Automating Your Oncall: Open Sourcing Fossor and Ascii Etch

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Steven Callister
•9 min read•advanced•
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Python

Overview

The article discusses the open sourcing of two automation tools, Fossor and Ascii Etch, designed to assist Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) in automating the investigation of broken hosts and services. It emphasizes the importance of automation in streamlining workflows and improving incident response times.

What You'll Learn

1

How to use Fossor to automate the investigation of service issues

2

Why plugin-based architecture enhances tool flexibility and usability

3

How to visualize data using Ascii Etch for better anomaly detection

Prerequisites & Requirements

  • Basic understanding of Site Reliability Engineering concepts
  • Familiarity with Python programming

Key Questions Answered

What is Fossor and how does it help in automating investigations?
Fossor is a plugin-oriented Python tool designed to automate the investigation of broken hosts and services. It allows SREs to perform checks in parallel, reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks and improving the mean time to resolution during incidents.
What are the key features of Fossor's architecture?
Fossor's architecture includes a separation of the engine and plugins, allowing for resilience against plugin failures. It reports tailored information based on plugin definitions, ensuring that only useful data is presented to the user.
How does Ascii Etch enhance data visualization?
Ascii Etch is a Python library that converts streams of numbers into visual graphs using ASCII characters. This graphical representation helps users quickly identify anomalies in data, making it more effective than textual output alone.
What types of plugins does Fossor support?
Fossor supports three types of plugins: variable gathering plugins, check plugins, and report plugins. Each type serves a specific purpose in the automation process, from gathering data to reporting findings back to the user.

Technologies & Tools

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Programming Language
Python
Used to develop Fossor and Ascii Etch, enabling automation and data visualization.

Key Actionable Insights

1
Implementing Fossor can significantly reduce the time spent on incident investigations by automating repetitive checks.
SREs often face time constraints during outages, and Fossor's ability to run checks in parallel can streamline the troubleshooting process, leading to faster resolutions.
2
Utilizing Ascii Etch for data visualization can enhance the clarity of performance metrics.
When dealing with complex data sets, visual representations can help identify trends and anomalies more effectively than raw data, aiding in quicker decision-making.
3
Contributing to Fossor's plugin library can expand its capabilities and benefit the broader SRE community.
As Fossor is open-sourced, developers can create and share plugins that address specific needs, fostering collaboration and innovation within the field.

Common Pitfalls

1
Overloading the Fossor tool with too many plugins can lead to performance issues.
It's important to ensure that plugins are well-optimized and necessary, as excessive or poorly designed plugins can slow down the investigation process.

Related Concepts

Site Reliability Engineering
Automation In Incident Response
Data Visualization Techniques