Workflows & Guides

Documentation explains what features do. Workflows show how to accomplish real-world tasks using those features together. Follow these step-by-step guides to quickly complete common monitoring scenarios.

Quick Start

Never used Xitoring before? Start with Monitor Your First Server for complete onboarding.

Getting Started Workflows

Monitor Your First Server

Complete end-to-end workflow from account creation to receiving your first alert.

You'll accomplish:

Install Xitogent on a server
See metrics appear in dashboard
Review integration recommendations and enable needed integrations
Create first trigger with Auto-Trigger recommendations
Configure notification role
Test alerting system

Time: 20-30 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: Access to a Linux or Windows server

Monitor an API Endpoint

Set up external monitoring for a website or API using uptime checks.

You'll accomplish:

Create HTTP uptime check
Configure expected response (status code, content)
Select multi-node monitoring (global availability)
Set up triggers for downtime and performance
Configure SSL certificate monitoring
Receive test alert

Time: 10-15 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner
Requirements: URL of service to monitor

Set Up a Complete Alerting Strategy

Configure notification routing for different teams and severities.

You'll accomplish:

Create notification roles (on-call, dev team, management)
Configure notification channels (email, Slack, SMS, webhooks)
Set up escalation rules (alert X, then Y if not resolved)
Configure quiet hours and notification schedules
Test notification delivery
Handle incident acknowledgement workflow

Time: 25-35 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Requirements: Team structure/on-call schedule defined

Migration Workflows

Migrate from Another Monitoring Service

Systematic migration approach preserving monitoring coverage during transition.

You'll accomplish:

Audit current monitoring setup (what's being monitored)
Plan Xitoring equivalent configuration
Set up Xitoring in parallel (don't remove old monitoring yet)
Validate Xitoring alerting matches old system
Gradual cutover strategy
Post-migration cleanup

Time: 2-4 hours (varies by complexity)
Difficulty: Advanced
Requirements: Access to current monitoring system, list of monitored resources

Specific migration guides:

Advanced Workflows

Monitor Production Deployment

Ensure deployment doesn't break monitoring or introduce unmonitored services.

Workflow:

Before deployment:
- Document current monitored services/endpoints
- Create Maintenance Schedule for deployment window
During deployment:
- Alerts automatically silenced during maintenance window
- Monitor deployment progress separately
After deployment:
- Trigger manual Auto-Discovery scan
- Verify all services detected
- Enable new integration if new services added
- Remove maintenance schedule
- Confirm alerting resumed

Time: 15 minutes (plus deployment time)
Difficulty: Intermediate

Create Custom Dashboard for Stakeholders

Build executive/customer-facing status view without exposing all technical metrics.

Workflow:

Identify audience:
- Executive: High-level uptime, incident count, SLA compliance
- Customer: Service status, response times (no internal infrastructure)
- Engineering: All metrics, integration details, resource utilization
Create Custom Dashboard:
- Add relevant widgets (uptime percentage, response time graph, incident list)
- Filter metrics (show only customer-facing services)
- Customize time ranges (last 7 days, last 30 days)
Configure sharing:
- Public URL (for customers/stakeholders without Xitoring accounts)
- Read-only access (for team members who shouldn't change config)
Embed in tools:
- Link in Slack channel ("View Live Status Dashboard")
- Embed in internal wiki/documentation
- Display on office TV/NOC screens

Time: 30-45 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate

Set Up Public Status Page

Provide customer-facing service status transparency.

Workflow:

Decide what to expose:
- Customer-facing services only (API, website, payment processing)
- Don't expose internal infrastructure (database, cache, background workers)
Create Status Page:
- Add monitored services customers care about
- Configure status labels ("Operational", "Degraded", "Outage")
- Customize branding (logo, colors, domain)
Configure incident posting:
- Automatic incident posting (when trigger fires, post to status page)
- Manual override (post updates, mark resolved)
- Incident templates for common scenarios
Publish:
- Custom domain (status.yourcompany.com)
- Link in product footer/header
- Subscribe functionality (customers get email when incidents posted)

Time: 45-60 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate

Monitor Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Integrate Xitoring into Terraform/Ansible deployments for automatic monitoring setup.

Workflow:

Infrastructure deployment creates resources:
- Terraform provisions new EC2 instance
- Ansible installs application stack (Nginx, PostgreSQL, Redis)
Automation adds monitoring:
- Use Xitoring CLI or API to add server
- Install Xitogent via Ansible playbook
- Auto-Discovery detects Nginx, PostgreSQL, Redis
- Automation enables discovered integrations via API
- Creates uptime check for application URL
- Creates triggers using Auto-Trigger recommendations
- Assigns notification role
Result:
- Monitoring configured automatically during deployment
- No manual dashboard clicks needed
- Consistent monitoring across all deployments

Time: 2-3 hours initial setup, then automatic
Difficulty: Advanced
Requirements: Terraform/Ansible experience, API familiarity

Troubleshooting Workflows

Debug Why No Data Appearing

Systematic troubleshooting when server shows "Waiting for data" after agent install.

Workflow:

Verify agent installed:

# Linux
systemctl status xitogent

# Windows
Get-Service -Name Xitogent

Check agent logs:
```
tail -50 /var/log/xitogent.log
```
Look for: connection errors, authentication failures
Verify network connectivity:
- Agent can reach xitoring.com
- Firewall not blocking outbound HTTPS
Check registration:
- Dashboard → Servers → Verify server appears
- If not: Re-run install script (overwrites existing install)
Force data collection:
- Restart agent: systemctl restart xitogent
- Wait 5 minutes
- Refresh dashboard

See FAQ: Agent installed but "Waiting for data" persists for detailed troubleshooting.

Time: 10-15 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner

Investigate False Positive Alerts

Determine why getting alerts when service actually UP.

Workflow:

Review incident details:
- Dashboard → Incidents → [Incident] → Timeline
- What triggered alert? (metric value, check failure)
- How long did condition persist?
Check service was actually OK:
- Review application logs for same timeframe
- Service health metrics (no errors during alert period)
- User complaints? (If no complaints, likely false positive)
Identify cause:
- Brief spike: Service momentarily spiked (normal variation)
  - Solution: Increase Fault Tolerance or raise threshold
- Monitoring network issue: Single node reported down, service UP
  - Solution: Enable multi-node monitoring (majority voting)
- Threshold too sensitive: Alert at 80% CPU, but normal peak is 75%
  - Solution: Increase threshold to 90% or use Auto-Trigger baseline
Adjust configuration:
- Edit trigger with new threshold or FT
- Document why changed (for future reference)
Monitor for recurrence:
- Wait 7 days
- If false positives stop: problem solved
- If still happening: further tuning needed

See FAQ: How can I reduce unnecessary notifications for strategies.

Time: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate