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Amazon Redshift

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Amazon Redshift is a managed scalable database warehouse where Nobl9 users can store their metrics information. Nobl9 allows retrieving metrics data from Redshift, enabling customers to use standard SQL statements that require two specific return values—a value and a timestamp.

Amazon Redshift parameters and supported features in Nobl9
General support:
Release channel: Stable, Beta
Connection method: Agent, Direct
Replay and SLI Analyzer: Not supported
Event logs: Supported
Query checker: Not supported
Query parameters retrieval: Not supported
Timestamp cache persistence: Supported
Query parameters:
Query interval: 1 min
Query delay: 30 sec
Jitter: 15 sec
Timeout: 30 sec
Agent details and minimum required versions for supported features:
Environment variable: REDSHIFT_QUERY_DELAY
Plugin name: n9redshift
Timestamp cache persistence: 0.65.0
Additional notes:
AWS Secrets Manager and Cross-Account IAM roles for authentication
No support for SQL connections and temporary credentials

Authentication​

For authentication, you can use:

SQL connections and temporary credentials are not supported.

Secret-ARN​

Nobl9 supports authenticating with Amazon Redshift’s Data API using the AWS Secrets Manager. To connect to Redshift through direct and agent configuration, you must create a secret and ensure the secret is tagged with the RedshiftDataFullAccess permission.

tip

When running the agent, you will also be asked to provide the ARN for the secret.

For more information on Redshift secrets, refer to Using the Amazon Redshift Data API | Amazon Redshift documentation.

Cross-account IAM roles​

Prerequisites​

You can activate cross-account access in AWS using the External ID and Nobl9 AWS Account ID. To create an IAM role ARN with cross-account access, make sure the following prerequisites are complete:

  1. Copy the External ID and Nobl9 AWS Account ID values in the Data source wizard.
Redshift IAM ARN config
Image 1: Configuring IAM Role ARN in the Data source wizard
note

Check Cross Account Resource Access in IAM | AWS documentation to learn more.

  1. Policy permissions for your IAM role require a custom policy that allows action secretsmanager:GetSecretValueon for the resource pointed by the SecretARN.

    When you miss this policy, create it in the IAM > Policies > Create Policy > Specify Permission > JSON section:

AWS Account ID

In the policy editor, apply the following JSON statement, replacing your-Secret-ARN with your AWS Secret ARN value in the statement.resource field.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "VisualEditor0",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "secretsmanager:GetSecretValue",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:your-Secret-ARN"
    }
  ]
}

IAM role ARN creation​

Sign in to the AWS Management Console. Open the IAM console.

  1. Choose Roles on the navigation pane.

The Roles section opens.

  1. Click Create Role:

    Create AWS role

To create the access role, you select a trusted entity first.

  1. Choose the AWS account role tile:
AWS Account ID

  1. Choose Another AWS account. Paste the Nobl9 Account ID you copied in the Nobl9 Data source wizard.
    This is the account you're granting access to your resources.

  2. Select Require External ID. Paste the Nobl9 External ID you copied in the Nobl9 Data source wizard.
    This option automatically adds a condition to the trust policy, allowing users to assume the role only if the request includes the correct sts:ExternalID.

AWS Account ID
  1. Click Next.
  2. In the Add Permissions section, attach the AmazonRedshiftDataFullAccess permission policy. Click Next:
AWS Account ID

Important

Make sure this policy allows action secretsmanager:GetSecretValueon for the resource pointed by the SecretARN. When this action is missing, read Prerequisites.

  1. Click Next and save the role. Then, copy its IAM Role ARN to the Data source wizard in Nobl9 UI.

Adding Amazon Redshift as a data source​

To ensure data transmission between Nobl9 and Amazon Redshift, it may be necessary to list Nobl9 IP addresses as trusted.

💻ip allowlist
IP addresses to include in your allowlist for secure access:

If you're using app.nobl9.com instance:
  • 18.159.114.21
  • 18.158.132.186
  • 3.64.154.26
If you're using us1.nobl9.com instance:
  • 34.121.54.120
  • 34.123.193.191
  • 34.134.71.10
  • 35.192.105.150
  • 35.225.248.37
  • 35.226.78.175
  • 104.198.44.161

You can add the Amazon Redshift data source using the direct or agent connection methods.

Direct connection method​

Direct connection to Amazon Redshift requires users to enter their credentials which Nobl9 stores safely.

Nobl9 Web​

To set up this type of connection:

  1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
  2. Click .
  3. Click the required Source button.
  4. Choose Direct.
  1. Select one of the following Release Channels:
    • The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
    • The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.

  2. Enter your AWS Secret ARN (mandatory).
    The secret must be tagged with RedshiftDataFullAccess permission. For more information, see Data API | Amazon Redshift documentation

  3. Enter the IAM Role ARN.
    Check the instructions above for more details.

  1. Select a Project.
    Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
  2. Enter a Display Name.
    You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
  3. Enter a Name.
    The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
  4. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
  5. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
    • The default value in Amazon Redshift integration for Query delay is 30 seconds.
    info
    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
  6. Click Add Data Source.

sloctl​

The YAML for setting up a direct connection to Amazon Redshift looks like this:

apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Direct
metadata:
  name: redshift-direct
  displayName: Redshift Direct
  project: redshift-direct
spec:
  sourceOf:
    - Metrics
  releaseChannel: stable
  queryDelay:
      unit: Minute
      value: 720
  logCollectionEnabled: false # boolean, defaults to 'false'. Set to true if you'd like your source to collect logs. Available for data sources connected using the direct method only. Reach out to support@nobl9.com to activate it.
  redshift:
    roleARN: ""
    secretARN: ""
FieldTypeDescription
queryDelay.unit
mandatory
enumSpecifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: Second | Minute.
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
queryDelay.value
mandatory
numericSpecifies the value for the query delay.
• Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours).
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
logCollectionEnabled
optional
booleanOptional. Defaults to false. Set to true if you'd like your direct to collect event logs. Contact us to activate it.
releaseChannel
mandatory
enumSpecifies the release channel. Accepted values: beta | stable.
Source-specific fields
redshift.roleARN
mandatory
string, secretSee authentication section above for more details.
redshift.secretARN
mandatory
string, secretSee authentication section above for more details.

Agent connection method​

Nobl9 Web​

Follow the instructions below to create your Amazon Redshift agent connection. Refer to the section above for the description of the fields.

  1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
  2. Click .
  3. Click the required Source button.
  4. Choose Direct.
  1. Select one of the following Release Channels:
    • The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
    • The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.
  1. Select a Project.
    Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
  2. Enter a Display Name.
    You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
  3. Enter a Name.
    The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
  4. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
  5. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
    • The default value in Amazon Redshift integration for Query delay is 30 seconds.
    info
    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
  6. Click Add Data Source.

sloctl​

The YAML for setting up an agent connection to Amazon Redshift looks like this:

apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Agent
metadata:
  name: redshift-agent
  displayName: Redshift Agent # optional
  project: default
spec:
  description: Agent settings for redshift datasource # optional
  sourceOf:
    - Metrics
  releaseChannel: stable # string, one of: beta || stable
  queryDelay:
      unit: Minute # string, one of: Second || Minute
      value: 720 # numeric, must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours)
  redshift: {}
FieldTypeDescription
queryDelay.unit
mandatory
enumSpecifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: Second | Minute.
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
queryDelay.value
mandatory
numericSpecifies the value for the query delay.
• Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours).
• Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
releaseChannel
mandatory
enumSpecifies the release channel. Accepted values: beta | stable.
warning

You can deploy only one agent in one YAML file by using the sloctl apply command.

Agent deployment​

When you add the data source, Nobl9 automatically generates a Kubernetes configuration and a Docker command line for you to use to deploy the agent. Both of these are available in the web UI, under the Agent Configuration section. Be sure to swap in your credentials (e.g., replace <AWS_SECRET_ARN>, <AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID>, and <AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY> with your organization key).

If you use Kubernetes, you can apply the supplied YAML config file to a Kubernetes cluster to deploy the agent. It will look something like this:

# DISCLAIMER: This deployment description contains only the fields necessary for the purpose of this demo.
# It is not a ready-to-apply k8s deployment description, and the client_id and client_secret are only exemplary values.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
  namespace: default
type: Opaque
stringData:
  aws_access_key_id: <AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID>
  aws_secret_access_key: <AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY>
  aws_secret_arn: <AWS_SECRET_ARN>
  client_id: client_id
  client_secret: client_secret
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
  namespace: default
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      nobl9-agent-name: my-amazon-redshift
      nobl9-agent-project: default
      nobl9-agent-organization: nobl9-dev
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        nobl9-agent-name: my-amazon-redshift
        nobl9-agent-project: default
        nobl9-agent-organization: nobl9-dev
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: agent-container
          image: nobl9/agent:0.82.2
          resources:
            requests:
              memory: "350Mi"
              cpu: "0.1"
          env:
            - name: N9_CLIENT_ID
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: client_id
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
            - name: AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: aws_access_key_id
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
            - name: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: aws_secret_access_key
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
            - name: AWS_SECRET_ARN
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: aws_secret_arn
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
            - name: N9_CLIENT_SECRET
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  key: client_secret
                  name: nobl9-agent-nobl9-dev-default-my-amazon-redshift
            # The N9_METRICS_PORT is a variable specifying the port to which the /metrics and /health endpoints are exposed.
            # The 9090 is the default value and can be changed.
            # If you don’t want the metrics to be exposed, comment out or delete the N9_METRICS_PORT variable.
            - name: N9_METRICS_PORT
              value: "9090"

Creating SLOs with Amazon Redshift​

Nobl9 Web​

Follow the instructions below to create your SLOs with Amazon Redshift in the UI:

  1. Navigate to Service Level Objectives.

  2. Click .
  3. Select a Service.
    It will be the location for your SLO in Nobl9.
  4. Select your Amazon Redshift data source.

  5. Enter a Region (mandatory).
    Use one of the regional endpoints that are listed here.

  6. Enter a Cluster ID (mandatory).
    It is an identifier of your Amazon Redshift cluster that is a part of your Redshift secret. For more details on Redshift, secrets go here. For example redshift-cluster-1.

  7. Enter a Database name (mandatory).
    It is the name of your Amazon Redshift database. For example dev.

  8. Select the Metric type:
    • Threshold metric: a single time series is evaluated against a threshold.
    • Ratio metric: two-time series for comparison for good events and total events.
      For ratio metrics, select the Data count method: incremental or non-incremental.

  9. Enter a Query or Good query and Total query:

    1. Query example for the Threshold metric (Raw metric):
      Query: SELECT value as n9_value, timestamp as n9_time FROM httpstatuscodes WHERE timestamp BETWEEN :n9date_from AND :n9date_to

    2. Query example for the Ratio metric (count metric):
      Good query:SELECT value as n9value, timestamp as n9date FROM httpstatuscodes WHERE timestamp BETWEEN :n9date_from AND :n9date_to
      Total query: SELECT value as n9value, timestamp as n9date FROM sinusoid WHERE timestamp BETWEEN :n9date_from AND :n9date_to

    SLI values for good and total
    When choosing the query for the ratio SLI (countMetrics), keep in mind that the values ​​resulting from that query for both good and total:
    • Must be positive.
    • While we recommend using integers, fractions are also acceptable.
      • If using fractions, we recommend them to be larger than 1e-4 = 0.0001.
    • Shouldn't be larger than 1e+20.
  1. Define the Time Window for your SLO:
  2. Configure the Error budget calculation method and Objectives:
    • Occurrences method counts good attempts against the count of total attempts.
    • Time Slices method measures how many good minutes were achieved (when a system operates within defined boundaries) during a time window.
    • You can define up to 12 objectives for an SLO.

      • Similar threshold values for objectives
      To use similar threshold values for different objectives in your SLO, we recommend differentiating them by setting varying decimal points for each objective.
      For example, if you want to use threshold value 1 for two objectives, set it to 1.0000001 for the first objective and to 1.0000002 for the second one.
      Learn more about threshold value uniqueness.
  3. Add the Display name, Name, and other settings for your SLO:
    • Name identifies your SLO in Nobl9. After you save the SLO, its name becomes read-only.
      Use only lowercase letters, numbers, and dashes.
    • Create Composite SLO: with this option selected, you create a composite SLO 1.0. Composite SLOs 1.0 are deprecated. They're fully operable; however, we encourage you to create new composite SLOs 2.0.
      You can create composite SLOs 2.0 with sloctl using the provided template. Alternatively, you can create a composite SLO 2.0 with Nobl9 Terraform provider.
    • Set Notifications on data. With it, Nobl9 will notify you in the cases when SLO won't be reporting data or report incomplete data for more than 15 minutes.
    • Add alert policies, labels, and links, if required.
      Up to 20 items of each type per SLO is allowed.
  4. Click CREATE SLO.

    5. SLO configuration use case
    Check the SLO configuration use case for a real-life SLO example.

sloctl​

Here’s an example of Amazon Redshift using a rawMetric (threshold metric)

apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: SLO
metadata:
  name: redshift-raw
  displayName: Redshift Raw SLO
  project: redshift
spec:
  description: Redshift SLO Description
  service: redshift
  indicator:
    metricSource:
      name: redshift
      project: redshift
  budgetingMethod: Occurrences
  objectives:
  - target: 0.8
    value: 0.8
    op: lte
    rawMetric:
      query:
        redshift:
         region: eu-central-1
         clusterId: n9-dev-tooling-redshift
         databaseName: dev
         query: SELECT value as n9value, timestamp as n9date FROM sinusoid WHERE
              timestamp BETWEEN :n9date_from AND :n9date_to
    displayName: average
  - target: 0.9
    value: 0.9
    op: lte
    rawMetric:
      query:
        redshift:
         region: eu-central-1
         clusterId: n9-dev-tooling-redshift
         databaseName: dev
         query: SELECT value as n9value, timestamp as n9date FROM sinusoid WHERE
              timestamp BETWEEN :n9date_from AND :n9date_to
    displayName: so-so
  timeWindows:
  - calendar:
      startTime: "2020-11-14 11:00:00"
      timeZone: Etc/UTC
    count: 1
    isRolling: false
    unit: Day

The Amazon Redshift SLO requires the following fields:

n9date and n9value:

Amazon Redshift SQL query needs to return two values - n9date and n9value:

  • n9date is the timestamp for the data.

  • n9value is a float containing the actual metric.

    Note that Amazon RedShift accepts these values in the following format:

    • :n9date_from

    • :n9date_to

    This allows users to enter virtually any query.

Querying the Amazon Redshift server​

To call the AWS Redshift Data API, Nobl9 runs the aws redshift-data execute-statement command that is executed once per minute. Nobl9 queries for data from the previous minute.

Amazon Redshift API rate limits​

The following rate limits apply to the Amazon Redshift API:

  • The maximum query result size is 100 MB. If a call returns more than 100 MB of response data, the call is ended.

  • The maximum retention time for query results is 24 hours.

  • The maximum query statement size is 100 KB.

  • The Data API is available to query single-node and multiple-node clusters of the following node types:

    • dc2.large
    • dc2.8xlarge
    • ds2.xlarge
    • ds2.8xlarge
    • ra3.xlplus
    • ra3.4xlarge
    • ra3.16xlarge

  • The cluster must be in a virtual private cloud (VPC) based on the Amazon VPC service.

For a more in-depth look, consult additional resources:
Data APIRedshift docsRegional EndpointsRedshift docsAgent metricsAgentCreating SLOs via TerraformTerraformCreating agents via TerraformTerraform
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