Configuring PowerFlow Applications for the xMatters SyncPack

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This section describes how to set up the run book automations in SL1 and how to configure the PowerFlow applications in the "xMatters" SyncPack.

Workflow for Configuring the SyncPack

The following workflows describe how to configure SL1 and PowerFlow to work with the "xMatters" SyncPack.

Configuring SL1

  1. Create a SOAP/XML credential to access PowerFlow
  2. Edit the xMatters run book actions
  3. Enable the xMatters run book automations

Configuring PowerFlow

  1. Create a configuration object
  2. Align the configuration object and configure the xMatters PowerFlow applications
  3. Schedule the PowerFlow applications

Configuring SL1

The following topics cover how to set up your SL1 instance to work with the "xMatters" SyncPack.

Creating a SOAP/XML Credential to Access SL1 PowerFlow

You will need to create a SOAP/XML credential so that the run book actions included in the "xMatters Incident Integration" PowerPack can access your PowerFlow system. The "xMatters Incident Integration" PowerPack includes the "PowerFlow xMatters" credential, which you can use as a template for the SOAP/XML credential.

To define a SOAP/XML credential using the example credential:

  • In SL1, go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
  • Click the wrench icon () for the "PowerFlow xMatters" credential. The Credential Editor modal window appears.
  • Complete the following fields:
  • Name. Type a new name for the credential.
  • All Organizations. Toggle on (blue) to align the credential to all organizations, or toggle off (gray) and then select one or more specific organizations from the What organization manages this service? drop-down field to align the credential with those specific organizations.
  • URL. Type the URL for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth User. Type the username for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth Password. Type the password for your PowerFlow system.
  1. Click Save & Close.
  2. Take note of the SL1-assigned ID number for the new credential on the Credentials page, in the ID column. You will need the ID number when editing the input parameters of the run book actions included in the PowerPack, below.

Editing the xMatters Run Book Actions

The "xMatters Incident Integration" PowerPack includes four run book actions that you will need to enable.

These actions use the "Run Integration Service Application" action type to trigger the PowerFlow applications that send and receive data to and from xMatters. You can specify the credential ID in a JSON structure that you enter in the Input Parameters field in the Action Policy Editor modal.

To edit the run book actions included in the PowerPack:

  1. In SL1, go to the Actions page (Registry > Run Book > Actions).
  2. Locate the xMatters run book action that you want to use, and then click its wrench icon (). The Editing Action page appears.

  1. In the Input Parameters field, change the values of the following parameters:

  • credential_id. Change the value to the credential ID that you noted earlier when creating a credential for your PowerFlow system in the previous procedure. This parameter is required.
  • include_event. Leave the value as "true".
  • application_name. Leave the default application value.
  • params. Leave the default parameter value.
  1. Make sure the Action State is set to Enabled, and then click Save.

Enabling the xMatters Run Book Automations

The "xMatters Incident Integration" PowerPack includes four run book automation policies that you will need to enable.

These policies update the xMatters alert or SL1 events with the state of the associated event or alert or populates SL1 with on-call details. When the event is first detected in SL1 or xMatters, the "triggered" state is sent. When the event is acknowledged in SL1 or xMatters, the "acknowledged" state is sent. When the event is cleared in SL1 or xMatters, the "resolved" state is sent. When on-call is triggered, the on-call details are added to the SL1 event notes.

If you enable the "xMatters: Acknowledge Event", "xMatters: Resolve", and "xMatters: Trigger" automation policies, it is best practice to align the same devices for all three policies.

The following table shows the automation policy, its aligned events, and the run book action that runs in response to the events.

Automation Policy Name Aligned Events Run Book Action
xMatters: Acknowledge Event All events xMatters: Acknowledgment
xMatters: Oncall All events xMatters: Resolve
xMatters: Resolve All events xMatters: Resolve
xMatters: Trigger All events xMatters: Trigger

To enable the run book automations:

  1. In SL1, go to the Automation page (Registry > Run Book > Automation).
  2. Locate the xMatters run book automation policy and click its wrench icon (). The Automation Policy Editor page appears.
  3. Update the following fields:
  • Policy State. Select Enabled.
  • Policy Priority. Select High to ensure that this PowerFlow automation policy is added to the top of the queue.
  • Available Actions. If it is not already selected, select the "Run Integration Service Application: <name>" action that corresponds with the xMatters run book automation policy that you selected in step 2, and click the arrows to move it to Aligned Actions.

ScienceLogic highly recommends that you do not make changes to the Policy Type, Repeat Time, or Align With fields or the And event is NOT acknowledged setting.

  1. Click Save.
  2. Repeat steps 2-4 for the remaining xMatters run book automation policies.

Configuring PowerFlow

The following topics cover how to set up your PowerFlow instance to work with the "xMatters" SyncPack.

Creating a Configuration Object

A configuration object supplies the login credentials and other required information needed to execute the steps for a PowerFlow application. The Configurations page () of the PowerFlow user interface lists all available configuration objects for that system.

You can create as many configuration objects as you need. A PowerFlow application can only use one configuration object at a time, but you can use (or "align") the same configuration object with multiple applications.

For this SyncPack, you can make a copy of the "Xmatters Config Template" configuration object, which is the sample configuration file that was installed with the " xMatters" SyncPack. Next, you need to align that configuration object to the relevant applications.

The "Xmatters Config Template" configuration object contains all of the required variables. Simply update the variables from that object to match your SL1 and xMatters settings.

To create a configuration object based on the "Xmatters Config Template" configuration object:

  1. In the PowerFlow user interface, go to the Configurations page ().
  2. Click the Actions button () for the "Xmatters Config Template" configuration object and select Edit. The Configuration pane appears.
  3. Click Copy as. The Create Configuration pane appears.
  4. Complete the following fields:
  • Friendly Name. Name of the configuration object that will display on the Configurations page.
  • Description. A brief description of the configuration object.
  • Author. User or organization that created the configuration object.
  • Version. Version of the configuration object.
  1. In the Configuration Data field, update the default variable definitions to match your PowerFlow configuration:
  • sl1_host. The hostname or IP address of the SL1 system the alerts will synchronize to.
  • sl1_user. The username for your SL1 system.
  • xmatters_alert_api_webhook. To send events to xMatters, you must configure a generic webhook workflow in xMatters. Enter the integration URL for that workflow.
  • xmatters_instance_url. The URL to use for links to the xMatters user interface. Enter the base URL you navigate to. This URL will be displayed in SL1 and will open your xMatters instance in a browser.
  • sl1_password. The password for your SL1 system.
  • proxy_host. The hostname or IP address of the HTTP proxy that will be used when making an API request to xMatters.
  • proxy_user. The username for your associated HTTP proxy.
  • proxy_password.The password for your associated HTTP proxy.
  • xm_user. The username for your xMatters system.
  • xm_password. The password for your xMatters system.
  • xm_group_id. The xMatters group ID you want to use.
  • resolve_from_xm. The option to resolve events from xMatters.
  • populate_external_url. The option to add an xMatters incident URL to the corresponding SL1 event.
  • default_ack_user. The default user to acknowledge events in SL1.
  1. Click Save. You can now align this configuration object with one or more applications.

Aligning a Configuration Object and Configuring PowerFlow Applications

With this SyncPack, any status changes made to an SL1 event is sent to xMatters to update the corresponding incident. Any status changes to the xMatters incident are synced back to the corresponding SL1 event. You will need to align the xMatters applications with the relevant configuration object in PowerFlow, and, if needed, update any other fields on the Configuration pane for the applications.

To run this SyncPack, you must "align" the configuration object to run with the following PowerFlow applications:

  • "Bulk Resolve SL1 Events"
  • "Get Acknowledged Incidents And Post Data To SL1"
  • "Get Oncall Details And Post Oncall List To SL1"
  • "Pass Acknowledgment details from SL1 to Xmatters"
  • "Pass Resolution to Xmatters from RBA"
  • "Save Accounts to Cache"
  • "Get Event Details And Post Incident URL to SL1"

To align the configuration object with the relevant PowerFlow applications:

  1. On the Applications page of the PowerFlow user interface, open one of the PowerFlow applications listed above and click Configure. The Configurations pane for that application appears.

  2. From the Configurations drop-down, select the configuration object you want to use.

    The values for proxy_host and the other parameters that appear in the Configuration pane with a padlock icon () are populated either by the configuration object you aligned with the application or by the Run Book Action. Do not modify these values. If you encounter an error, make sure your Run Book Action is configured properly.

  1. Update any of the remaining fields on the Configurations pane as needed.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Repeat this process for the other PowerFlow applications.

Scheduling PowerFlow Applications

To trigger some applications in this SyncPack, you must schedule the application. You must schedule the following applications if you want to trigger them:

  • "Bulk Resolve SL1 Events"
  • "Get Acknowledged Incidents and Post Data to SL1"
  • "Save Accounts To Cache"

You can create one or more schedules for a single application in the PowerFlow user interface. When creating each schedule, you can specify the queue and the configuration file for that application.

To create a schedule:

  1. On the Applications page (), click the Schedule button for the application you want to schedule. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. In the Schedule List pane, click the down arrow icon () next to an existing schedule to view the details for that schedule.
  3. In the Schedule Creator pane, complete the following fields for the default Frequency setting:
  • Schedule Name. Type a name for the schedule.
  • Frequency in seconds. Type the number of seconds per interval that you want to run the application.
  • Custom Parameters. Type any JSON parameters you want to use for this schedule, such as information about a configuration file or mappings.
  1. To use a cron expression, click the Switch to Cron Expression toggle to turn it blue. If you select this option, you can create complicated schedules based on minutes, hours, the day of the month, the month, and the day of the week:

As you update the cron expression, the Schedule window displays the results of the expression in more readable language, such as Runs app: "Every 0 and 30th minute past every hour on Sat", based on 0,30 in the Minutes field and 6 in the Day of Week field.

  1. Click Save Schedule. The schedule is added to the Schedule List pane. Also, on the Applications page, the Schedule button now displays with a dark blue background:

After you create a schedule, it continues to run until you delete it. Also, you cannot edit an existing schedule, but you can delete it and create a similar schedule if needed.

To view or delete an existing schedule:

  1. On the Applications page, click the Schedule button for the application that contains a schedule you want to delete. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. Click the down arrow icon () to view the details of an existing schedule.
  3. To delete the selected schedule, click the Actions icon () and selectDelete.

On the Scheduler window for a PowerFlow application, you can click the Copy as button from the Schedule List pane to make a copy of an existing schedule.