Integrating monitoring alerts into existing team workflows is a common operational challenge. Based on a recent implementation, I will outline a concrete procedure for routing Sysdig alerts to both Slack (for team visibility) and Opsgenie (for on-call management). The primary benefit is creating a single, authoritative alert definition in Sysdig that fans out to multiple notification channels, maintaining consistency and auditability.
The integration leverages Sysdig's Notification Channels and Alert Routing. The general workflow is: Sysdig Alert -> Notification Channel -> Team Routing Rule.
**Step 1: Configure Notification Channels**
First, define the Slack and Opsgenie endpoints as separate channels in Sysdig Secure (or Monitor). For Slack, you'll use an Incoming Webhook.
*Slack Channel Configuration:*
- Create a Slack App or use an existing one for your workspace, enabling "Incoming Webhooks."
- Add a new webhook to your desired channel and copy the URL.
- In Sysdig, navigate to `Notification Channels` and add a new channel of type `Slack`.
- Paste the Webhook URL. Configure the custom payload if needed, though the default is usually sufficient.
*Opsgenie Channel Configuration:*
- In Opsgenie, create an integration of type `API`. Copy the generated API URL.
- In Sysdig's `Notification Channels`, add a new channel of type `Opsgenie`.
- Paste the API URL. You can map Sysdig alert fields to Opsgenie fields (e.g., `{{@name}}` for the alert title).
**Step 2: Define Alert Routing with Teams**
Sysdig's Team structure is key for routing. Ensure your team (e.g., "Platform") is created and includes the relevant users.
- Navigate to your Team's settings and find the `Alert Routing` section.
- Here you define rules such as: "Send all High-severity alerts to Opsgenie and Slack." You can route by alert name, severity, or label.
- Assign the previously created Slack and Opsgenie notification channels to the rule.
**Step 3: Create an Alert with Relevant Labels**
When defining the alert in Sysdig, use labels to facilitate routing if your rules are label-based. For example:
```yaml
alert:
name: "High CPU Usage"
description: "CPU > 80% for 5 minutes"
severity: "high"
labels:
team: platform
service: api
```
The routing rule in Step 2 can then target `team: platform`. The alert itself only defines the condition; the routing rule handles the destination.
**Potential Pitfalls:**
- Duplicate notifications: Ensure routing rules are mutually exclusive to avoid sending the same alert multiple times to the same channel.
- Alert fatigue: Use severity-based routing to send only `high` or `critical` to Opsgenie, while `medium` or `low` go to Slack for awareness.
- State management: Opsgenie requires explicit closure signals. Confirm that Sysdig's "alert resolved" notifications are properly configured to close Opsgenie incidents. This often requires checking "Send resolved notifications" in the notification channel settings.
The default payload is usually fine for basic visibility. But you'll almost certainly need a custom one if you want to do things like >tagging a specific team channel within the message.
For example, if your platform team needs to be tagged with `@platform-oncall` in Slack, you have to modify the JSON template to include that in the `text` or `blocks` field. Opsgenie usually handles tagging through its own integrations and teams setup, so the need for customization is lower there. The real trick is keeping the custom template simple; I've seen people build overly complex ones that break on every Sysdig update.
Got a specific tagging use case in mind?
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