Quick start
title: "Quick start"
description: "Learn how to get started with Flashduty"
date: "2024-05-11T10:00:00+08:00"
url: "https://docs.flashcat.cloud/en/flashduty/getting-started"
Demo Video
Start for Free
- Visit Flashduty Console in your browser, enter your phone or email, read and agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Click next, and the system will send a verification code to your phone or email.
- Enter your company or organization name and the verification code from the previous step. Click next to complete registration.
- The system will guide you through profile completion and send you a test alert to experience voice, SMS, or email notifications.
:::tip
For security reasons, registration is limited to work email addresses only. This means registration will be rejected if you use email domains such as qq.com, gmail.com, 163.com, etc.
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Basic Process
Create a Channel
A channel is a container for related incidents. We typically create channels based on services that a team owns, manages, or monitors, such as Order System, Recommendation Service, MySQL Components, Client A, etc.
Go to the Channel list page, click Create Channel, enter an intuitive and concise name and description. Associate a management team with the channel to facilitate multi-person management.
:::caution
Channels are managed using data permissions rather than role-based control.
Only account owners, channel creators, and management team members have modification rights to channel configurations; others can only view. This means anyone can create a channel but can only modify channels they participate in managing.
Even if you are an account administrator, you cannot modify channel configurations that you don't manage.
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Integrate Alerts
Channels can only store incidents; we need external integrations to receive alert reports.
Enter channel details, click Integrate Data, select Add New Integration, choose the alert system your organization uses, and save.
The new integration will generate a unique push URL. Any alerts sent to this URL will directly enter the current channel. You need to complete the alert push configuration according to the documentation in the integration details.
- Want to route alerts to different channels based on conditions? Go to Integration Center-Alerts, add a shared integration, then set routing rules based on conditions. This method is particularly suitable for integrations like Zabbix, Prometheus where managing webhook pushes by strategy is inconvenient.
If this integration receives alerts, the integration card will show Latest Event Time; otherwise, it shows No Alerts Received. You can check if the monitoring system has generated new alerts and if the network is functioning properly.
:::tip
Flashduty is compatible with most commonly used monitoring systems out of the box. If you have a custom alert system, please use Custom Events or Email Integration. If you need support for other monitoring systems, feel free to contact us.
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Configure Notification Methods
How will you be notified when an incident occurs?
- Enter channel details, click escalation rule, add or modify escalation rules.
- In level 1 configuration, specify responders who will respond when an incident triggers. Specify notification methods for assigned personnel.
- Choose schedule, team, or personal as assignment targets. We recommend using schedules, where only current on-duty personnel are notified when incidents trigger.
- Direct messages are one-on-one notifications via SMS, voice, email, etc. Feishu/Lark, Dingtalk, and other IM applications also support one-on-one chat notifications.
- Group chat pushes to IM message groups and @ mentions assigned personnel.
- To ensure incidents are handled, you can add escalation levels. For example, if an incident hasn't been resolved after 30 minutes, it escalates to the Team Leader.
:::tip
How to set incident notifications according to personal preferences?
Go to Account Settings=>Notification Settings page to set how you'll be notified when assigned and during on-call shifts. Note that these settings only apply to direct assignments or when policy-based assignments specify following personal preferences.
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Formal Subscription
:::tip
Only personnel with Plan Management permissions can perform this operation.
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Newly registered organizations automatically receive a 2-week free trial. After testing, you can go to Billing Center to upgrade to Professional or Standard version.
- You can compare feature differences between versions at the bottom of the page.
- Only members who handle incidents regularly need licenses. Members who only passively receive alert notifications don't need licenses.
- If licenses are insufficient, members without licenses cannot view or handle incidents. You can purchase additional licenses through the console at any time for immediate effect.
- Each license includes a certain amount of free communication credits, shared among all members.
- The system will send daily SMS reminders to the primary account 5 days before subscription expiration. Please renew in time to avoid affecting alert reception.