When you install Alert, launch the Alert application user interface by typing https://localhost:8443/alert in a browser where the localhost is your computer, and 8443 is the port number to access the Alert application.

Logging into the Alert application

Use the system administrator user account to login and configure Alert.

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When you log in as the system administrator (sysadmin), the About page is displayed.

The default password for the sysadmin user and the other two default users is blackduck, which Synopsys recommends that you change when you log in.

Users and roles

Besides, the sysadmin user that has full administrative access to Alert, there are two other default users in Alert versions 5.2.0 and later:

• jobmanager - has full access to distribution jobs and read access to the Audit page, and Scheduling page.

• alertuser - has read-only access to distribution jobs to view the configuration.

Users are administered in the User Management section. Administer external users that are authenticated through LDAP or SAML on the Authentication page.

After logging in

Each time you log in to Alert, the About page displays. The About page displays application information and links to your distributions, providers, and distribution channels. You can return to this screen at any time by clicking the Synopsys | Alert logo at the top of the left navigation panel. For information about setting up your configuration, refer to the Settings and Authentication sections on this page.

Configuration status icon

After the initial launch of the Alert application, the lower right corner of your browser displays a configuration status icon.

• A red status icon indicates an invalid configuration and displays the information to be corrected.

• A yellow status icon indicates information requiring your attention. For example, a missing provider URL in your configuration. A yellow icon also provides notification if a new version of Alert is available.

• A green status icon indicates a correct configuration.

Invalid configuration data also displays as highlighted fields on the Authentication page.

Authenticating

You can authenticate as the default administrator user, but you must supply an email address and password for the default administrator. You can edit those values in the User Management page, or if you forget the password and can't log in, you can have a temporary password for the administrator sent to the configured administrator's email address. You can also authenticate using LDAP or SAML.

Last updated

In Alert versions, 5.2.0 and later, clicking Save for any configuration provider, channel, or distribution configuration displays a Last Updated timestamp. This timestamp displays in the upper right corner of Alert. The date display format is YYYY-MM-DD; the time shown is in UTC time as shown in the following example.

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Logging out

To log out of Alert, click Logout at the bottom of the navigation panel.

Upgrading encryption considerations

When upgrading Alert, if the encryption password and salt were configured using environment variables in the previous version, then the encryption password and encryption salt values must be specified using environment variables for the new version of Alert. The environment variables must contain the same values as the corresponding password and salt variables in the previous version.

Alert upgrade notification

When a new version of Alert is available, a Warning system message shows that there is a new version available after the system has been running for 24 hours. If an email server is configured, the sysadmin user receives a notification email with a link to the new version.

About page

Click the Alert logo at the top of the left navigation panel to display the Alert About page. The About page shows the following contents:

• Description: Alert's functional description.

• Version: The version number of Synopsys Alert that is currently running.

• Project URL: A link to the GitHub project.

• View Distributions: Click All Distributions to open the Distribution page.

• Providers: A listing of currently-supported providers. Access the provider configuration settings by clicking the provider name.

• Distribution Channels: A listing of currently-supported distribution channels. Access the distribution channel configuration settings by clicking the distribution channel name.

Navigation menu

Navigate in Alert using the left navigation menu, which is divided into the following sections:

• Providers: Black Duck. You must configure your provider before you use Alert.

• Channels: The tools through which you send data. You must configure a least one channel before you can use Alert.

• Jobs: The saved instructions for sending notifications and the record of previously run jobs. After configuring your provider and channels, this is where you schedule and track your Alert jobs.

• Configuration: Enables you to configure all administrative settings, job scheduling, job setup, and audit options.