How to Set Up AWS Budget Alerts with SNS Notifications

Managing your AWS costs is crucial to avoid unexpected bills. With AWS Budgets and Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service), you can set up alerts to notify you when your spending exceeds a specified threshold. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a budget, set up an SNS topic, and configure permissions so that AWS Budgets can send notifications to your SNS topic.

Step 1: Create a Budget in AWS Billing

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console:
   Go to the AWS Console and sign in to your account.

2. Navigate to AWS Budgets:
   In the search bar, type "Budgets" and select it from the dropdown. Alternatively, go to the Billing & Cost Management Dashboard and click on Budgets in the left-hand menu.

3. Create a New Budget:

   • Click "Create budget".
   • Choose Cost Budget as the budget type.
   • Set your Budget Amount (e.g., $10).
   • Choose the Budget Period (e.g., monthly).
   • Click Next.

4. Configure Alerts:

   • Set the Alert Threshold (e.g., 80%, 90%, 100%).
   • For Notification Delivery Method, select SNS.
   • You’ll configure the SNS topic in the next step.

Step 2: Create an SNS Topic

1. Go to the Amazon SNS Console:
   In the AWS Console, search for "SNS" and select Simple Notification Service.

2. Create a New Topic:

   • Click "Create topic".
   • Choose Standard as the topic type.
   • Enter a Name for your topic (e.g., zero-dollar-budget-exceeded).
   • Click "Create topic".

3. Subscribe to the Topic:

   • Select your newly created topic.
   • Click "Create subscription".
   • Choose a Protocol (e.g., Email, SMS).
   • Enter the Endpoint (e.g., your email address or phone number).
   • Click "Create subscription".
   • If you chose email, confirm the subscription by clicking the link in the confirmation email.

Step 3: Update the SNS Topic Access Policy

To allow AWS Budgets to publish notifications to your SNS topic, you need to update the topic’s access policy. Here’s how:

1. Edit the SNS Topic Policy:

   • Go back to your SNS topic in the Amazon SNS Console.
   • Scroll down to the Access policy section.
   • Click Edit.

2. Add the Budgets Permission:
   Replace the existing policy with the following JSON policy. Make sure to update the Resource field with your SNS topic’s ARN:

   {
     "Version": "2008-10-17",
     "Id": "__default_policy_ID",
     "Statement": [
       {
         "Sid": "__default_statement_ID",
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Principal": {
           "AWS": "*"
         },
         "Action": [
           "SNS:Publish",
           "SNS:RemovePermission",
           "SNS:SetTopicAttributes",
           "SNS:DeleteTopic",
           "SNS:ListSubscriptionsByTopic",
           "SNS:GetTopicAttributes",
           "SNS:AddPermission",
           "SNS:Subscribe"
         ],
         "Resource": "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:026090516034:zero-dollar-budget-exceeded",
         "Condition": {
           "StringEquals": {
             "AWS:SourceOwner": "026090516034"
           }
         }
       },
       {
         "Sid": "AllowBudgetsToPublish",
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Principal": {
           "Service": "budgets.amazonaws.com"
         },
         "Action": "SNS:Publish",
         "Resource": "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:026090516034:zero-dollar-budget-exceeded"
       }
     ]
   }
   

3. Save the Policy:

   • After updating the policy, click Save changes.

Step 4: Link the Budget to the SNS Topic

1. Go Back to AWS Budgets:
   Return to the AWS Budgets Console.

2. Configure the Budget Notification:

   • In the Notifications section of your budget, select the SNS topic you created earlier.
   • Save the budget.

3. Test the Setup:

   • Trigger a budget alert by exceeding the threshold (e.g., increase your AWS usage).
   • Check your email or phone for the notification.

Why This Setup Works

• AWS Budgets monitors your spending and triggers alerts when thresholds are exceeded.
• Amazon SNS acts as the notification hub, delivering alerts to your preferred endpoints (email, SMS, etc.).
• The SNS Topic Access Policy ensures that AWS Budgets has permission to publish messages to your topic.

Conclusion

With this setup, you’ll never be caught off guard by unexpected AWS costs. By combining AWS Budgets and Amazon SNS, you can proactively monitor your spending and receive timely alerts.

Ready to take control of your AWS costs? Follow the steps above and set up your budget alerts today!

Pro Tip: You can create multiple budgets and SNS topics for different services or cost thresholds. Customize the setup to fit your needs!

Happy cost monitoring! 🚀