> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developer.harness.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developer.harness.io/resilience-testing/chaos-testing/probes/probe-template-library/datadog/datadog-memory-check.md).

# Datadog Memory Check

Datadog memory check validates the memory utilisation of a service using Datadog container metrics. The target service name and Kubernetes namespace are supplied at runtime via probe variables, allowing this probe to be reused across services.

### Infrastructure type <a href="#infrastructure-type" id="infrastructure-type"></a>

* **Kubernetes**

### Use cases <a href="#use-cases" id="use-cases"></a>

Datadog Memory Check probe helps you:

* Verify memory stays within limits during memory hog faults
* Monitor container memory after OOM-related chaos
* Validate memory limits during stress experiments
* Detect memory leaks under sustained load

***

### Overview <a href="#overview" id="overview"></a>

This probe queries Datadog for `sum:container.memory.usage` filtered by `kube_deployment` and `kube_namespace`, converts bytes to MiB using the formula `memory/1048576`, and compares the mean aggregated value against your threshold.

#### Probe type <a href="#probe-type" id="probe-type"></a>

**APM Probe (Datadog)**

#### Prerequisites <a href="#prerequisites" id="prerequisites"></a>

* Kubernetes chaos infrastructure with Harness Delegate
* A configured [Datadog connector](/resilience-testing/chaos-testing/probes/apm-probes.md)
* Datadog agent reporting `container.memory.usage` for the target deployment
* Probe variables `SERVICE_NAME` and `NAMESPACE` set at experiment runtime

***

### Probe properties <a href="#probe-properties" id="probe-properties"></a>

#### Comparator <a href="#comparator" id="comparator"></a>

| Type  | Criteria | Default value |
| ----- | -------- | ------------- |
| float | <=       | 1024          |

The probe passes when the mean memory usage (in MiB) is less than or equal to the comparator value.

#### Datadog APM probe inputs <a href="#datadog-apm-probe-inputs" id="datadog-apm-probe-inputs"></a>

| Field                     | Description                         | Default                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `connectorID`             | Identifier of the Datadog connector | Required at runtime                                                                                                       |
| `durationInMin`           | Look-back window in minutes         | 5                                                                                                                         |
| `queryType`               | Datadog query API version           | v2                                                                                                                        |
| `queries[0].name`         | Query alias used in the formula     | memory                                                                                                                    |
| `queries[0].dataSource`   | Metric source type                  | metrics                                                                                                                   |
| `queries[0].params.query` | Datadog metric query                | `sum:container.memory.usage{kube_deployment:<+probe.variables.SERVICE_NAME>,kube_namespace:<+probe.variables.NAMESPACE>}` |
| `formula`                 | Converts query result to MiB        | memory/1048576                                                                                                            |
| `aggregation`             | Aggregation over the time window    | mean                                                                                                                      |

#### Probe variables <a href="#probe-variables" id="probe-variables"></a>

| Variable       | Description                                      | Required |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | -------- |
| `SERVICE_NAME` | Kubernetes deployment name of the target service | Yes      |
| `NAMESPACE`    | Kubernetes namespace of the target service       | Yes      |

#### Configurable inputs <a href="#configurable-inputs" id="configurable-inputs"></a>

| Input              | Description                  | Required | Default |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------- | -------- | ------- |
| `CONNECTOR_ID`     | Datadog connector identifier | Yes      | -       |
| `DURATION_IN_MIN`  | Look-back window in minutes  | No       | 5       |
| `COMPARATOR_VALUE` | Memory threshold in MiB      | Yes      | 1024    |

***

### Run properties <a href="#run-properties" id="run-properties"></a>

| Property          | Description                                       | Type    | Default |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ------- | ------- |
| `timeout`         | Maximum time to wait for the probe to complete    | String  | 30s     |
| `interval`        | Time between probe executions                     | String  | 5s      |
| `attempt`         | Number of retry attempts before marking as failed | Integer | 1       |
| `pollingInterval` | Time between retry attempts                       | String  | 30s     |
| `initialDelay`    | Initial delay before starting the probe           | String  | 1s      |
| `stopOnFailure`   | Stop the experiment if the probe fails            | Boolean | false   |
| `verbosity`       | Log verbosity level                               | String  | debug   |

***

### Probe definition <a href="#probe-definition" id="probe-definition"></a>

You can define this probe in your chaos experiment as follows:

```yaml
probe:
  - name: datadog-memory-check
    type: apmProbe
    mode: Continuous
    apmProbe/inputs:
      type: Datadog
      comparator:
        type: float
        value: "1024"
        criteria: <=
      datadogApmProbeInputs:
        connectorID: <+connector.identifier>
        durationInMin: 5
        queryType: v2
        queries:
          - name: memory
            dataSource: metrics
            params:
              query: sum:container.memory.usage{kube_deployment:<+probe.variables.SERVICE_NAME>,kube_namespace:<+probe.variables.NAMESPACE>}
        formula: memory/1048576
        aggregation: mean
    runProperties:
      timeout: 30s
      interval: 5s
      attempt: 1
      pollingInterval: 30s
      initialDelay: 1s
      stopOnFailure: false
      verbosity: debug
```

***

### Next steps <a href="#next-steps" id="next-steps"></a>

* Go to [Datadog CPU Check](/resilience-testing/chaos-testing/probes/probe-template-library/datadog/datadog-cpu-check.md) to validate CPU utilisation.
* Go to [Datadog APM Probe Templates](/resilience-testing/chaos-testing/probes/probe-template-library/datadog/index.md) to browse all Datadog probe templates.