dashboards programmatically. For more information, see [ PutDashboard](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/API_PutDashboard). To enable cross-account cross-Region dashboards, we have added new parameters to the dashboard body structure, as shown in the following table and examples. For more information about overall dashboard body structure, see [ Dashboard Body Structure and Syntax](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/CloudWatch-Dashboard-Body-Structure.html). | Parameter | Use | Scope | Default | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `accountId` | Specifies the ID of the account where the widget or the metric is located. | Widget or metric | Account that is currently logged in | | `region` | Specifies the Region of the metric. | Widget or metric | Current Region selected in the console | The following examples illustrate the JSON source for widgets in a cross-account cross-Region dashboard. This example sets the `accountId` field to the ID of the sharing account at the widget level. This specifies that all metrics in this widget will come from that sharing account and Region. ``` { "widgets": [ { ... "properties": { "metrics": [ … ], "accountId": "111122223333", "region": "us-east-1" } } ] } ``` This example sets the `accountId` field differently at the level of each metric. In this example, the different metrics in this metric math expression come from different sharing accounts and different Regions. ``` { "widgets": [ { ... "properties": { "metrics": [ [ { "expression": "SUM(METRICS())", "label": "[avg: ${AVG}] Expression1", "id": "e1", "stat": "Sum" } ], [ "AWS/EC2", "CPUUtilization", { "id": "m2", "accountId": "5555666677778888", "region": "us-east-1", "label": "[avg: ${AVG}] ApplicationALabel " } ], [ ".", ".", { "id": "m1", "accountId": "9999000011112222", "region": "eu-west-1", "label": "[avg: ${AVG}] ApplicationBLabel" } ] ], "view": "timeSeries", "region": "us-east-1", ---> home region of the metric. Not present in above example "stacked": false, "stat": "Sum", "period": 300, "title": "Cross account example" } } ] } ``` This example shows an alarm widget. ``` { "type": "metric", "x": 6, "y": 0, "width": 6, "height": 6, "properties": { "accountID": "111122223333", "title": "over50", "annotations": { "alarms": [ "arn:aws:cloudwatch:us-east-1:379642911888:alarm:over50" ] }, "view": "timeSeries", "stacked": false } } ``` This example is for a CloudWatch Logs Insights widget. ``` { "type": "log", "x": 0, "y": 6, "width": 24, "height": 6, "properties": { "query": "SOURCE 'route53test' | fields @timestamp, @message\n| sort @timestamp desc\n| limit 20", "accountId": "111122223333", "region": "us-east-1", "stacked": false, "view": "table" } } ``` Another way to create dashboards programmatically is to first create one in the AWS Management Console, and then copy the JSON source of this dashboard. To do so, load the dashboard and choose **Actions**, **View/edit source**. You can then copy this dashboard JSON to use as a template to create similar dashboards. ## Creating a graph with metrics from different accounts and Regions in a CloudWatch dashboard Creating a graph with metrics from different accounts and Regions 1. Sign in to the monitoring account. 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Metrics**, and then choose **All metrics**. 1. Select the account and Region that you want to add metrics from. You can select your account and Region from the account and Region dropdown menus near the top-right of the screen. 1. Add the metrics you want to the graph. For more information, see [Graphing metrics](graph_metrics.md). 1. Repeat steps 4-5 to add metrics from other accounts and Regions. 1. (Optional) Choose the **Graphed metrics** tab and add a metric math function that uses the metrics that you have chosen. For more information, see [Using math expressions with CloudWatch metrics](using-metric-math.md). You can also set up a single graph to include multiple `SEARCH` functions. Each search can refer to a different account or Region. 1. When you are finished with the graph, choose **Actions**, **Add to dashboard**. Select your cross-account dashboard, and choose **Add to dashboard**. # Adding an alarm from a different account to a CloudWatch cross-account dashboard Adding an alarm from a different account to a cross-account dashboard 1. Sign in to the monitoring account. 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. At the top of the page, choose the account where the alarm is located. 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Alarms**. 1. Select the check box next to the alarm that you want to add, and choose **Add to dashboard**. 1. Select the cross-account dashboard that you want to add it to, and choose **Add to dashboard**. # Creating flexible CloudWatch dashboards with dashboard variables Creating dashboards with variables Use *dashboard variables* to create flexible dashboards that can quickly display different content in multiple widgets, depending on the value of an input field within the dashboard. For example, you can create a dashboard that can quickly switch between different Lambda functions or Amazon EC2 instance IDs, or one that can switch to different AWS Regions. After you create a dashboard that uses a variable, you can copy the same variable pattern to other existing dashboards. Using dashboard variables improves the operational workflow for people who use your dashboards. It can also reduce your costs because you're using dashboard variables in one dashboard instead of creating multiple similar dashboards. **Note** If you share a dashboard that contains dashboard variables, the people that you share it with won't be able to change between the variable values. ## Types of dashboard variables The dashboard variable can be a *property variable* or a *pattern variable*. + *Property variables* change all instances of a property in all widgets in the dashboard. This property can be any JSON property in the JSON source of a dashboard, such as `region`. Or it can be a dimension name for a metric, such as `InstanceID` or `FunctionName`. For a tutorial that uses a property variable, see [Tutorial: Creating a CloudWatch Lambda dashboard with function name as the variable](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_property.md). For more information about the JSON source of dashboards, see [Dashboard Body Structure and Syntax](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/CloudWatch-Dashboard-Body-Structure.html). In the CloudWatch console, you can see the JSON source for any custom dashboard by choosing **Actions**, **View/edit source**. + *Pattern variables* use a regular expression pattern to change all of a JSON property or only a certain part of it. For a tutorial that uses a pattern variable, see [Tutorial: Creating a dashboard that uses a regular expression pattern to switch between AWS Regions](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_pattern.md). Property variables apply to most use cases and are less complex to set up. **Topics** + [ ## Types of dashboard variables ](#cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_types) + [ # Copying a variable to another CloudWatch dashboard ](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_copy.md) + [ # Tutorial: Creating a dashboard that uses a regular expression pattern to switch between AWS Regions ](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_pattern.md) + [ # Tutorial: Creating a CloudWatch Lambda dashboard with function name as the variable ](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_property.md) # Copying a variable to another CloudWatch dashboard Copying a variable to another dashboard After you create a dashboard with useful variables, you can copy these variables to other existing dashboards. For more information about dashboard variables, see [Creating flexible CloudWatch dashboards with dashboard variables](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables.md). **To copy a dashboard variable to another dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose the name of the dashboard that has the variable that you want to copy. Enter a string to find dashboards with matching names, if needed. 1. Choose **Actions**, **Variables**, **Manage variables**. 1. Choose the radio button next to the variable that you want to copy, and choose **Copy to another dashboard**. 1. Choose the selection box and start typing the dashboard name that you want to copy the variable to. 1. Select the dashboard name and choose **Copy variable**. # Tutorial: Creating a dashboard that uses a regular expression pattern to switch between AWS Regions Tutorial: Using a regular expression pattern to switch between Regions The steps in this procedure illustrate how to create a flexible dashboard that can switch between Regions. This tutorial uses a regular expression *pattern variable* instead of a property variable. For a tutorial that uses a property variable, see [Tutorial: Creating a CloudWatch Lambda dashboard with function name as the variable](cloudwatch_dashboard_variables_property.md). For many use cases, you can create a dashboard that switches between Regions by using a property variable. But if the widgets rely on Amazon Resource Names (ARNs) that include Region names, you must use a pattern variable to change the Region names within the ARNs. **To use a dashboard pattern variable to create a flexible multi-Region dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, **Create dashboard**. 1. Enter a name for the dashboard, and choose **Create dashboard**. 1. Add widgets to the dashboard. When you add the widgets that you want to display Region-specific data, avoid specifying any dimensions with values that appear in only one Region. For example, for Amazon EC2 metrics, specify metrics that are aggregated instead of metrics that use **InstanceID** as a dimension. For more information about adding widgets to a dashboard, see [Using widgets on CloudWatch dashboards](create-and-work-with-widgets.md). 1. After you add the widgets, as you are viewing the dashboard, choose **Actions**, **Variables**, **Create a variable**. 1. Choose **Pattern variable**. 1. For **Property that the variable changes**, enter the name of the current dashboard Region, such as **us-east-2**. You have the correct Region entered if the label below that box displays the widgets that will be impacted by the variable. 1. For **Input type**, for this use case, select **Radio button**. 1. For **Define how inputs are populated**, choose **Create a list of custom values**. 1. For **Create your custom values**, enter the Regions that you want to switch between, with one Region on each line. After each Region, enter a comma and then the label to display for that radio button. For example: **us-east-1, N. Virginia** **us-east-2, Ohio** **eu-west-3, Paris** As you fill in the custom values, the **Preview** pane updates to display what the radio buttons will look like. 1. (Optional) For more settings, choose **Secondary settings** and do one or more of the following: + To customize the name of your variable, enter the name in **Custom variable name**. + To customize the label for the variable input field, enter the label in **Input label**. For this tutorial, enter **Region:**. If you enter a value here, the **Preview** pane updates to display what the radio buttons will look like. + To set the default value for this variable when the dashboard is first opened, enter the default in **Default value**. 1. Choose **Add variable**. The dashboard appears, with a **Region:** label next to the radio buttons for the Regions near the top. When you switch between Regions, all the widgets that use the variable will display information about the selected Region. # Tutorial: Creating a CloudWatch Lambda dashboard with function name as the variable Tutorial: Creating dashboard with the Lambda function name as a variable The steps in this procedure illustrate how to create a flexible dashboard that shows a variety of metric graphs, using a property variable. This includes a dropdown selection box on the dashboard that you can use to switch the metrics in all the graphs between different Lambda functions. Other use case examples for this type of dashboard include using `InstanceId` as the variable to create a dashboard of metrics with a dropdown for instance IDs. Alternatively, you could create a dashboard that uses `region` as the variable to display the same set of metrics from different Regions. **To use a dashboard property variable to create a flexible Lambda dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, **Create dashboard**. 1. Enter a name for the dashboard, and choose **Create dashboard**. 1. Add widgets to the dashboard that display metrics for a Lambda function. When you create these widgets, specify **Lambda**, **By Function Name** for the widget metrics. For the function, specify one of the Lambda functions that you want to include in this dashboard. For more information about adding widgets to a dashboard, see [Using widgets on CloudWatch dashboards](create-and-work-with-widgets.md). 1. After you add the widgets, as you are viewing the dashboard, choose **Actions**, **Variables**, **Create a variable**. 1. Choose **Property variable**. 1. For **Property that the variable changes**, choose **FunctionName**. 1. For **Input type**, for this use case, we recommend choosing **Select menu (dropdown)**. This creates a dropdown menu in the dashboard where you can select the Lambda function name to display metrics for. If this was for a dashboard that toggled between only two or three different values for a variable, then **Radio button** would be a good choice. If you prefer to enter or paste in values for the variable, you would choose **Text input**. This option doesn't include a dropdown list or radio buttons. 1. When you choose **Select menu (dropdown)**, you must then choose whether to populate the menu by entering values, or using a metric search. For this use case, let's assume that you have a large number of Lambda functions and you don't want to enter all of them manually. Choose **Use the results of a metric search** and then do the following: 1. Choose **Pre-built queries**, **Lambda**, **Errors**. (Choosing **Errors** does not add the **Errors** metric to the dashboard. However, it quickly populates the **FunctionName** variable selection box.) 1. Choose **By Function Name** and then choose **Search**. Under the **Search** button, you will then see **FunctionName** selected. You also see a message about how many **FunctionName** dimension values were found to populate the input box. 1. (Optional) For more settings, choose **Secondary settings** and do one or more of the following: + To customize the name of your variable, enter the name in **Custom variable name**. + To customize the label for the variable input field, enter the label in **Input label**. + To set the default value for this variable when the dashboard is first opened, enter the default in **Default value**. 1. Choose **Add variable**. A **FunctionName** dropdown selection box appears near the top of the dashboard. You can select a Lambda function in this box and all the widgets that use the variable will display information about the selected function. Later, if you add more widgets to the dashboard that watch Lambda metrics with the **FunctionName** dimension, they will automatically use the variable. # Using widgets on CloudWatch dashboards Using widgets on dashboards You can use the following types of widgets on CloudWatch dashboards: + **Graph widget** – You can add graphs that contain one or more metrics to your CloudWatch dashboard. The types of graphs that you can add to your dashboard include ***Line***, ***Stacked area***, ***Number***, ***Gauge***, ***Bar***, and ***Pie***. You can remove graphs from your dashboard when you don't need them anymore. + **Manual metrics widget** – If a metric hasn't published data in the past 14 days, you can't find it when searching for metrics to add to a graph on a CloudWatch dashboard. You can add any metric manually to an existing graph. + **Metrics explorer widget** – Metrics explorer widgets include graphs of multiple resources that have the same tag, or share the same resource property such as an instance type. These widgets stay up to date, as resources that match are created or deleted. Adding metrics explorer widgets to your dashboard helps you to troubleshoot your environment more efficiently. For example, you can monitor your fleet of EC2 instances by assigning tags that represent their environments, such as production or test. You can then use these tags to filter and aggregate the operational metrics, such as `CPUUtilization`, to understand the health and performance of the EC2 instances that are associated with each tag. + **Line widget** – With the line widget, you can compare metrics over periods of time. You also can use the widget's mini-map zoom feature to inspect sections of line graphs without changing between zoomed-in and zoomed-out views. The procedures in this section describe how to add and remove a line widget on a CloudWatch dashboard. For information about using the widget's mini-map zoom feature with line graphs, see [Zooming in on a line or stacked area graph](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/zoom-graph.html). + **Number widget** – With the number widget, you can look at the latest metric values and trends as soon as they appear. Because the number widget includes the sparkline feature, you can visualize the top and bottom halves of metric trends in a single graph. The procedures in this section describe how to add and remove a number widget from a CloudWatch dashboard. + **Gauge widget** – With the gauge widget, you can visualize metric values that go between ranges. For example, you can use the gauge widget to graph percentages and CPU utilization, so that you can observe and diagnose any performance issues that occur. The procedures in this section describe how to add and remove a gauge widget from a CloudWatch dashboard. + **Text widget** – A text widget contains a block of text in [Markdown](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-markdown.html) format. You can add, edit, or remove text widgets from your CloudWatch dashboard. + **Alarm widget** – To add an alarm widget to a dashboard, choose one of the following options: + Add a single alarm in a widget, which displays the graph of the alarm's metric and also displays the alarm status. + Add an *alarm status widget*, which displays the status of multiple alarms in a grid. Only the alarm names and current status are displayed, Graphs are not displayed. You can include up to 100 alarms in one alarm status widget. + **Table widget** – With the data table widget, you can see the raw datapoints of your metric and a quick summary of that raw data. Because the data table widget is not a chart to abstract the actual data away from you, it is easier to understand the datapoints being presented. The procedures in this section describe how to add and remove a data table widget from a CloudWatch dashboard. The following image shows an example of a table widget with columns for the Minimum, Maximum, Sum, and Average statistics for a set of CloudWatch metrics. + **Linked graphs** – You can link the graphs on your dashboard together, so that when you zoom in or zoom out on one graph, the other graphs zoom in or zoom out at the same time. You can unlink graphs to limit zoom to one graph. **Topics** + [Adding a graph widget](add_graph_dashboard.md) + [Removing a graph widget](remove_graph_dashboard.md) + [Graph metrics manually on a dashboard](add_old_metrics_to_graph.md) + [Editing a graph](edit_graph_dashboard.md) + [Renaming a graph](rename_graph_dashboard.md) + [Moving a graph](move_graph_dashboard.md) + [Changing the size of graphs](#resize_graph_dashboard) + [Changing the size of a graph temporarily](#resize_graph_temp_dashboard) + [Add a metrics explorer widget](add_metrics_explorer_dashboard.md) + [Adding a line graph widget](add_line_dashboard.md) + [Removing a line graph](remove_line_dashboard.md) + [Adding a number widget](add_number_dashboard.md) + [Removing a number widget](remove_number_dashboard.md) + [Adding a gauge widget](add_gauge_dashboard.md) + [Removing a gauge widget](remove_gauge_dashboard.md) + [Using a custom widget](add_custom_widget_dashboard.md) + [Adding a text widget](add_text_dashboard.md) + [Editing a text widget](edit_text_dashboard.md) + [Removing a text widget](remove_text_dashboard.md) + [Adding an alarm](add_alarm_dashboard.md) + [Adding an alarm status widget](add_alarm_widget_dashboard.md) + [Removing an alert widget](remove_alarm_dashboard.md) + [Using a data table widget](add_remove_table_dashboard.md) + [Linking graphs](link_graphs_dashboard.md) + [Unlinking graphs](unlink_graphs_dashboard.md) # Adding a graph widget to a CloudWatch dashboard Adding a graph widget The procedures in this section describe how to add and remove graphs from your dashboard. For information about how to edit a graph on your dashboard, see [ Edit a graph on a CloudWatch dashboard](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/edit_graph_dashboard.html). **To add a graph to a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Choose the **\$1** symbol, and then choose the type of graph that you want to add to your dashboard, then choose **Next**. 1. If you select ***Line***, ***Stacked area***, ***Bar***, or ***Pie***, choose **Metrics**. 1. In the **Browse** tab, search or browse for the metrics to graph, and select the ones that you want. 1. (Optional) To change your graph's time range, select one of the predefined time ranges in the upper part of the screen. The time ranges span from 1 hour to 1 week (***1h***, ***3h***, ***12h***, ***1d***, ***3d***, or ***1w***). To set your own time range, choose **Custom**. 1. (Optional) To have this widget keep using this time range that you select, even if the time range for the rest of the dashboard is later changed, choose **Persist time range**. 1. (Optional) To change your graph's widget type, use the dropdown that's next to the predefined time ranges. 1. (Optional) In **Graphed metrics**, you can add a dynamic label to your metric and change your metric's label, label color, statistic, and period. You also can determine the position of labels on the Y-axis from left to right. 1. To add a dynamic label, choose **Graphed metrics**, and then choose **Add dynamic labels**. Dynamic labels display a statistic about your metric in the graph legend. Dynamic labels update automatically when your dashboard or graph refreshes. By default, the dynamic values that you add to labels appear at the beginning of your labels. For more information, see [Use dynamic labels](graph-dynamic-labels.md). 1. To change the color of a metric, choose the color square that's next to the metric. 1. To change the statistic, select the dropdown under ***Statistic***, and then choose a new value. For more information, see [Statistics](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/cloudwatch_concepts.html#Statistic). 1. To change the period, select the dropdown under the ***Period*** column, and then choose a new value. 1. If you are creating a gauge widget, you must choose the **Options** tab and specify the **Min** and **Max** values to use for the two ends of the gauge. 1. (Optional) To customize the Y-axis, choose **Options**. You can add a custom label under ***Left Y-axis*** in the label field. If your graph displays values on the right side of the Y-axis, you can customize that label, too. You also can set minimum and maximum limits on your Y-axis values, so that your graph only displays the value ranges that you specify. 1. (Optional) To add or edit horizontal annotations to line or stacked area graphs, or to add thresholds to gauge widgets, choose **Options**: 1. To add a horizontal annotation or threshold, choose **Add horizontal annotation** or **Add threshold**. 1. For ***Label***, enter a label for the annotation then choose the check mark icon. 1. For ***Value***, choose the pen and paper icon that's next to the current value, and enter your new value. After you enter your value, choose the check mark icon. 1. For ***Fill***, select the dropdown and specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose ***None***, ***Above***, ***Between***, or ***Below***. To change the fill color, choose the color square that's next to the annotation. 1. For ***Axis***, specify whether your annotation appears on the left or right side of the Y-axis. 1. To hide an annotation, clear the check box that's next to the annotation you want to hide. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under ***Actions***. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple horizontal annotations or thresholds to the same graph or gauge. 1. (Optional) To add or edit vertical annotations, choose **Options**: 1. To add a vertical annotation, choose **Add vertical annotation**. 1. For ***Label***, choose the pen and paper icon that's next to the current annotation, and enter your new annotation. If you want to show only the date and time, leave the label field blank. 1. For ***Date***, choose the current date and time, and enter the new date and time. 1. For ***Fill***, select the dropdown, and specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose ***None***, ***Above***, ***Between***, or ***Below***. To change the fill color, select the color square that's next to the annotation. 1. To hide an annotation, clear the check box next to the annotation that you want to hide. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under ***Actions***. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple vertical annotations to the same graph. 1. Choose **Create widget**. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Removing a graph widget from a CloudWatch dashboard Removing a graph widget **To remove a graph from a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. In the upper-right corner of the graph that you want to remove, choose **Widget actions**, and then choose **Delete**. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Graph metrics manually on a CloudWatch dashboard Graph metrics manually on a dashboard **To add a metric that you can't find in search to a graph** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. The dashboard must already contain a graph where you want to add the metric. If it doesn't, create the graph and add any metric to it. For more information, see [Adding a graph widget to a CloudWatch dashboard](add_graph_dashboard.md). 1. Choose **Actions**, **View/edit source**. A JSON block appears. The block specifies the widgets on the dashboard and their contents. The following is an example of one part of this block, which defines one graph. ``` { "type": "metric", "x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 6, "height": 3, "properties": { "view": "singleValue", "metrics": [ [ "AWS/EBS", "VolumeReadOps", "VolumeId", "vol-1234567890abcdef0" ] ], "region": "us-west-1" } }, ``` In this example, the following section defines the metric shown on this graph. ``` [ "AWS/EBS", "VolumeReadOps", "VolumeId", "vol-1234567890abcdef0" ] ``` 1. Add a comma after the end bracket if there isn't already one and then add a similar bracketed section after the comma. In this new section, specify the namespace, metric name, and any necessary dimensions of the metric that you're adding to the graph. The following is an example. ``` [ "AWS/EBS", "VolumeReadOps", "VolumeId", "vol-1234567890abcdef0" ], [ "MyNamespace", "MyMetricName", "DimensionName", "DimensionValue" ] ``` For more information about the formatting of metrics in JSON, see [ Properties of a Metric Widget Object](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/CloudWatch-Dashboard-Body-Structure.html#CloudWatch-Dashboard-Properties-Metric-Widget-Object) in the Amazon CloudWatch API Reference. 1. Choose **Update**. # Editing a graph on a CloudWatch dashboard Editing a graph You can edit the graphs that you add to your CloudWatch dashboard. You can change a graph's title, statistic, or period. You can add, update, and remove metrics from your graphs. If your graph contains more than one metric, you can reduce clutter by hiding metrics that you aren't using. The procedures in this section describe how to edit a graph on your dashboard. For information about creating a graph, see [Add or remove a graph from a CloudWatch dashboard](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/add_remove_graph_dashboard.html). ------ #### [ New interface ] **To edit a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. In the upper-right corner of the graph that you want to edit, choose **Widget actions**, and then choose **Edit**. 1. To change the graph's title, choose the pen and paper icon that's next to the current title. Enter the new title, and then choose **Apply**. 1. (Optional) To change your graph's time range, select one of the predefined time ranges in the upper are of the graph. The time ranges span from 1 hour to 1 week (***1h***, ***3h***, ***12h***, ***1d***, ***3d***, or ***1w***). To set your own time range, choose **Custom**. 1. (Optional) To have this widget keep using this time range that you select, even if the time range for the rest of the dashboard is later changed, choose **Persist time range**. 1. To change your graph's widget type, use dropdown that's next to the predefined time ranges. 1. In **Graphed metrics**, you can add a dynamic label to your metric and change your metric's label, label color, statistic, and period. You also can determine the position of labels on the Y-axis from left to right. 1. To add a dynamic label for a metric, choose **Dynamic labels**. Dynamic labels display a statistic about the metric in the graph legend. Dynamic labels update automatically when your dashboard or graph refreshes. By default, the dynamic values that you add to labels appear at the beginning of the labels. For more information, see [Use dynamic labels](graph-dynamic-labels.md). 1. To change the color of a metric, choose the color square that's next to the metric. 1. To change the statistic, choose the statistic value under the ***Statistic*** column, and then choose a new value. For more information, see [Statistics](cloudwatch_concepts.md#Statistic). 1. To change the period, choose the period value under the ***Period*** column, and then choose a new value. 1. To add or edit horizontal annotations, choose **Options**: 1. To add a horizontal annotation, choose **Add horizontal annotation**. 1. For **Label**, choose the pen and paper icon next to the current annotation. Then enter your new annotation. After you enter your annotation, choose the check mark icon. 1. For **Value**, choose the pen and paper icon next to the current metric value. Then enter your new metric value. After you enter your value, select the check mark icon. 1. For **Fill**, choose the dropdown under the column, and then specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose **None**, **Above**, **Between**, or **Below**. If you choose **Between**, another new label and value field appears. **Tip** You can change the fill color by choosing the colored square next to the annotation. 1. For **Axis**, specify whether your annotation appears on the left or right side of the Y-axis. 1. To hide an annotation, deselect the check box next to the annotation that you want to hide on the graph. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under the **Actions** column. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple horizontal annotations to the same graph. 1. To add or edit vertical annotations, choose **Options**: 1. To add a vertical annotation, choose **Add vertical annotation**. 1. For **Label**, choose the pen and paper icon next to the current annotation. Then enter your new annotation. After you enter your annotation, choose the check mark icon. **Tip** To show only the date and time, leave the label field blank. 1. For **Date**, choose the current date and time. Then enter the new date and time. 1. For **Fill**, choose the dropdown under the column, and then specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose **None**, **Above**, **Between**, or **Below**. If you choose **Between**, a new label and value field appears. **Tip** You can change the fill color by choosing the color square next to the annotation. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple vertical annotations to the same graph. 1. To hide an annotation, deselect the check box next to the annotation that you want to hide on the graph. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under the **Actions** column. 1. To customize the Y-axis, choose **Options**. Under ***Left Y-axis***, you can enter a custom label for **Label**. If the graph displays values on the right Y-axis, you can customize that label, too. You also can set minimums and maximums on the Y-axis values, so that the graph displays only the value range that you specify. 1. When you finish making changes, choose **Update widget**. **To hide or change the position of a graph legend** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. In the upper-right corner of the graph that you want to edit, choose **Widget actions**. Choose **Legend** and select **Hidden**, **Bottom**, or **Right**. **To temporarily hide metrics for a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Select the color square for the metric that you want to hide in the graph's footer. An ***X*** appears in the color square when you hover over it, and the square turns gray when you choose it. 1. To restore the hidden metric, clear the **X** in the gray square. ------ #### [ Original interface ] **To edit a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Hover over the upper-right corner of the graph that you want to edit. Choose **Widget actions**, and then choose **Edit**. 1. To change the graph's title, choose the pencil icon that's next to the current title, and then enter the new title. 1. To change the graph's time range, choose one of the predefined time ranges in the upper area of the graph. These span from 1 hour to 1 week (***1h***, ***3h***, ***12h***, ***1d***, ***3d***, or ***1w***). 1. To set your own time range, choose **custom**. 1. To change your graph's widget type, select the **Graph options** tab. You can choose ***Line***, ***Stacked area***, ***Number***, ***Bar***, or ***Pie***. **Tip** You can change your graph's widget type by choosing the dropdown that's next to the predefined time ranges. 1. In **Graphed metrics**, you can add a dynamic label to your metric and change your metric's label, label color, statistic, and period. You also can determine the position of labels on the Y-axis from left to right. 1. To add a dynamic label for a metric, choose **Dynamic labels**. Dynamic labels display a statistic about the metric in the graph legend. Dynamic labels update automatically when your dashboard or graph refreshes. By default, the dynamic values that you add to labels appear at the beginning of the labels. For more information, see [Use dynamic labels](graph-dynamic-labels.md). 1. To change the color of a metric, choose the color square that's next to the metric. 1. To change the statistic, choose the statistic value under the ***Statistic*** column, and then choose a new value. For more information, see [Statistics](cloudwatch_concepts.md#Statistic). 1. To change the period, choose the period value under the ***Period*** column, and then choose a new value. 1. To add or edit horizontal annotations, choose **Graph options**: 1. To add a horizontal annotation, choose **Add horizontal annotation**. 1. For **Label**, choose the pencil icon next to the current annotation. Then enter your new annotation. After you enter your annotation, choose the check mark icon. 1. For **Value**, choose the pencil icon next to the current metric value. Then enter your new metric value. After you enter your value, select the check mark icon. 1. For **Fill**, choose the dropdown under the column, and then specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose **None**, **Above**, **Between**, or **Below**. If you choose **Between**, a new label and value field appears. **Tip** You can change the fill color by choosing the color square next to the annotation. 1. For **Axis**, specify whether your annotation appears on the left or right side of the Y-axis. 1. To hide an annotation, deselect the check box next to the annotation that you want to hide on the graph. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under the **Actions** column. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple horizontal annotations to the same graph. 1. To add or edit vertical annotations, choose **Graph options**: 1. To add a vertical annotation, choose **Add vertical annotation**. 1. For **Label**, choose the pencil icon next to the current annotation. Then enter your new annotation. After you enter your annotation, choose the check mark icon. **Tip** To show only the date and time, leave the label field blank. 1. For **Date**, choose the pencil icon next to the current date and time. Then enter the new date and time. 1. For **Fill**, choose the dropdown under the column, and then specify how your annotation will use shading. You can choose **None**, **Above**, **Between**, or **Below**. If you choose **Between**, a new label and value field appears. **Tip** You can change the fill color by choosing the color square next to the annotation. **Note** You can repeat these steps to add multiple vertical annotations to the same graph. 1. To hide an annotation, deselect the check box next to the annotation that you want to hide on the graph. 1. To delete an annotation, choose **X** under the **Actions** column. 1. To customize the Y-axis, choose **Graph options**. Under ***Left Y-axis***, you can enter a custom label for **Label**. If the graph displays values on the right Y-axis, you can customize that label, too. You also can set minimums and maximums on the Y-axis values, so that the graph displays only the value range that you specify. 1. When you finish making changes, choose **Update widget**. **To hide or change the position of a graph legend** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Hover over the upper-right corner of the graph that you want to edit, and choose **Widget actions**. Choose **Legend**, and select **Hidden**, **Bottom**, or **Right**. **To temporarily hide metrics for a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Select the color square for the metric that you want to hide in the graph's footer. An ***X*** appears in the color square when you hover over it, and the square turns gray when you choose it. 1. To restore the hidden metric, clear the **X** in the gray square. ------ # Renaming a graph on a CloudWatch dashboard Renaming a graph You can change the default name that CloudWatch assigns to a graph on your dashboard. **To rename a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Hover over the title of the graph and choose **Widget actions** and **Edit**. 1. On the **Edit graph** screen, near the top, choose the title of the graph. 1. For **Title**, enter a new name and choose **Ok** (check mark). In the lower-right corner of the **Edit graph** screen, choose **Update widget**. # Moving a graph on a CloudWatch dashboard Moving a graph **To move a graph on a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Do one of the following: + Hover over the title of the graph until the selection icon appears. Select and drag the graph to a new location on the dashboard. + To move the widget to either the top left or bottom left of the dashboard, choose the vertical ellipsis at the upper right of the widget to open the **Widget actions** menu. Then choose **Move**, and choose where to move the widget to. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. ## Changing the size of graphs on CloudWatch dashboards Changing the size of graphs **To change the size of a graph** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. To increase or decrease the size, hover over the graph and drag the lower right corner of the graph. Stop dragging the corner when you have the size that you want. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. ## Changing the size of a graph temporarily on a CloudWatch dashboard Changing the size of a graph temporarily **To enlarge a graph temporarily** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Select the graph. Alternatively, hover over the title of the graph and choose **Widget actions**, **Enlarge**. # Add a metrics explorer widget to a CloudWatch dashboard Add a metrics explorer widget The following steps explain how to add a metrics explorer widget to a dashboard using the console. You can also add it programmatically or by using CloudFormation. For more information, see [ Metrics Explorer Widget Object Definition](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/APIReference/CloudWatch-Dashboard-Body-Structure.html#CloudWatch-Dashboard-Properties-Metric-Explorer-Object) and [ AWS::CloudWatch::Dashboard](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/aws-resource-cloudwatch-dashboard.html). **To add a metrics explorer widget to a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**. 1. Choose the name of the dashboard where you want to add the metrics explorer widget. 1. Choose the **\$1** symbol. 1. Choose **Explorer** and then choose **Next**. **Note** You must be opted in to the new dashboard view to be able to add a Metrics Explorer widget. To opt in, choose **Dashboards** in the navigation pane, then choose **try out the new interface** in the banner at the top of the page. 1. Do one of the following: + To use a template, choose **Pre-filled Explorer widget** and then select a template to use. + To create a custom visualization, choose **Empty Explorer widget**. 1. Choose **Create**. If you used a template, the widget appears on your dashboard with the selected metrics. If you're satisfied with the explorer widget and the dashboard, choose **Save dashboard**. If you did not use a template, continue to the following steps. 1. In the new widget under **Explorer**, in the **Metrics** box, choose a single metric or all the available metrics from a service. After you choose a metric, you can optionally repeat this step to add more metrics. 1. For each metric selected, CloudWatch displays the statistic that it will use immediately after the metric name. To change this, choose the statistic name and then choose the statistic that you want. 1. Under **From**, choose a tag or a resource property to filter your results. After you do this, you can optionally repeat this step to choose more tags or resource properties. If you choose multiple values of the same property, such as two EC2 instance types, the explorer displays all the resources that match either chosen property. It's treated as an OR operation. If you choose different properties or tags, such as the **Production** tag and the M5 instance type, only the resources that match all of these selections are displayed. This is treated as an AND operation. 1. (Optional) For **Aggregate by**, choose a statistic to use to aggregate the metrics. Then, next to **for**, choose how to aggregate the metric from the list. You can aggregate together all the resources that are currently displayed, or aggregate by a single tag or resource property. Depending on how you choose to aggregate, the result may be a single time series or multiple time series. 1. Under **Split by**, you can choose to split a single graph with multiple time series into multiple graphs. The split can be made by a variety of criteria, which you choose under **Split by**. 1. Under **Graph options**, you can refine the graph by changing the period, the type of graph, the legend placement, and the layout. 1. If you're satisfied with the explorer widget and the dashboard, choose **Save dashboard**. # Adding a line graph widget to a CloudWatch dashboard Adding a line graph widget **To add a line widget to a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Choose the **\$1** symbol, and select **Line**. 1. Choose **Metrics**. 1. Choose **Browse**, and select the metric that you want to graph. 1. Choose **Create widget**, and then choose **Save dashboard**. # Removing a line graph widget from a CloudWatch dashboard Removing a line graph **To remove a line graph widget from a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. In the upper-right corner of the line widget that you want to remove, choose **Widget actions**, and then choose **Delete**. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Adding a number widget to a CloudWatch dashboard Adding a number widget **Note** Only the new interface supports the sparkline feature. When you create a number widget, the sparkline feature is automatically included. **To add a number widget to a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. Choose the **\$1** symbol, and select **Number**. 1. In the **Browse** tab, search or browse for the metric that you want to display. 1. (Optional) To change the color of the sparkline feature, choose **Graphed metrics**, and select the color box next to the metric label. A menu appears where you can choose a different color or enter a six-digit hex color code to specify a color. 1. (Optional) To turn off the sparkline feature, choose **Options**. Under ***Sparkline***, the check box. 1. (Optional) To change your number widget's time range, select one of the predefined time ranges in the upper area of the widget. The time ranges span from 1 hour to 1 week (***1h***, ***3h***, ***12h***, ***1d***, ***3d***, or ***1w***). To set your own time range, choose **Custom**. 1. (Optional) To have this widget keep using this time range that you select, even if the time range for the rest of the dashboard is later changed, choose **Persist time range**. 1. (Optional) To have the number widget display an aggregate (***1h***, ***3h***, ***12h***, ***1d***, ***3d***, or ***1w***). To set your own time range, choose **Custom**. 1. (Optional) To have this widget display an average of the metric value over the entire time range, instead of the most recent value, choose **Options**, **Time range value shows the value from the entire time range**. 1. Choose **Create widget**, and choose **Save dashboard**. **Tip** You can turn off the sparkline feature from the number widget on the dashboard screen. In the upper-right corner of the number widget that you want to modify, choose **Widget actions**. Select **Sparkline**, and then choose **Hide sparkline**. # Removing a number widget from a CloudWatch dashboard Removing a number widget **To remove a number widget from a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose the dashboard that contains the number widget that you want to delete. 1. In the upper-right corner of the number widget that you want to remove, choose **Widget actions**, and then choose **Delete**. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Adding a gauge widget to a CloudWatch dashboard Adding a gauge widget **Note** Only the new interface in the CloudWatch console supports creation of the gauge widget. You must set a gauge range when you create this widget. **To add a gauge widget to a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose a dashboard. 1. From the dashboard screen, choose the **\$1** symbol, and then select **Gauge**. 1. Choose **Browse**, and then select the metric that you want to graph. 1. Choose **Options**. Under ***Gauge range***, set values for **Min** and **Max**. For percentages, such as CPU utilization, we recommend that you set the values for `Min` to `0` and `Max` to `100`. 1. (Optional) To change the color of the gauge widget, choose **Graphed metrics** and select the color box next to the metric label. A menu appears where you can choose a different color or enter a six-digit hex color code to specify a color. 1. Choose **Create widget**, and choose **Save dashboard**. # Removing a gauge widget from a CloudWatch dashboard Removing a gauge widget **To remove a gauge widget from a dashboard** 1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Dashboards**, and then choose the dashboard that contains the gauge widget you want to delete. 1. In the upper-right corner of the gauge widget that you want to delete, choose **Widget actions**, and choose **Delete**. 1. Choose **Save dashboard**. # Using a custom widget on a CloudWatch dashboard Using a custom widget A *custom widget* is a CloudWatch dashboard widget that can call any AWS Lambda function with custom parameters. It then displays the returned HTML or JSON. Custom widgets are a simple way to build a custom data view on a dashboard. If you can write Lambda code and create HTML, you can create a useful custom widget. Additionally, Amazon provides several prebuilt custom widgets that you can create without any code. When you create a Lambda function to use as a custom widget, we strongly recommend that you include the prefix **customWidget** in the function name. This helps you know which of your Lambda functions are safe to use when you add custom widgets to your dashboard. Custom widgets behave like other widgets on your dashboard. They can be refreshed and auto-refreshed, resized, and moved around. They react to the time range of the dashboard. If you have set up CloudWatch console cross-account functionality, you can add a custom widget created in one account to dashboards in other accounts. For more information, see [Cross-account cross-Region CloudWatch console](Cross-Account-Cross-Region.md). You can also use custom widgets on your own website by using the CloudWatch dashboard sharing feature. For more information, see [Sharing CloudWatch dashboards](cloudwatch-dashboard-sharing.md). **Topics** + [ # Details about custom widgets in CloudWatch ](add_custom_widget_dashboard_about.md) + [ # Security and JavaScript for custom CloudWatch widgets ](add_custom_widget_dashboard_security.md) + [ # Interactivity in the custom widget in CloudWatch ](add_custom_widget_dashboard_interactivity.md) + [ # Creating a custom widget for a CloudWatch dashboard ](add_custom_widget_dashboard_create.md) + [ # Sample custom widgets for a CloudWatch dashboard ](add_custom_widget_samples.md) # Details about custom widgets in CloudWatch Details about custom widgets Custom widgets work as follows: 1. The CloudWatch dashboard calls the Lambda function containing the widget code. It passes in any custom parameters that are defined in the widget. 1. The Lambda function returns a string of HTML, JSON, or Markdown. Markdown is returned as JSON in the following format: ``` {"markdown":"markdown content"} ``` 1. The dashboard displays the returned HTML or JSON. If the function returns HTML, most HTML tags are supported. You can use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) styles and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to build sophisticated views. The default style of HTML elements such as links and tables follow the styling of CloudWatch dashboards. You can customize this style by using inline styles, using the `