Statuspage - Post and Update Incidents and Maintenance

Summary

Instructions on how use a Slack app to post, update, and close incidents and maintenance on Dartmouth's Statuspage.

Body

About

This article provides detailed information on how users can post Incidents and Maintenance's via the Slack App or Statuspage Website for Dartmouth Systems.

How to Post via Slack App

Slack app for posting to Statuspage

the Slack app is in two workspaces: DartmouthIT and ITC
access to use the Slack app is managed by a Slack user group: @statuspageusers
to determine if you are already a member of the Statuspage Users user group in Slack, from your desktop click People & user groups (if you don't see this option then click More), then select the User groups tab at the top of the screen, then search for the user group and view members.
if you need to become a member of the Statuspage Users user group in Slack, then please submit a ticket to the Service Desk noting which area/solution/service you support
from within a Slack channel there are two ways to search for shortcuts to the Slack app
- click the / shortcut button or type / then
  - start to type 'incident' to search for incident shortcuts
  - start to type 'maintenance' to search for maintenance shortcuts

Post a New Incident

Post a New Incident

Here is a link to a five-minute video on Posting Incidents to Statuspage. Use the Incident option for unplanned outages. Below is an example of a textual notification and related component status for a Critical Incident/Major Outage.

Incident Name

Identify the name of the system or service. The level of incident impact will automatically be included in the title of the notification. For instance: Critical Incident - Name of Service

Lifecycle Status Type
Incidents have one of four distinct statuses. When creating an incident you will specify the state of the incident. The status will display in bold before the descriptive text.

Investigating - you are seeing the symptoms of an issue but are unaware what the root cause.
Identified - you have found the root cause of the incident and are working on a fix.
Monitoring - you believe you have successfully fixed the issue and are waiting for the symptoms to subside.
Resolved - the root cause of the issue has been eliminated and your systems are back to 100% performance.

Affected Component(s)
Choose the general service type (i.e. component) from the picklist.

Component Status and Impact Type

Correlation between Component Status and Impact Type
Component Status	Impact Type
Major Outage	Critical
Partial Outage	Major
Degraded Performance	Minor
Operational	None

Components have a status which is set when creating or updating incidents on the page.

Major Outage (red) - The component is completely unavailable.
Partial Outage (orange) - The component is completely broken for a subset of customers.
Degraded Performance (yellow) - The component is working but is slow or otherwise impacted in a minor way.
Operational (green) - The component is functioning as expected and in a timely manner.

Incident impact defines the severity of an incident. On the front-end, incident impact shows as a color.

Critical (red)
Major (orange)
Minor (yellow)
None (green)

Additional Message Text
Use the templates KB to help craft your message about the incident. Be sure to have someone review your text before you post it.

Send Notifications to subscribers?
Under most circumstances a notification should be sent to subscribers. An example of when a notification might not be used is during testing.

Update/Close an Incident

Update/Close an Incident

While updating an incident you can change the status. If an update is posted but the status does not change then Update will appear before the descriptive text. When resolving an incident remember to change the component status to Operational.

Post New Maintenance

Post New Maintenance

Use the Maintenance option for scheduled releases. Below is an example of a textual notification and related component status for maintenance.

When you schedule maintenance, it will automatically be given the status of "scheduled" and the event will appear under Scheduled Maintenance.

When the maintenance window opens, the notification will automatically move to the top of Statuspage, the status will change to In progress, and the Component Status will change to Under Maintenance. When the maintenance window is complete, the user needs to change the Status Type to Completed and update the Component Status to Operational.

Maintenance Name

Identify the name of the system or service. The incident impact of 'Maintenance' will automatically be included in the title of the notification. For instance: Maintenance - Name of Service

Lifecycle Status Type
Maintenance has one of four distinct statuses. The status will display in bold before the descriptive text.

Scheduled - the default state given to the scheduled maintenance upon creation.
In progress - the scheduled maintenance is underway.
Verifying - the scheduled maintenance is complete but you're still verifying that things are back to functioning as expected.
Completed - the scheduled maintenance is completed.

Affected Component(s)
Choose the general service type (i.e. component) from the picklist.

Component Status
Components have a status which is set when creating or updating incidents on the page.

Under Maintenance (blue) - The component is currently being worked on.

Start and End
Indicate the start date/time and anticipated end date/time of the maintenance.

Impact Type
Incident impact defines the severity of an incident. On the front-end, incident impact shows as a color.

Maintenance (blue)

Additional Message Text
Use the templates KB to help craft your message about the maintenance event. Be sure to have someone review your text before you post it.

Send Notifications to subscribers?
Under most circumstances a notification should be sent to subscribers.

Update/Close Maintenance

Update/Close Maintenance

While updating maintenance you can change the status. If an update is posted but the status does not change then Update will appear before the descriptive text. When closing maintenance remember to change the component status to Operational.

Fixing an errant post

Fixing an errant post

If multiple posts were submitted for the same event - close one of the events with a note (do not delete it in case there are questions about what happened)
If the wrong component was chosen - close the incident with a note and open a new incident with the correct component (do not delete it in case there are questions about what happened)
If the correct component was chosen - post an update to the existing incident or maintenance noting the correction

Screnshots of the Slack app in action

Screenshots of the Slack app in action

Post a new Incident	Update/Close an Incident

Post new Maintenance	Update/Close Maintenance

How to Post via Statuspage Website

Posting via Statuspage Website

Statuspage is a powerful platform that allows you to communicate incident updates with your users effectively. Posting incidents promptly and accurately is crucial to maintaining transparency and trust with your audience. This knowledge base article will guide you through the process of posting an incident on Statuspage.

Step 1: Accessing Statuspage:

Open your web browser and navigate to the Statuspage dashboard. https://manage.statuspage.io/login
Log in using your credentials (enter your dartmouth.edu email address; you will be redirected to Dartmouth SSO to log in)

Creating a New Incident

Creating a New Incident

Once logged in, find the "Incidents" section on the dashboard. This is usually located in the main navigation menu.
Click on "Create Incident" or a similar option depending on your Statuspage configuration.

Filling in Incident Details:

Incident Name:
- Provide a clear and concise name for the incident. Include the system or service affected and the incident's impact level (e.g., Critical Incident - Service Name).
Lifecycle Status Type:
- Choose the appropriate status type for the incident:
  - Investigating: You are identifying the issue.
  - Identified: The root cause is found, and a fix is in progress.
  - Monitoring: The issue is resolved, and you're observing for any recurrence.
  - Resolved: The issue is fully resolved.
Affected Component(s):
- Select the affected component or service from the picklist. This helps users identify the specific area impacted.
Component Status and Impact Type:
- Set the status based on the severity of the incident:
  - Major Outage (red): Completely unavailable.
  - Partial Outage (orange): Broken for a subset of users.
  - Degraded Performance (yellow): Working but slow or impacted.
  - Operational (green): Functioning as expected.
Additional Message Text:
- Craft a detailed and clear message about the incident using the provided templates or KB. Have someone review the text before posting.
Send Notifications to Subscribers:
- Decide whether to notify subscribers. In most cases, it's advisable to send notifications to keep users informed.

Posting the Incident:

Review all the information you've entered.
Click "Post Incident" or a similar button to publish the incident.

Update/Close an Incident

Update/Close an Incident

To provide updates, navigate to the incident on the dashboard.
Add additional details, change the status if necessary, and click "Update Incident."
When the incident is fully resolved, change the status to "Resolved" and update the component status to "Operational."

Initiating Maintenance

Initiating Maintenance

1. Locate the "Maintenance" section It is located on the Incident Tab

2. Click on "Schedule Maintenance" or a similar option, depending on your Statuspage configuration.

Step 3: Filling in Maintenance Details:

1. Maintenance Name:

Provide a descriptive name for the maintenance, including the system or service affected (e.g., Maintenance - Service Name).

2. Start and End Times:

Indicate the start date/time and anticipated end date/time of the maintenance window.:

3. Affected Component(s):

Select the affected component or service from the picklist. This helps users understand the specific area undergoing maintenance.

4. Component Status:

Set the status to "Under Maintenance" (blue) during the maintenance window.

5. Start and End Times:

Indicate the start date/time and anticipated end date/time of the maintenance window.

6. Impact Type:

Define the impact type, such as "Maintenance" (blue), to convey the severity of the maintenance. This is visible to users.

7. Additional Message Text:

Craft a detailed message about the maintenance using templates or KB. Ensure someone reviews the text before posting.

8. Send Notifications to Subscribers:

Decide whether to notify subscribers. In most cases, sending notifications is recommended.

Posting the Maintenance:

1. Review all the information entered.

2. Click "Schedule Maintenance" or a similar button to publish the maintenance.

Update/Close Maintenance

Updating/Closing Maintenance

1. To provide updates during the maintenance, navigate to the scheduled maintenance on the dashboard.

2. Add additional details, change the status if necessary, and click "Update."

3. When the maintenance is fully completed, change the status to "Completed" and update the component status to "Operational."

Details

Article ID: 147864

Created

Sat 11/19/22 7:06 AM

Modified

Wed 4/9/25 4:25 PM

Statuspage - Post and Update Incidents and Maintenance

Summary

Body

About

Slack app for posting to Statuspage

Post a New Incident

Update/Close an Incident

Post New Maintenance

Update/Close Maintenance

Fixing an errant post

Screenshots of the Slack app in action

Posting via Statuspage Website

Creating a New Incident

Update/Close an Incident

Initiating Maintenance

Step 3: Filling in Maintenance Details:

1. Maintenance Name:

Provide a descriptive name for the maintenance, including the system or service affected (e.g., Maintenance - Service Name).

2. Start and End Times:

3. Affected Component(s):

Select the affected component or service from the picklist. This helps users understand the specific area undergoing maintenance.

4. Component Status:

Set the status to "Under Maintenance" (blue) during the maintenance window.

5. Start and End Times:

Indicate the start date/time and anticipated end date/time of the maintenance window.

6. Impact Type:

Define the impact type, such as "Maintenance" (blue), to convey the severity of the maintenance. This is visible to users.

7. Additional Message Text:

Craft a detailed message about the maintenance using templates or KB. Ensure someone reviews the text before posting.

8. Send Notifications to Subscribers:

Decide whether to notify subscribers. In most cases, sending notifications is recommended.

Posting the Maintenance:

Updating/Closing Maintenance

Details

Details

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