Slack Integration
Slack is a cloud based team collaboration and messaging service. For IT organizations it is useful to have call-home alerts delivered into a specific Slack channel that is monitored throughout the day alongside other channel traffic. QuantaStor integrates with Slack through an incoming webhook, which is added to the QuantaStor Alert Manager as an ITSM endpoint.
Step 1 - Create a Slack incoming webhook
In Slack, create an app for your workspace and enable Incoming Webhooks, then add a webhook bound to the channel that should receive alerts. Slack's current instructions are here: Sending messages using incoming webhooks.
A webhook is bound to one channel. To deliver alerts to several channels, create one webhook per channel and add each as a separate endpoint in the Alert Manager.
Step 2 - Verify the copied URL
After Step 1 your clipboard should contain a URL resembling:
https://hooks.slack.com/services/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
Treat this URL as a credential -- anyone holding it can post into the channel.
Step 3 - Add the Slack webhook URL to QuantaStor
Select Slack from the Module list, paste the URL from Step 2 into Webhook URL, and press Add. The integration appears in the grid above. Then press Apply or OK to save.
Step 4 - Apply changes and test
With the settings saved, press Generate Test Alert, enter a message, and choose a severity. Then check the Slack channel for the message.
Send the test at "Warning" or higher. QuantaStor deliberately does not forward Info level alerts to ITSM webhook modules, so an Info level test alert will never appear in Slack and the integration will look broken when it is working correctly. Info level alerts are still delivered by email and recorded in the audit log -- the restriction applies only to the webhook modules.
What an alert looks like in Slack
Alerts are posted as a Slack attachment, colour coded by severity, carrying:
- the alert title and description
- Alert Timestamp
- Alert Type -- the SNMP ID of the alert type, which is how you cross-reference it in Alert Manager --> Alert Types
- Severity
- the Storage Grid name, when the system belongs to a grid
- the Storage System name, linked to its management address
Notes
Outbound access is required. The Storage System must be able to reach hooks.slack.com over HTTPS. If your systems reach the internet through a proxy, set the system HTTP/HTTPS proxy in the Storage System Modify dialog -- the alert handler uses it automatically when posting to the webhook. See also Firewall Configuration.
Alerts go to every configured mechanism. Adding Slack does not replace email or SNMP; a grid with email and Slack configured sends each alert to both.
Several endpoints are supported. Slack can be combined with other ITSM modules, and with more than one Slack webhook.
For the full Alert Manager reference, including capacity thresholds and how to pause noisy alert types during maintenance, see Alert Manager / Call-home Alerting.
Verified against QuantaStor 6.9.0.