Pipe your script to slack
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Presented at SF SlackDevs Meetup on April 11, 2016 [Record of presentation] http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/85566064 (0:26:00~) [GitHub page of slacktee] https://github.com/course-hero/slacktee
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Pipe your script to slack
- 1. Pipe your script to Slack Chuck Kato - Course Hero
- 2. Quick Introduction Chuck Kato Engineering Manager at Course Hero Mid-size EdTech startup (100+ employees) Using Slack from Aug. 2014
- 3. Custom Slack Integration ‘slacktee’ Bash script which works like the 'tee' command. You can integrate any scripts/commands with Slack without any development. ‘tee’ command ‘slacktee’ command
- 4. Why we created ‘slacktee’ Two reasons: 1. Wanted to see the result of backend tasks on Slack, because we love Slack 2. Most of the tasks are small or one-time, so we didn’t want to spend time to implement a Slack integration for each task
- 5. Real life use cases
- 6. Use Case 1 : Notify errors Sometimes our database replication is backed up due to long-running queries from our analytics team. To detect it, we wrote a tiny script to monitor the replication status. > php replication_checker.php prod_dbbi prod_dbbi is 4999 seconds behind Master >
- 7. Use Case 1 : Notify errors (Continue) Before ‘slacktee’, we sent a notification through email Problem: Difficult to notice php replication_checker.php prod_dbbi | mail -s ‘dbbi replication’ ckato@coursehero.com
- 8. Use Case 1 : Notify errors (Continue) With ‘slacktee’, we can send a notification on Slack php replication_checker.php prod_dbbi | slacktee.sh -a "danger" -c "devops" -u "dbbi replication" -i "siren" Problem solved! - Easy to notice - Custom notification setting allows us to send the notification to mobile Attachment with ‘danger’ color Send to #devops channel Use this username for posting Use :siren: emoji for icon
- 9. Use Case 2 : Check the progress of a long running script One day, we executed a script which fixed missing data in the database. Since the script processed a lot of documents, it took almost a day to finish. We executed the script in the background using the 'screen' command, but we needed to check its progress periodically and monitor for errors. > php 2016_02_10_update_cfw_doc_pages.php Script starts at 2016-03-02 12:50:44 There are 53014 missing records that need to be updated 0 records updated 1000 records updated 2000 records updated 3000 records updated 4000 records updated 5000 records updated Takes 20 - 30 mins
- 10. Use Case 2 : Check the progress of a long running script (Continue) Before ‘slacktee’, we had to login to the server and attach the screen each time Problem : - VPN into the server and attaching the screen for checking are tedious - Impossible to notice errors immediately
- 11. Use Case 2 : Check the progress of a long running script (Continue) With ‘slacktee’, we can see the progress on Slack Problem solved! - No server login required - Real time monitoring php 2016_02_10_update_cfw_doc_pages.php 2>&1 | slacktee.sh -u "2016_02_10_update_cfw_doc_pages.php" -n Use this username for posting No buffering mode
- 12. Use Case 3 : Download the result from the server To investigate permission issues, we executed a 'find' command on our NFS server and listed the files which have the wrong owner. Since many millions of files are stored in our NFS, the output of the command was huge, and we needed to download it to our local PC to check it. > find . -type f ! -user apache | tee ~/result.txt ./00005063699b18d149beced28b35a7ad70bde9a9.txt ./00003e3f0345bd63cbcdb502b08cb77722112dbd.txt ./0000a7d5cb15b4188232633e798f638df2c33e07-1.txt ./000088e3ca537bef76df9c8d3aea9cb045e65f46.txt ./0000cc6fd2248580cde4a3f4e1ed306812e17b4c-2.txt ./000016f7c58a8802cbbb07a9033b0da41660d4b4.txt ./000088e3ca537bef76df9c8d3aea9cb045e65f46-0.txt ./00006329498e0bb6b4d49019b84d6fd3cf5d9cdb-0.txt ./0000e1cbc26144fcf8d44ba6eb4881affd447a2f-2.txt About 100 MB
- 13. Use Case 3 : Download the result from the server (Continue) Before ‘slacktee’, we had to use ‘scp’ to download the file from the server Problem : - Using ‘scp’ is not a pleasant experience (maybe only for me) - Sharing results with colleagues is not easy
- 14. Use Case 3 : Download the result from the server (Continue) With ‘slacktee’, we can download it from Slack find . -type f ! -user apache | slacktee.sh -u 'Wrong owner check' -f Use this username for posting File upload mode Problem solved! - No ‘scp’ required - Easy to share * Since Incoming Webhook doesn’t support file upload, ‘slacktee’ uses the user’s token for uploading.
- 15. Conclusion Slack integration and ‘slacktee’ have really helped us. 1. More information is available on Slack 2. Non-technical people can get insight from the results too If you have a script, pipe it to Slack now! 1. Google ‘slacktee’ Easiest way to find ‘slacktee’ 2. Click 1st link in the result
- 16. Thank you! Slacktee https://github.com/course-hero/slacktee * Star it, if you like it ;) Chuck Kato Slack : @ckato on dev4slack.slack.com Email : ckato@coursehero.com
Editor's Notes
- Today’s my talk is ‘Pipe your script to Slack’.
- (15 - 30 sec) Before talking about what it means, let me introduce myself and my company ‘Course Hero’ briefly. I’m Chuck Kato. Engineering Manager at Course Hero. Course Hero is a mid size EdTech start-up company. We are providing cloud sources materials and online tutoring platform. We started using Slack from Aug. 2014 in the engineering team and then it became our core communication tool quickly.
- (30 sec - 1 min) Today, I’m introducing our open source custom slack integration ‘slacktee’. ‘slacktee’ is a bash script which works like the 'tee' command. As you may know, the 'tee' command reads standard input and writes it to standard output and one or more files. Instead of writing to files, 'slacktee' posts the input to a Slack channel. So, basically, you can pipe any scripts/commands to Slack without any additional development! [Show very quick demo] > echo “Hello everyone!” | slacktee.sh > ls -l | slacktee.sh Easy, isn’t it?
- (30 sec) At Course Hero, we execute a bunch of scripts and commands every day to accomplish backend tasks. Since Slack is our core communication tool, we wanted to see the result of tasks on Slack. However, even though implementing a custom Slack integration is easy, most of the backend tasks were small or one time, so we couldn't justify the development cost. For these two reasons, we created 'slacktee'. If you have the same dilemma, ‘slacktee’ should work for you too.
- (5 - 10 sec) Actually, 'slacktee' changed the way we monitor backend tasks. I'd like to show you 3 real life use cases today.
- (30 sec) First use case is an error notification. We are maintaining multiple replication slave databases, but sometimes they are backed up due to long-running queries from our analytics team. To detect the backup, we wrote a tiny script to monitor the replication status. Here is the example of the output.
- (30 sec) To send a backup notification to engineering team, we used to use an email. However, as you can see, it’s difficult to notice and often we overlooked it. Also, personally, I don’t check inbox frequently, so I cannot notice it in a timely manner. But, ‘slacktee’ solved this problem.
- (30 sec) With ‘slacktee’, we can send the notification on Slack. Here is the command and example of the notification. To make the notification prominent, we added a few options, but, basically, we just piped ‘slacktee’ instead of ‘mail’ command. As you can see, it stands out and it’s difficult to overlook. Also, the notification is sent to mobile too, if we set up custom notification.
- (30 sec) Let’s move to 2nd use case. One day, we executed a script which fixed missing data in the database. But, the script was slow and took almost a day to finish. So, we executed the script in the background using the ‘screen’ command, but we needed to check its progress periodically and monitor for errors.
- (30 sec) Before ‘slacktee’, we had to login to the server and attached the screen each time when we checked the progress. To access server, we had to establish VPN session with 2-way authentication. This monitoring process was really tedious and not mobile friendly. Also, it was impossible to notice errors immediately, because there was no way to see the errors until we access to the server. Actually, ‘slacktee’ solved these problems.
- (30 sec) With ‘no buffering’ option, we can send the input to Slack line by line. So, we can see the progress on Slack in real time without logging into the server. Since we are redirecting the standard error to the standard input here, we can also notice errors immediately. This was amazing improvement for us.
- (30 sec) This is the last use case I’m explaining today. To fix permission issues, we recently executed a ‘find’ command on our NFS server and listed the files which have the wrong owner. Since many mllions of files are stored in our NFS, the output of the command was huge, and we needed to download it to our local PC to check it.
- (30 sec) Before ‘slacktee’, we needed to ‘scp’ the file from the server. But, frankly speaking, using ‘scp’ is not a pleasant experience. We cannot use path auto completion, so we have to remember the file path of the target file correctly. Also, if the file has been created by different user, we have to change the permission on the server side first. ‘scp’ is a necessary tool, but I’m not a big fan of it. And, after we downloaded it, we needed to share it with other members. So we had to email or uploaded it to other place such as Slack. Yeah, Slack.
- (30 sec) Actually, these problems could be solved with ‘slacktee’. By using slacktee’s file upload mode, we can upload the result to Slack directly. Now, we don’t have to use ‘scp’ to download the result file from the server. Just click the download link on Slack. Also, if you’d like to share it with your colleagues, simply share the link or post itself with them! BTW, slacktee is using Incoming Webhook to post the message to Slack, but it doesn’t support file upload. So, in the file upload mode’, slacktee uses the user’s token for uploading.
- (30 sec) Slack integration and ‘slacktee’ have really helped us. After creating ‘slacktee’, more information is available on Slack and it makes our daily job much easier. Also, non-technical people can get insight from the results. Sometimes, they point out issues, sometimes, they get an inspiration about new ideas from the information. This was a positive surprise for engineers. I believe these things will happen in your team too. So, if you have a script, pipe it to Slack now.
- (5 sec) Thank you. Any questions?