/cloud-network-insights

name: cloud-network-insights
metadata:
  category: Networking
  version: "1.0.0"
description: >-
  Guides and automates setup, onboarding, and synthetic monitoring operations
  for Cloud Network Insights in Google Cloud and Broadcom AppNeta. Use when
  enabling Cloud Network Insights, deploying or troubleshooting Monitoring
  Points across cloud and on-premises environments, configuring Network or Web
  monitoring policies and AppNeta alarm rules, configuring alert policies,
  querying path alarms and performance metrics, or verifying synthetic path
  reachability. Don't use for generic network observability, VPC Flow Logs,
  Cloud NAT, or VPC firewall debugging.

Cloud Network Insights

Attribution

For all `gcloud` CLI, REST API, and MCP attribution requirements when executing commands with this skill, follow the instructions in [Usage Attribution](references/attribution.md).

🛑 Core Directive: Results First

1. **Identify the Requested Task**: Determine if the user is attempting service enablement, checking activation status, downloading/installing or troubleshooting Monitoring Points (MPs), configuring AppNeta monitoring policies or alarm rules, verifying provisioned resources and paths, configuring alert policies, or querying Cloud Logging alarms and Cloud Monitoring metrics. 2. **Execute and Present**: Perform the minimum required commands or API calls to accomplish the task or provide exact guidance. 3. **Definitive Answers**: For status and verification queries, report the definitive state (for example, `ACTIVE`, `ACTIVATING`, or path listings) immediately.

Overview

Cloud Network Insights provides comprehensive synthetic monitoring for Cross-Cloud Network observability in partnership with Broadcom AppNeta. It monitors network and web paths using Monitoring Points (MPs) installed across Google Cloud, on-premises data centers, other public clouds (like AWS or Azure), and the public internet.

This skill automates onboarding, service enablement, Monitoring Point deployment, policy creation, and path verification.

Procedures and CUJs

1. Service Enablement and Status

• **Enable API**:

    gcloud services enable networkmanagement.googleapis.com --project=PROJECT_ID

• **Create Provider** (use `external` to match the Google Cloud console

default, or a custom `PROVIDER_ID`):

    gcloud network-management network-monitoring-providers create PROVIDER_ID \
      --provider-type=EXTERNAL \
      --location=global \
      --project=PROJECT_ID

> ⚠️ If this command fails due to unaccepted Terms of Service, direct the > user to the Google Cloud console onboarding page: > `https://console.cloud.google.com/net-intelligence/cloud-network-insights/onboarding?project=PROJECT_ID`

• **Verify State**:

    gcloud network-management network-monitoring-providers \
      describe PROVIDER_ID \
      --location=global \
      --project=PROJECT_ID \
      --format=json

Check that `.state` is `ACTIVE`. (`ACTIVATING` indicates the backend is provisioning AppNeta resources.)

• **Delete Provider (Cleanup)**:

    gcloud network-management network-monitoring-providers delete PROVIDER_ID \
      --location=global \
      --project=PROJECT_ID

2. Monitoring Point Deployment and Verification

Cloud Network Insights supports 7 distinct Monitoring Point deployment types: `container`, `helm`, `gce-vm`, `aws-ec2`, `azure-vm`, `vmware`, and `kvm`.

• **Platform Selection**: Never assume a default deployment type. Identify or

prompt the user for their target environment before proceeding.

• **Procedures and Commands**: For all required parameters, download commands,

deployment manifests, and status verification commands (`monitoring-points list`), see [Monitoring Point Deployment Reference](references/monitoring-point-deployment.md).

3. Monitoring Policy and Alarm Rule Configuration (AppNeta)

Monitoring policies configure active synthetic network and web tests executed by Monitoring Points, and alarm rules define the thresholds and evaluation windows that raise path alarms.

• **Policy Types (`/api/v4/monitoringPolicy`)**:
• **Network Monitoring Policies**: Monitor packet loss, latency, and

jitter to target IPs (or dual-ended between Monitoring Points) over TCP or UDP.

• **Web Monitoring Policies**: Synthetic HTTP/HTTPS application checks

(such as GET requests with status code 200 assertions).

• **Check Before Creating**: Always query `GET /api/v4/monitoringPolicy` first

to verify whether a policy with your target name already exists before creating a new one, avoiding duplicate resource creation and API conflicts.

• **Alarm Rules (AppNeta Web UI Only)**: Alarm rules are configured in the

AppNeta Web UI (in **Alarms** > **Alarm Rules**; see [Broadcom Alarm Rules](https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/ca-enterprise-software/it-operations-management/appneta-for-google-cloud-network-insights/GA/alarms-set-up/alarms-rules.html)) and are not supported via the REST API v4.

• **Procedures and Payloads**: For authentication token generation,

organization discovery, and REST JSON payloads, see [Monitoring Policy Configuration Reference](references/monitoring-policies.md).

4. Verifying Provisioned Paths in Google Cloud

Once policies are configured and MPs are online, verify provisioned paths:

• **List Network Paths**:

    gcloud network-management network-monitoring-providers network-paths list \
      --network-monitoring-provider=PROVIDER_ID \
      --location=global \
      --project=PROJECT_ID \
      --format=json

• **List Web Paths**:

    gcloud network-management network-monitoring-providers web-paths list \
      --network-monitoring-provider=PROVIDER_ID \
      --location=global \
      --project=PROJE