Embracing ChatOps exAspArk Evgeny Li

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• Dedicated servers • Cloud servers • Cloud storage • Free global private network in Amsterdam, Dallas, Luxembourg, Moscow, Singapore, Washington, Hong Kong Servers.com

Products we use

Why not to use Slack, GitHub, NewRelic, etc.? We avoid using SAAS

We take security seriously!

So what is ChatOps? https://github.com/exAspArk/awesome-chatops Managing technical and business operations through a chat

Who uses ChatOps

Why use ChatOps • Automate manual tasks • Increase speed of actions • Increase visibility and transparency • Collaborate, share knowledge and learn • Use the same instrument – just your chat • Automate logging of conversations and commands • Use from mobiles

How to start https://github.com/exAspArk/awesome-chatops • Choose a framework to build a bot. The most popular ones are: • Hubot (CoffeeScript) • Lita (Ruby) • Errbot (Python) • Find adapters for your messenger. E.g. Slack, HipChat • Install useful Hubot scripts, Lita plugins, Errbot plugins • Write custom message handlers

How we use ChatOps Self-hosted HipChat + Lita bot

Lita bot sample # Gemfile source 'http://rubygems.org' gem "lita" gem "lita-hipchat" # lita_config.rb require 'lita-hipchat' require 'handlers/exchange' Lita.register_handler(Handlers::Exchange) Lita.configure do |c| c.robot.name = 'bot' if ENV['CONSOLE'] c.robot.adapter = :shell else c.robot.adapter = :hipchat c.adapters.hipchat.jid = ENV['HIPCHAT_JID'] ... end end # handlers/exchange.rb module Handlers class Exchange < Lita::Handler route /exchange\s+(\w+)\s+to\s+(\w+)/i, :perform, command: true, help: { "exchange USD to EUR" => "Shows exchange rates" } def perform(response) from = response.matches[0][0] to = response.matches[0][1] rate = fetch_rate(from: from, to: to) response.reply("#{from} to #{to}: #{rate}") end end end

Lita bot sample $ CONSOLE=true bundle exec lita start bot > bot help help - Lists help information for terms and command the robot will respond to. help COMMAND - Lists help information for terms or commands that begin with COMMAND. info - Replies with the current version of Lita. users find SEARCH_TERM - Find a Lita user by ID, name, or mention name. exchange USD to EUR - Shows exchange rates bot > bot exchange USD to EUR USD to EUR: 0.94144

Example: gitflow hotfix start

Example: gitflow release start

Example: branch changelog

Example: deploying to staging with lock

Example: deploying to staging with lock

Example: list stagings

Example: rerunning build on CI

Example: finding a scapegoat for troubleshooting :)

Example: error handling

Example: deploying any app / service to production

Major concerns There are some issues you have to pay attention to before starting to use ChatOps!

Security • We use self-hosted messenger • Bot is not reachable from the Internet • Added authorization checks for commands

Old habits die hard • Some people don’t know how to use bots • Create useful “help” commands with descriptions • Invite and show them how to use it by example • Some people don’t trust robots and prefer to do everything manually • Let them learn from their mistakes. Bots are more reliable in performing repetitive tasks • Colleagues will like transparency of using bots

Avoid information overload • Split channels in your messenger. For example: staging deploys, production deploys, working with repositories, builds, troubleshooting, monitoring, etc. • Mute or leave some unimportant channels. Fight your fear of missing out

Prepare to write a lot of code • Start small, iterate quickly, think big • Make it easy to run your bot. E.g. “make run” • Allow everyone to contribute, do code reviews • Write documentation, style guides, tests, useful utils • Prepare infrastructure: access, database, deployment, logs, monitoring, error handling, CI / CD, etc.

Always have a plan B • Be ready when your messenger / bot is unavailable • Describe how to perform the most important actions manually

Thank you! Protect the children because they – and robots – are the future Adam Carolla