Runbook Nodes

Runbook nodes are the individual logical components, or automated actions, that make up runbooks. Runbook nodes are assembled in sequence to define an automated investigation and generate output to inform your investigation of an incident in response to a trigger. Each runbook node has a set of properties that control its behavior in a runbook, and these properties can be configured separately for each instance of the node that is used.

Runbook nodes are accessed in a palette in the Runbook Editor, where they are organized into categories. The palette lists the runbook node categories in approximate order of how they should be assembled in sequence (first a trigger, then a data query, then a logic operation, then an impact or a visualization), but this is broadly advisory, and a complex runbook may have nodes from different categories arranged in myriad ways.

 

Runbook Node Compatibility Matrix

There are 5 types of runbooks that are displayed as columns in the compatibility matrix, plus an additional column to differentiate the case of an External runbook that is created in Aternity.

  • Incident — These are runbooks that execute automatically whenever a new incident is created.

  • Lifecycle — These are runbooks that execute automatically whenever a triggering lifecycle event occurs on an incident.

  • External — These are runbooks that are triggered in response to a configured API call.

    • Aternity ISD — These runbooks are External runbooks but the editor shows a truncated set of nodes.

  • On-Demand — These are runbooks that are triggered as required (either on-demand, or as scheduled).

  • Subflow — These are runbook “macros:” Chunks of reusable automations that perform frequently-used functions (e.g., open a ticket in an external system), and can also be used to implement integrations with third party systems.

The following table shows which nodes are compatible with which types of runbook.

Node Category Incident Lifecycle External Aternity ISD On-Demand Subflow
Interface Triggering Entity ✓          
Device[s] Triggering Entity ✓          
Application[s]/Location[s] Triggering Entity ✓          
Webhook Triggering Entity     ✓ ✓    
Input Triggering Entity         ✓  
Applications Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Devices (Traffic) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device Status Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (CPU Utilization) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (Memory Utilization) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (Disk Utilization) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (Availability) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Devices (Performance) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (Up Time) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Device (Configuration Changes) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Hosts Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Client Hosts Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Server Hosts Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Client-Server Pairs Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Locations Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Client Locations Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Server Locations Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Network Interfaces Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Interface Status Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Network Interfaces (Error Metrics) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Interfaces (Performance) Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Protocols Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
DSCPs Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Client-Server Location Pairs Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Client-Server Pairs and Protoport Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
User Device Data Queries ✓   ✓   ✓ ✓
Aggregator Functions ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Transform Functions ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Decision Branch Logic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Set Incident Priority Impacts ✓          
Tag As Affected Applications Impacts ✓          
Tag As Affected Locations Impacts ✓          
Tag As Affected Users Impacts ✓          
Add Insight Impacts     ✓ ✓ ✓  
HTTP Request Integrations ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Table Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Pie Chart Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Bar Chart Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Timeseries Chart Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Bubble Chart Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Correlation Chart Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Cards Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Gauges Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Connection Graph Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Text Visualizations ✓   ✓ ✓ ✓  
Set Primitive Variable Variables ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Set Structured Variable Variables ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Comment Miscellaneous ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Note Miscellaneous   ✓        
Subflow Subflows ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓  
Runbook Completed Triggers   ✓        
Status Changed Triggers   ✓        
Note Added Triggers   ✓        
Note Updated Triggers   ✓        
Indicators Updated Triggers   ✓        
Ongoing State Changed Triggers   ✓        
Subflow Input Subflow Input           ✓
Subflow Output Subflow Output           ✓
AI Artification Intelligence     ✓ ✓ ✓