Deploy Incident Intelligence for BigPanda

ComponentsEngine

Availability2017.1 or later

Create the BigPanda Integration

App Key, API key and endpoint

Create the GermainUX HTTP Action

Sending alerts over HTTP

Payload Fields and Severity

Deduplication and status mapping

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Overview

GermainUX sends alerts to BigPanda through a GermainUX HTTP Action that POSTs each SLA breach to the BigPanda Alerts API. BigPanda then deduplicates, correlates and prioritizes those alerts alongside your other monitoring sources. What you get:

GermainUX SLA breaches (failed transactions, slow responses, application errors, failed synthetic scenarios) appear as BigPanda alerts.
Each alert carries GermainUX context: KPI, SLA, severity, host and error details.
Repeat breaches of the same KPI and SLA collapse into one BigPanda alert instead of a stream of duplicates.

Architecture

When an SLA is breached, GermainUX runs the HTTP Action assigned to it. The action renders a JSON body from the alert context and POSTs it to the BigPanda Alerts API (HTTPS POST /data/v2/alerts), where it is deduplicated on KPI + SLA name and correlated into incidents.

Stage	What happens
GermainUX	An SLA is breached on a KPI
HTTP Action	Runs as the SLA Action and renders the JSON body
BigPanda Alerts	Deduplicates on KPI + SLA name
BigPanda incident	Correlated, then triaged by operations

A repeat breach of the same KPI + SLA updates the existing BigPanda alert; an event with status ok resolves it.

Step 1: Create the Alerts REST API integration in BigPanda

Create the integration

In BigPanda, open Integrations, create a new integration and choose the Alerts REST API integration type.

Name the integration

Name it so the source is clear, for example GermainUX or GermainUX - Production.

Generate the App Key

Generate the integration’s App Key and copy it. Every alert GermainUX sends includes this value as app_key.

Get a User API Key

Create or copy a User API Key for the account that will send alerts. A dedicated service account is recommended.

Note your region's endpoint

For US-hosted organizations:

POST https://api.bigpanda.io/data/v2/alerts
Authorization: Bearer <API key>
Accept: application/json
Content-Type: application/json

For EU-hosted organizations, use https://api.eu.bigpanda.io/data/v2/alerts. A successful request returns 201.

Step 2: Create the HTTP Action in GermainUX

Go to: GermainUX Workspace > Automation > HTTP Select the Add icon to open the HTTP Action wizard. The same wizard is available under Settings > Wizards > HTTP Action.

Configure the Action

Field	Value
Name	`Send Alert to BigPanda`

Select Next.

Configure the HTTP Request

Field	Value
Path	`https://api.bigpanda.io/data/v2/alerts` (or the EU endpoint)
Request Method	`POST`
Content Type	`application/json`
Headers	`Accept: application/json` and `Authorization: Bearer <API key>`
Authentication	Store the BigPanda API key as a protected GermainUX credential reference instead of typing it into the header or body
Expected Response	`201` (any `2xx` is a success)
Request body	The template below

Request Body Template

The body is a FreeMarker template rendered against the SLA alert context:

{
  "app_key": "<BigPanda App Key>",
  "status": "<#if context.sla??><#if context.sla.severity.ordinal() <= 1>critical<#else>warning</#if><#else>warning</#if>",
  "host": "<#if context.fact?? && context.fact.system?? && context.fact.system.hostname??>${context.fact.system.hostname?json_string}<#else>${context.kpi.name?json_string}</#if>",
  "kpi": "${context.kpi.name?json_string}",
  "check": "<#if context.sla??>${context.sla.name?json_string}<#else>GermainUX alert</#if>",
  "description": "GermainUX detected that SLA <#if context.sla??>${context.sla.name?json_string}</#if> was not met. Error details: <#if context.fact?? && context.fact.details??>${context.fact.details?json_string}<#else>none</#if>",
  "source": "AggregateSLA",
  "environment": "prod",
  "origin": "GermainUX",
  "primary_property": "kpi",
  "secondary_property": "check"
}

Replace <BigPanda App Key> with the App Key from Step 1, and set source and environment to match the KPI. Use ?json_string on every value taken from the context, so quotes and line breaks in error details don’t break the JSON.

Step 3: Assign the HTTP Action to an SLA

Open the KPI you want to send to BigPanda

For example, a synthetic scenario KPI or an application error KPI.

Select or configure an SLA

Select an existing SLA on that KPI, or configure a new one with the breach condition you want to alert on.

Add the HTTP Action as the SLA Action

Add the Send Alert to BigPanda HTTP Action as the SLA’s SLA Action.

Repeat for every KPI and SLA that should reach BigPanda

One HTTP Action can be shared by many SLAs.

HTTP Actions can also run on a schedule, from a rule, or manually. For BigPanda, the SLA trigger is recommended because it supplies the context.sla and context.kpi values the template uses.

Step 4: Finish and Test

Confirm the Action Service can reach BigPanda

Before saving the action, send a test alert from the GermainUX server running the Action Service:

curl -i -X POST 'https://api.bigpanda.io/data/v2/alerts' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <API key>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"app_key":"<BigPanda App Key>","status":"critical","host":"germain-test","check":"GermainUX integration test","description":"Test alert from GermainUX"}'

Complete the wizard, then run the HTTP Action manually from the Workspace and confirm it reports success

In BigPanda, confirm the alert appears on the integration and opens an incident

Force a controlled SLA breach on a test KPI and confirm the alert arrives with the right KPI, SLA, host, status and description

Trigger the same breach again and confirm BigPanda updates the existing alert instead of creating a new one

Confirm the API key does not appear in GermainUX logs or notifications

Assign the action to production SLAs

Payload Fields and Severity Mapping

BigPanda deduplicates alerts on the fields named in primary_property and secondary_property. The template uses the KPI name and SLA name, so repeat breaches of the same SLA update one BigPanda alert.

BigPanda field	GermainUX source	Notes
`app_key`	BigPanda App Key	Required. From Step 1
`status`	`context.sla.severity.ordinal()`	Required. See severity mapping below
`host`	`context.fact.system.hostname`, falling back to `context.kpi.name`	Aggregate SLAs may have no single host
`kpi`	`context.kpi.name`	Primary dedup key
`check`	`context.sla.name`	Secondary dedup key. Keep SLA names stable: renaming creates new BigPanda alerts
`description`	`context.sla.name` + `context.fact.details`	Shown as the alert summary in BigPanda
`source`, `environment`, `origin`	Set per HTTP Action	Any extra field becomes a BigPanda tag for enrichment and correlation
`primary_property` / `secondary_property`	Fixed: `"kpi"`, `"check"`	Field names, not values

Severity Mapping

BigPanda accepts four status values. The template sets status from context.sla.severity.ordinal(), where 0 is the most severe SLA level. Test the mapping before production.

BigPanda `status`	Meaning in BigPanda	Sent by GermainUX when
`critical`	Active alert, highest severity	SLA severity ordinal is 0 or 1
`warning`	Active alert, lower severity	SLA severity ordinal is 2 or higher, or no SLA is in context
`ok`	Alert resolved	A recovery event is sent (see Resolving Alerts in BigPanda)
`acknowledged`	Alert acknowledged	Not sent by this integration; set in BigPanda

Resolving Alerts in BigPanda

The HTTP Action sends an event when an SLA is breached. A BigPanda alert resolves when it receives an event with "status": "ok" and the same kpi and check values. Choose one of these approaches:

Resolve in BigPanda: operators resolve the incident in BigPanda once the issue is fixed.
Send an ok event from GermainUX: create a second HTTP Action with the same body and "status": "ok", and attach it to an SLA or rule that fires when the KPI recovers.
Resolve through the BigPanda API: call the Resolve Alerts endpoint with the BigPanda alert IDs (up to 500 alerts per request, one request per second).

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
`401` / `403`	Wrong or expired API key, or missing `Bearer` prefix	Check the key and the `Authorization` header format
`400`	Invalid JSON, or a missing `app_key` / `status`	Run the action manually and review the rendered body; add `?json_string` to context values
No data found / alert never appears	Request sent to the wrong BigPanda region	Use the base URL for your organization’s region
Template error, nothing sent	A context value is missing (for example, no `context.fact` on aggregate SLAs)	Wrap optional values in `<#if ...??>` checks, as the template does
Connection timeout	The GermainUX Action Service can’t reach BigPanda	Allow outbound HTTPS from the Action Service host to the BigPanda endpoint
Duplicate BigPanda alerts	`kpi` or `check` values change between breaches	Keep variable data in `description`, not in the dedup fields
Severity looks wrong	SLA severities ordered differently than the template assumes	Check the severity mapping table and adjust the status thresholds in the template
`429`	Rate limit reached during an alert storm	Retry with backoff; use Quiet Time

References

GermainUX

BigPanda Incident Intelligence
Moogsoft (HTTP Action setup and SLA Action assignment)
Configure Execution of HTTP Request
HTTP and HTTPS Execution
Contact GermainUX Support

BigPanda

Get Help

Contact GermainUX Support

The Germain Team can help you set this up.

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The content of this document is proprietary to GERMAIN SOFTWARE.

Create the BigPanda Integration

Create the GermainUX HTTP Action

Payload Fields and Severity

Troubleshooting

​Overview

​Architecture

​Step 1: Create the Alerts REST API integration in BigPanda

​Step 2: Create the HTTP Action in GermainUX

​Configure the Action

​Configure the HTTP Request

​Request Body Template

​Step 3: Assign the HTTP Action to an SLA

​Step 4: Finish and Test

​Payload Fields and Severity Mapping

​Severity Mapping

​Resolving Alerts in BigPanda

​Troubleshooting

​References

​GermainUX

​BigPanda

​Get Help

Contact GermainUX Support

Can't find what you need?

Overview

Architecture

Step 1: Create the Alerts REST API integration in BigPanda

Step 2: Create the HTTP Action in GermainUX

Configure the Action

Configure the HTTP Request

Request Body Template

Step 3: Assign the HTTP Action to an SLA

Step 4: Finish and Test

Payload Fields and Severity Mapping

Severity Mapping

Resolving Alerts in BigPanda

Troubleshooting

References

GermainUX

BigPanda

Get Help