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User's guide to Argus

What is Argus?

Argus is an alert aggregator designed for storing and managing alerts from different monitoring systems at one place. Argus is created for ease of alarm management and customizable alarm notifications.

Log into Argus

Argus supports several login mechanisms:

  • username-password login
  • federated login with OAuth 2.0

Log in and start using Argus at /login.

Login using username and password

  1. Fill out username and password.

  2. Press LOGIN.

Login using OAuth 2.0 (Feide in the example below)

  1. Press LOGIN WITH OAUTH2.

  2. Select account you want to log in with.

  3. Fill out username and password and press Log in.

  4. Continue with the preferred method for two-factor authentication.

Debugging Network errors on Login

If you get a following error message at the top of the Login page:

  1. Open developer console in your browser.
  2. Check the error message in the console.
    • Connection refused error message indicates that the Argus API server is unavailable.
    • CORS error message indicates misconfiguration of the Argus settings.

Please visit Argus documentation if you need help with the configuration.

Note that we intend to direct you to the browser's developer console for a specific error message in the case of network errors. This is due to the fact that some network requests are meant to be delegated to browsers, not the web applications (f.e. preflight requests).

Work with alarms in Argus

View, filter and update alarms that come to Argus from different sources (monitoring systems).

You can see all of your monitoring systems that are connected to Argus in the Sources selector. Click on the Sources selector and all available monitoring systems will appear in the drop-down menu.

What is an incident in Argus

An incident is an alarm that was sent to Argus from a monitoring system of your choice.

Each incident has a description (created by the monitoring system), start time, duration, source (which monitoring system it came from), tags and severity level. An incident may have end time, ticket url (associated ticket in an external ticket system). Incidents may have different status. For example, an incident may be open, or closed (resolved). An incident may also be acknowledged (noticed or commented in any way), or not. In the detailed incident view below you can get familiar with the above-mentioned attributes of an incident. Note that an incident's event feed is also available in the detailed view. The event feed shows events like closing (resolving), and acknowledgment of an incident.

Each row in the Incidents table is one alarm. In the table you can see an incident's start time, closed/open status, whether an incident has at least one acknowledgement, severity level, source (which monitoring system the incident came from), description (created by the monitoring system) and whether the incident has an associated ticket url (label icon at the very end of the row).

Access detailed incident view

  • Alternative 1:

    1. Click on an incident row in the Incidents table.

    2. Detailed incident will appear in a pop-up window.

  • Alternative 2:

    1. Click on one of the icons under Actions column in the Incidents table.

    2. App will redirect you to the incident's page.

Work with incidents table

Change how many rows are shown per incidents table page

  1. Scroll down to the bottom of the Incidents table.

  2. Click on the Rows per page drop-down.

  3. Select whether you want 10/25/50/100 incidents per page displayed.

Navigate incidents table

  1. Scroll down to the bottom of the Incidents table.

  2. Click on the right arrow icon if you want to go to the next table page.

  3. Click on the left arrow icon if you want to go to the previous table page.

Change how often incidents table gets refreshed

  1. Click on the gears icon to the right below the header.

  2. Select refresh method in the Auto Update selector:

    • If you want no automatic table updates, press NEVER in the Auto Update selector. Note that you will have to refresh the page yourself if you want the table to get updated.

    • If you want the table to update in realtime, press REALTIME in the Auto Update selector.

    • If you want the table to get updated every couple of seconds, press INTERVAL in the Auto Update selector.

      • You can see the value of the current refresh interval below the Incidents table. The refresh interval is displayed in whole seconds.

      • You can change the refresh interval value in /src/config.tsx. The refresh interval is stored in whole seconds.

Decide which incidents are shown in the table

For ease of alarm management you can filter incidents so that only incidents that match all preferred parameters are shown in the Incidents table.

Apply the preferred filter by using the Filter toolbar. Argus will remember your filter settings from the last login session, and will use those until you change them.

Filter toolbar is available:

  • Below the header in full-screen view.

  • In the Filter Options dropdown in mobile view.

Filter by open/close status

  • If you only want open incidents to be displayed in the table, press OPEN in the Open State selector.

  • If you only want closed (resolved) incidents to be displayed in the table, press CLOSED in the Open State selector.

  • If you want both open and closed (resolved) incidents to be displayed in the table, press BOTH in the Open State selector.

Filter by acknowledgement status

  • If you only want acknowledged incidents to be displayed in the table, press ACKED in the Acked selector.

  • If you only want unacknowledged incidents to be displayed in the table, press UNACKED in the Acked selector.

  • If you want both acknowledged and unacknowledged incidents to be displayed in the table, press BOTH in the Acked selector.

Filter by source monitoring system

  • If you want the table to display only incidents that came from a specific monitoring system(s):

    1. Click on the Sources input field.
    1. In the drop-down that appears, you can see all available source systems. Click on the preferred one.
    1. Press Enter. The newly selected source system will appear in the input field.
    1. Repeat the process if you want to filter by several monitoring systems.

  • If you want the table to display incidents from any monitoring system, leave the Sources field empty.

Filter by tags

  • If you want the table to display only incidents that have a specific tag(s):

    1. Type in a tag into the Tags input field in the format tag_name=tag_value.
    1. Press Enter. The newly added tag will appear in the input field.
    1. Repeat the process if you want to filter by several tags.

  • If you want the table to display incidents with any tags, leave the Tags field empty.

Filter by severity level

The severity level ranges from 1 - Critical to 5 - Information. If you select max severity level to be 5, all incidents will be displayed in the table. If you select max severity level to be 2, only incidents with severity 1 and 2 will be displayed in the table.

To change max severity level:

  1. Open the Max severity level drop-down.

  2. Select the preferred max severity option.

Filter out older incidents

Note that you can not save this parameter in stored filters.

  1. Click on the gears icon to the right below the header.

  2. Open the Timeframe drop-down menu.

  3. Select the preferred option of report-time-not-later-than for the incidents in the table.

Work with stored filters

After you have set the preferred filter parameters for incidents, you can save your preferences as a filter. Stored filters can be used when customizing alarm notifications.

Save current filter

  1. Set the preferred filter parameters.

  2. Click on the plus icon within the Filter input field.

  3. Give a (meaningful) name to your filter. Press CREATE. Note that you can not edit a filter's name after it is created.

Modify existing filter

  1. Make desired changes to filter parameters.

  2. Click on the save icon within the Filter input field.

  3. Click on the filter that you want to update, and press SAVE TO.

Apply existing filter

  1. Click on the Filter input field.

  2. Click on the preferred filter in the drop-down menu.

Unselect applied filter

  1. Click on the cross icon inside the Filter input field.

Delete existing filter

  1. Click on the gears icon inside the Filter input field.

  2. Select which filter you want to delete by clicking on the bin icon.

  3. Confirm deletion.

Update one incident

Re-open a closed (resolved) incident

  1. Open incident in detailed view.

  2. Press OPEN INCIDENT.

  3. Confirm re-opening.

Close (resolve) an incident

  1. Open incident in detailed view.

  2. Press CLOSE INCIDENT.

  3. Press CLOSE NOW. Note that you can provide a closing comment if needed.

Add acknowledgement to an incident

  1. Open incident in detailed view.

  2. Press CREATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

  3. Press SUBMIT. Note that you can optionally provide an acknowledgement comment and/or a date when this acknowledgement is no longer relevant.

Update incident ticket

Manually add ticket URL to an incident

  1. Open incident in detailed view.

  2. Type/paste in ticket URL into the Ticket input field. Note that the URL has to be absolute (full website address).

  3. Press SAVE TICKET URL.

Edit ticket URL
  1. Open incident in detailed view.
  2. Press EDIT TICKET URL.

  1. Type/paste in ticket URL into the Ticket input field and press SAVE TICKET URL. Note that the URL has to be absolute (full website address).

Remove ticket URL from an incident
  1. Open incident in detailed view.
  2. Press EDIT TICKET URL.

  1. Remove URL from the Ticket input field and press SAVE TICKET URL.

Automatically generate ticket

Argus supports automatic ticket generation from the incident. This feature needs additional configuration. Read more in the Argus documentation for ticket systems.

  1. Open incident in detailed view.

  2. Press CREATE TICKET.

  3. Confirm automatic ticket generation.

  4. When ticket is successfully generated, the Ticket input field is updated with a new ticket URL, and the ticket itself is opened in a new browser tab.

Please, check that your ticket system configuration in Argus is complete if you get a following error message:

You can read more about ticket system settings here.

Update several incidents at a time

Re-open closed (resolved) incidents

  1. Select several incidents in the Incidents table and press RE-OPEN SELECTED in the table toolbar.

  2. Confirm re-opening.

Close (resolve) incidents

  1. Select several incidents in the Incidents table and press CLOSE SELECTED in the table toolbar.

  2. Press CLOSE NOW. Note that you can provide a closing comment if needed.

Add acknowledgement to incidents

  1. Select several incidents in the Incidents table and press ACK in the table toolbar.

  2. Press SUBMIT. Note that you can optionally provide an acknowledgement comment and/or a date when these acknowledgements are no longer relevant.

Add ticket URL to incidents

  1. Select several incidents in the Incidents table and press ADD TICKET in the table toolbar.

  2. Type/paste in ticket URL into the Valid ticket URL field and press SUBMIT. Note that the URL has to be absolute (full website address).

Edit ticket URL for several incidents

Same process as adding ticket URL to incidents.

Remove ticket URL from incidents

  1. Select several incidents in the Incidents table and press ADD TICKET in the table toolbar.

  2. Leave the Valid ticket URL field empty and press SUBMIT.

Customize alarm notifications in Argus

Choose when, where and what alarm notifications you want to receive by creating, editing and deleting notification profiles.

About components of notification profiles

  1. Timeslot allows you to customize when you want to receive the alarm notifications. You can choose one timeslot per notification profile. Timeslots are reusable across multiple notification profiles.
  2. Filter allows you to customize what alarms (incidents) you want to receive the notifications about. You can choose multiple filters per notification profile. Filters are reusable across multiple notification profiles.
  3. Destination allows you to customize where you want to receive the alarm notifications. You can choose multiple destinations per notification profile. Destinations are reusable across multiple notification profiles. Destinations may be of different media types.

About the available notification media

The notification media that are available in Argus by default are:

  • SMS
  • Email

If you wish to receive notifications to other media, read about configurable media types in the Argus documentation for notification plugins.

Access your notification profiles

  1. Press PROFILES in the header.

Add new notification profile

  1. Go to your notification profiles.
  2. Click on the CREATE NEW PROFILE button.

  1. Select a timeslot for when to receive notifications in the Timeslot drop-down. If the drop-down menu is empty, create a timeslot first.

  1. Select what alarms you want to receive notifications about in the Filters drop-down. If the drop-down menu is empty, create a filter first. Note that if no filter is selected no notification will be sent. You can select multiple filters per notification profile.

  1. Select what destination(s) you want to receive notifications to in the Destinations drop-down. If the drop-down menu is empty, create a new destination by clicking on the Plus button first.

  1. Press CREATE.

Edit existing notification profile

  1. Go to your notification profiles.
  2. Change a timeslot for when to receive notifications in the Timeslot drop-down (if needed).

  1. Change what alarms you want to receive notifications about in the Filters drop-down (if needed).

  1. Change what destinations(s) you want to receive notifications to in the Destinations drop-down (if needed).

  1. Press SAVE.

Disable notification profile

  1. Go to your notification profiles.
  2. Uncheck the Active checkbox inside one of your existing notification profiles.

  1. Press SAVE.

Delete notification profile

  1. Go to your notification profiles.
  2. Press DELETE inside one of your existing notification profiles.

Manage when to receive notifications in Argus

Add, edit or delete timeslots in Timeslots.

What is a timeslot in Argus

A timeslot is a collection of one or more recurrences with a meaningful name. Saved timeslots can be used when customizing alarm notifications. Each timeslot represents a window (or several windows) of time for when it is OK to receive alarm notifications.

Note that every user has the default timeslot All the time:

What is a recurrence in Argus

Recurrences are building blocks for timeslots. Each recurrence represents a time range on selected weekdays for when it is OK to receive alarm notifications. A time range can either be:

  • a whole day,
  • or a window of time

Each recurrence has only one time range, and it applies to all days that are selected in a given recurrence.

For example, in this timeslot with 3 recurrences, alarm notifications are allowed from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. on business days (note that it is not possible to have a recurrence that goes from one day to the next), and all hours on weekends:

Access your timeslots

  1. Press TIMESLOTS in the header.

Add new recurrence

Each timeslot has at least one recurrence by default. In the Create New Timeslot box the default recurrence is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on business days. Add more recurrences if your timeslot needs more than one.

  1. Go to your timeslots.

  2. Press ADD RECURRENCE either in the Create New Timeslot box, or in one of your existing timeslots.

Edit recurrence

  1. Go to your timeslots.
  2. Modify one of the existing recurrences either in the Create New Timeslot box, or in one of your existing timeslots:

    • If needed, change start time either by typing a new value or by using the calendar icon.

    • If needed, change end time either by typing a new value or by using the calendar icon.

    • Check All day if you want the recurrence to be from 00:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Note that if All day is checked, you do not need to provide start- and end time.

    • If needed, change day(s):

      1. Open drop-down menu.

      2. Select/de-select days for this recurrence by clicking on them once. Selected days are highlighted in light-yellow.

      3. Click away anywhere outside the drop-down menu.

Delete recurrence

  1. Go to your timeslots.

  2. Press REMOVE inside one of the existing recurrences either in the Create New Timeslot box, or inside one of your existing timeslots.

Add new timeslot

  1. Go to your timeslots.

  2. Go to the Create New Timeslot box.

    • In full-screen view it is visible by default at the top:

    • In mobile-view press the button with the pencil-icon at the top to unfold the Create New Timeslot box:

  3. Type in a (meaningful) timeslot name.

  4. Add another recurrence(s) if needed.

  5. Edit recurrence(s) if needed.

  6. Remove recurrence(s) if needed.

  7. Press CREATE.

  8. The Create New Timeslot box will refresh to default and your newly created timeslot will appear at the bottom of the timeslot list. Note that existing timeslots have a dark border at the top.

Edit existing timeslot

  1. Go to your timeslots.

  2. Modify one of your existing timeslots:

  3. Press SAVE. Note that the SAVE-button is inactive if no changes were made. The SAVE-button is also inactive if some changes are invalid. In this case error messages inside the timeslot box will help you.

Delete timeslot

  1. Go to your timeslots.

  2. Press DELETE inside one of the existing timeslots. Note that the DELETE-button is disabled in the Create New Timeslot box.

Manage your contact details (destinations) in Argus

Add, edit or delete contact details, aka destinations, in your settings. Destinations that are present in your settings can be used when customizing alarm notifications.

In Argus, emails and phone numbers are the destinations that are configured by default. If you wish to receive notifications to other media, read about configurable media types in the Argus documentation for notification plugins.

Access your destinations in settings

  1. Click on the user icon in the header.

  2. Click on Destinations in the drop-down menu.

Add new destination in settings

  1. Go to your contact details.

  2. Click on the Plus button in the Destinations header to open the Create new destination menu.

  3. Select destination's media type.

  4. Type in a title (optional), and a destination value (required). Press CREATE.

Edit existing destination in settings

  1. Go to your contact details.

  2. Modify one of the existing destinations.

  3. Press SAVE.

Delete destination in settings

  1. Go to your contact details.

  2. Press DELETE inside one of your saved destinations.

Note that some destinations are connected to your Argus user profile, and can not be deleted. The DELETE button is disabled for such destinations:

Log out from Argus

  1. Click on the user icon in the header.

  2. Click on Logout in the drop-down menu.