<a id="monitoring-compute-events"></a>

# Monitoring zCompute Events

## Introduction

zCompute provides event monitoring tools that help both administrators
and members keep track of system and workload activities.
Monitoring events can be done through the Event Logs, APIs,
and the Symp command line interface.

### Event Retention

Event retention is not configurable in zCompute.
The cloud-wide Event Log has fixed limits.
Events are retained until one of the following limits is reached:

* **Duration**: 60 days

  When an event exceeds 60 days, it is automatically purged, irrespective
  of whether the maximum number of events has accumulated.
* **Accumulated events limit**: 250,000 events

  When the 250,000 events limit is reached, the oldest events are purged.

  If there are fewer than 250,000 events, old events are purged when they
  exceed 60 days.

## Viewing and Filtering Event Logs

The Event Log keeps a searchable and exportable history of compute
events. It is useful for troubleshooting and compliance audits.

### zCompute UI

To view events:

1. Go to **Monitoring > Events**.

   An initial table of the most recent events displays.
2. Click an event row to display all of its details in the lower details
   pane.
3. To export events to a `.csv` file, click the speadsheet export icon
   at the top right.
4. To filter the Events table:
   * **Date and time range**
   * **Severity level** dropdown (Critical, Error, Warning, Info)
   * Click **More filters** to display and select additional filters
     from the following dropdowns:
     * **Severity**
     * **Entity Type**
     * **Event Name**
     * **Account**
     * **Project**
     * **User**
     * **Time Of Day** (range)

### Events API

The **events** API can be used to programatically retrieve selected events
according to parameters, such as the filters available in the zCompute UI’s
**Monitoring > Events** page.

zCompute’s built-in [API Explorer](iam-authenticate-api.md#api-explorer)
provides usage documentation on zCompute APIs, such as the **events** API.

### Symp Command Line

The Symp CLI runs inside the zCompute Toolbox VM.

Use the Symp `event` command to view event details.

Example: Query recent events

```console
symp event query \
  --severity ERROR WARNING \
  --limit 20
```

Example: Count events by type

```console
symp event count \
  --severity ERROR WARNING \
  --group-by event-type
```

For more information, see [Symp CLI Client](symp-ref-guide.md#symp-cli-client) and the [event](symp-ref-guide/event.md#event)
command options in the [Symp CLI Reference Guide](symp-ref-guide/index.md#symp-cli-ref-guide).

## Best Practices

* **Admins** should review dashboards and export logs,
  and set up notifications.
* **Members** should monitor dashboards, filter logs for troubleshooting,
  and escalate recurring issues to admins.