Use a CloudWatch metric alarm to detect a metric crossing a threshold over time—for example, a growing MediaConvert queue backlog. To get an email when a specific job enters the ERROR state, use an EventBridge rule that sends the event to an SNS topic. These are different notification mechanisms, and a production workflow may use both.
Choose the signal that matches the problem
MediaConvert metrics are grouped by operation, queue, and job. Pick the scope and signal based on what you need to notice, rather than starting with an arbitrary threshold.
| Need to detect | Signal and scope | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| A queue accumulating work | Queue metric such as StandbyTime |
A queue-level indication of work waiting or processing behavior. AWS specifically identifies StandbyTime as useful for alarming on a large queue backlog. |
| Errors in requests to MediaConvert | Operation metrics | Errors associated with API interactions, rather than the outcome of one particular job. |
| Output or workflow behavior after processing | Job metrics, including measures such as Errors, JobErrorsByCode, and output duration |
Job-level information. MediaConvert sends these metrics to CloudWatch at the end of every job, so they are not the right mechanism for immediate notification of each job-state change. |
| An email for each failed job | EventBridge job-state event matched on ERROR, with SNS as a target |
A discrete job failure event, rather than a metric exceeding a threshold. |
A metric alarm does not have a universal AWS-recommended threshold, statistic, or period for every MediaConvert workload. Define those from your queue-latency objective and observed baseline.
Find the MediaConvert metric and keep its scope correct
Inspect the available metric dimensions
In CloudWatch, inspect MediaConvert metrics and select the metric together with the dimension combination that corresponds to the queue, operation, or job you intend to monitor. The dimension matters: selecting a different queue or a broader aggregation can make the alarm represent different work from what you intended.
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Use backlog behavior as the example
For queue backlog detection, start by examining StandbyTime for the intended queue. Establish what values look like during normal operation and how much waiting time your workflow can tolerate. The alarm threshold should reflect that service objective and baseline; do not treat any generic value as an AWS-prescribed limit.
Create a CloudWatch metric alarm
- Select the metric. In CloudWatch, choose the MediaConvert metric and its dimensions for the intended queue, operation, or job. Confirm the displayed scope before proceeding.
- Choose the statistic and period. Select a statistic and evaluation period appropriate to the metric’s publication behavior and the speed at which you need to react. MediaConvert documentation does not prescribe one statistic or period for every metric and workload.
- Set a threshold from your objective. For a backlog alarm, use the maximum queue waiting behavior your workflow can accept, informed by a measured baseline. For other signals, use the relevant operational limit. Avoid selecting a threshold simply because it appears in an unrelated example.
- Configure the alarm state and action. Decide which alarm state should trigger a response and configure a CloudWatch alarm action if notification is required. Check that the action is connected to the destination your operators monitor and that the account permissions allow the required service integrations.
- Review and save. Verify the metric, dimensions, statistic, period, threshold, and action together. A correctly configured threshold on the wrong queue or aggregation still produces the wrong operational signal.
The CloudWatch alarm is suited to a metric trend or threshold. It may not be the right sole path when the requirement is a notification for every individual failed job.
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Send an email when an individual MediaConvert job fails
For per-job failure emails, AWS documents an EventBridge rule matching MediaConvert job-state-change events with status ERROR, then targeting an SNS topic. Create a standard SNS topic, subscribe the recipient’s email address, and have the recipient confirm the subscription before relying on delivery.
Use this EventBridge event pattern
{
"source": ["aws.mediaconvert"],
"detail-type": ["MediaConvert Job State Change"],
"detail": {
"status": ["ERROR"]
}
}Connect the rule to SNS
- Create or select the SNS topic that should receive failed-job notifications.
- Subscribe the intended email address to the topic and confirm the subscription from the email SNS sends.
- Create an EventBridge rule with the event pattern above and set the SNS topic as its target.
- Review the rule, target, and required permissions for your account. The exact least-privilege IAM policy depends on the account and configuration; do not assume one generic policy covers every setup.
This rule is event-driven: it matches a job entering ERROR. It is not a CloudWatch metric alarm and does not wait for a selected metric threshold to be met.
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Test both paths independently
Test the EventBridge and SNS email path
AWS’s tutorial tests the notification by submitting a job expected to fail, such as one configured with a missing input location, and confirming that the subscribed email receives the notification. Use a controlled test job; this validates the EventBridge-to-SNS path, not the behavior of a metric alarm.
Validate the metric alarm separately
Check the alarm against safe test conditions or representative metric data for the selected dimensions. Confirm that the metric is being published as expected, that the threshold and evaluation period behave as intended, and that any configured alarm action reaches its destination. An event-rule test does not establish that the metric alarm is correct.
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Common setup problems
- The alarm watches the wrong work: Recheck the selected MediaConvert metric dimensions and confirm that they identify the intended queue or scope.
- The backlog alarm is noisy or too slow: Revisit the threshold, statistic, and period against normal queue behavior and the workflow’s latency objective; there is no universal threshold to substitute for that decision.
- No email arrives for a failed job: Confirm the recipient accepted the SNS subscription, the EventBridge rule matches the event pattern, the SNS topic is the rule target, and the integration has the permissions it needs.
- The test job fails but no notification arrives: Verify that the job actually entered the
ERRORstate and inspect the rule and target configuration. A failed job is useful only if its state-change event matches the rule and SNS can receive the target delivery. - The metric alarm works but job emails do not: These are separate paths. Check EventBridge and SNS rather than assuming a metric alarm action will notify on each job-state event.
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