Working with the Alert GUI

From the Alert GUI, you can configure and manage all aspects of the Alert application functionality to process and deliver Black Duck notifications to configured recipients.

Alert GUI

1 Logging into the Alert application
2 About page
3 Navigation menu
4 General status information

When you install Alert, launch the Alert application user interface by typing https://localhost:8443/alert or https://<hostname>:8443/alert in a browser, using localhost (your computer) or a host name, and 8443, which is the port number to access the Alert application.

Logging into the Alert application

Use the system administrator (sysadmin) user account to login and configure Alert. Your session will continue until you log out, or after 10 minutes of inactivity; at which point the session automatically ends.

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.

You can authenticate as the default administrator user, but you must provide an email address and password for the default administrator. You can edit those values in the User Management page.

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

In Alert versions prior to 5.2.0, if you have not configured the required settings, email, and encryption details during installation, the Settings configuration screen displays when you launch Alert for the first time, which enables you to enter these required settings. You can access this configuration panel at any time by clicking Settings on the left navigation panel.

The About page displays application information and links to your distributions, providers, and distribution channels. By clicking the Synopsys | Alert logo at the top of the left navigation panel from any page in Alert, you are directed to the About page.

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 Alert GitHub project.
API Documentation (Preview): Intended as a preview only and is not stable for the initial release.
View Distributions: Click All Distributions to open the Distribution page.
Providers: A listing of currently-supported Black Duck 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.

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

Providers: You must configure your provider (Black Duck connection details) before you use Alert.
This is the configuration to connect to the Black Duck server. Configuring the provider causes Alert to start pulling data from Black Duck.
Channels: An Alert channel is defined as an application such as email or Slack that you configure to send Black Duck notifications to users . 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.
You configure distribution jobs to send specific types of alerts to selected audiences.
Configuration: The bottom section of the navigation enables access to general configuration such as administrative settings, certificates, job scheduling, and audit options.

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

General status information

The following information describes general status information that is provided in the Alert GUI.

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, or 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.

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.

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 on the relevant page. 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.