Types Of Integrations
BigPanda offers several types of integrations:
Monitoring––allows BigPanda to receive alerts from your monitoring systems, such as Nagios, SolarWinds, and AppDynamics. Many users start by integrating these systems.
Collaboration––allows you to share incidents from BigPanda with your co-workers through other systems. For example, open JIRA tickets or send Slack notifications.
Agent vs. Webhook Integrations
BigPanda supports both on-premise and SaaS monitoring tools through different mechanisms.
On-premise tools are integrated by using the BigPanda agent. The agent is a low-footprint daemon installed on the master host of your monitoring tool. It consumes alerts from the tool in real time, and then transmits them to BigPanda via SSL-encrypted HTTP calls.
SaaS tools (such as CloudWatch or New Relic) are integrated by using Webhooks. Whenever the SaaS tool generates an alert, it posts an HTTP message directly to BigPanda. BigPanda listens to incoming messages and processes them.
Available Integrations
Monitoring
Airbrake
SaaS Deployments (Deprecated)
Webhook
AppOptics
SaaS Deployments
Webhook
Icinga 1
1
Agent
Icinga 2
2
Agent
Librato
SaaS Deployments
Webhook
Panopta
SaaS Deployments (Depreciated)
Webhook
PRTG
14.4+; English Language (Only)
Webhook
Scout
SaaS Deployments (Deprecated)
Webhook
Sentry
SaaS Deployments
Webhook
StatusCake
SaaS Deployments (Deprecated)
Webhook
Deprecated Features
The Airbrake, Panopta, Scout, and StatusCake integrations are no longer being updated and may be removed in a future product version. At this time, they are still available only to current users of those integrations. If you are using these integrations, consider building a custom integration with the Alerts API. Please contact BigPanda support at support@bigpanda.io with any questions or feedback.
Using Sample Code
These samples are meant to provide a helpful starting point for your custom integration. Though you may be able to copy some of the samples and use them without modifications, your system administrators must review and test all scripts and methods before using them, as per good practices.
Integrating Your First Monitoring Service
To get started, integrate your monitoring services with BigPanda. After integrating your services, you can see and manage your alerts from within the BigPanda interface.
Prerequisites
- Obtain a BigPanda account.
- (Recommended) Review the Integrations Overview.
Integrating a Monitoring Service
Administrators can install any of the available integrations in BigPanda.
- Log in to BigPanda, and click the Integrations tab at the top of the screen.
- In the left pane, click New Integration.
- Click the desired integration. The installation instructions open.
Finding Integrations
You can filter the list of available integrations by clicking the Monitoring tab in the top left or by entering a search term in the top right. If you don't see the tool you use, consider using the Alerts REST API or contact BigPanda support.
- Follow the instructions to install and configure your integration.
Checking the Status of Integrations
- At the top of the screen, click the Integrations tab. The left pane shows the name and recent activity for each installed integration.
Multiple Integrations For A Single System
If you’ve configured multiple integrations of the same type, each integration is listed separately in the left pane.
- (Optional) Filter the list of installed integrations by entering a search term.
- Review the colored ribbons on the left of each listing to check the status of your integrations.
- Pending (orange indicator)—no data has been received from the integration. The source system may not have generated alerts yet, or the integration may not be configured correctly.
- Installed (green indicator)—the integration is working properly.
- Click the desired integration. The integration details appear in the right pane.
Renaming Integrations
To rename the integration, click Edit Name beside its name. Then, enter the new name up to 20 characters long, and press Enter.
- If the integration is pending but the source system has generated alerts since you integrated it, click Review Instructions and ensure it is configured correctly.
Contact BigPanda support for more help, if needed.
Is Your Integration In A Pending State?
When an integration has a status of Pending, it means the integration has been configured but no data has been received from it yet. The status remains as Pending until BigPanda receives the first alert from your external system. When an alert is received, the status changes to Installed.
If you know that the external system has sent alerts since you configured the integration, you can consult the relevant troubleshooting guide in the BigPanda Knowledge Base or contact support@bigpanda.io for additional assistance.
Post-Requisites
Manage Incidents using Incident Feed.
Deleting an Integration
You may want to remove an integration that you have installed in BigPanda. For example, when you are upgrading to a new version or if your infrastructure changes. In general, deleting an integration requires changes to both the integrated system and BigPanda. You must uninstall the integration on the integrated system and then delete the integration from BigPanda.
Prerequisites
- Manually resolve any open incidents related to the integration to remove them from your incident feed. Optionally, remove any additional data in BigPanda. For example, modify or remove any Environments or AutoShare rules that reference the integration.
- (Optional) Delete any shared data that was posted in the integrated system. For example, close any incident tickets opened by BigPanda in the target system.
Uninstalling an Integration
- On the integrated system, disable any settings that send events to BigPanda or receive shared data from BigPanda.
Each system requires specific changes to disable the integration with BigPanda. For example, you must delete the topic in CloudWatch, and you must disable the alert channel in New Relic. To determine the changes for your integrated system, reference the relevant documentation or contact BigPanda support.
- If the integration is agent-based, uninstall the agent from the server.
Deleting An Integration From BigPanda
Administrators can request permanent deletion of existing integrations from the BigPanda UI.
This procedure does not remove any data from BigPanda or the integrated system. As needed, remove data from each system before deleting the integration.
- In BigPanda, click the Integrations tab at the top of the screen.
- (Optional) Filter the list of installed integrations by entering a search term.
- Click the integration you want to delete.
- In the right pane, click Delete Integration. The message window opens and is pre-populated with a request to delete the selected integration.
- Press Enter to send the request.
The BigPanda support team will remove the integration from the UI.
Reference: Integrations Tab
Use this reference guide to quickly find out what each item on the Integrations tab means, then follow the links to learn more about a feature.
Integrations Tab
The Integrations tab provides a centralized place to manage your integrations with BigPanda.
Left Pane
Lists basic information about each installed integration and provides a filter to search for a specific integration.
Information Center
(No integration selected) Provides links to helpful information about BigPanda.
Integration Details
(Integration selected) Shows detailed information about the integration selected in the left pane. You can see the status, review the configuration instructions, change the name, or delete the integration.
Status Indicator
Displays a colored ribbon on the left to indicate the status of the integration, which is determined by whether data has been received from or sent to the integrated system.
Activity Summary
Shows a summary of recent activity for the integration:
For monitoring integrations, the most recent event received from the source system.
For collaboration integrations, the amount of the daily sharing quota that has been used today.
Status Indicator
Displays a colored ribbon on the left to indicate the status of the integration, which is determined by whether data has been received from or sent to the integrated system.
Name
Shows the integration name (such as Production). You can change the name of an installed integration.
App Key
Shows the unique identifier for the integration, if applicable.
Activity History
Shows the activity history, depending on the integration type and status:
If no data has been received from the integrated system, a Pending status explanation.
For active monitoring integrations, the date of the first event and the most recent event received.
For collaboration integrations, the amount of the daily sharing quota that has been used today.
Review Instructions
Opens the installation instructions for the integration.
Delete Integration
Allows you to send a request to delete the selected integration.
Search
Filters the list of available integrations by the search term. Enter the name of your tool to find it quickly.
Available Integrations
Shows all available integrations that match the selected tab and the search term. Select an integration to open the installation instructions.