---
# source: blog-content: posts/en/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations.md
# route:  /en/insights/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations/
title: Monitor Cronjobs with Aria Operations
date: 2024-02-22
author: dario-doerflinger
locale: en
summary: On a professional services project the customer wanted the VMware SRM backup monitored automatically, with a warning raised if the backup job ever failed. Here is how I did it.
capabilities: [monitoring]
vendors: [vmware]
series: how-to
hero: /blog-assets/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations/hero.webp
migrated: 2026-08-24
translationReviewed: false
draft: false
---

On a [professional services](https://soultec.ch/bevorzugter-vmware-pso-partner/) project the customer had a requirement for the VMware SRM backup: it had to be monitored automatically and raise a warning if the backup job ever failed. This post shows how I did it.

## The starting point

The project had a particular starting point.

-   An installed VMware Site Recovery Manager instance
    -   with its backup set up as a cronjob, [following the documentation](https://docs.vmware.com/en/Site-Recovery-Manager/8.7/com.vmware.srm.install_config.doc/GUID-98615D2E-C99F-4B4C-AF23-F47DAA694E76.html)
-   An installed VMware Aria Operations instance
-   An installed VMware Aria Operations for Logs instance
-   The two integrated with each other

The requirement was to monitor that cronjob and raise a warning automatically, on the right object, if the job ever failed.

## The solution

Conceptually it is very simple.

![concept of cronjob monitoring with aria operations and aria operations for logs](/blog-assets/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations/01.webp)

### Adjusting the cronjob

With

```bash
 crontab -e 
```

(as root) you edit the root user's crontab.

There, a logger command has to be appended to the existing entry from the SRM export job's backup setup.

```bash
2>&1 | logger -t export_sh -n syslog.soultec.ch -P 514 -T
```

The complete entry could then look like this:

```bash
45 15 * * * /usr/bin/sudo /bin/bash /opt/vmware/impex/bin/export.sh 2>&1 | logger -t export_sh -n syslog.soultec.ch -P 514 -T
```

That way, errors from the export.sh script are handed to logger, which forwards the entry to the syslog server.

### Defining the alert in Aria Operations for Logs

The second step is to define an alert that also raises a warning in Aria Operations.

![Aria Operations for Logs alert definition, 1 of 2](/blog-assets/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations/02.webp)

In the first section we set the text filter to "Export failed." and the source has to contain the FQDN of our SRM server.

Within a five-minute window the alert triggers as soon as more than zero occurrences are counted, so on the first one.

![Aria Operations for Logs alert definition, 2 of 2](/blog-assets/howto-monitor-cronjobs-with-aria-operations/03.webp)

We tick "Send to VMware Aria Operations" and set the fallback object to the SRM server. In our case the criticality is only a warning, and we have an auto cancel after 24 hours (1440 minutes). The warning disappears again if the message does not repeat within a day.

That is a cronjob monitored with the logger command, Aria Operations for Logs and Aria Operations.

## Next steps

Do you have more challenges along these lines? Our [team of experts](https://soultec.ch/vmware-vexpert/) is ready to help. Just [get in touch](https://soultec.ch/contact-us/), no strings attached.