External Tool Integrations

With Dell AIOps, users can extend the platform's monitoring and alerting capabilities to external services and custom tools. In this lesson, you will learn how to configure webhooks to send automated health issue notifications to applications such as Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, and Slack, create and manage REST API keys for programmatic access to your Dell AIOps data, and understand the role-based access controls that govern API usage.

REST API

Dell AIOps provides a REST API that enables programmatic access to your data from external services, custom scripts, and third-party tools.

Select **Admin -> Integrations** from the left-hand navigation menu.

The API view provides the Endpoint URL, a link to the full API documentation on the Dell Developer portal, and the API Terms of Use.

Tip! API features covering health events are available to team members assigned the DevOps role. Cybersecurity events are available to team members assigned the Cybersecurity DevOps role.

API Keys

API keys control access to your Dell AIOps data through the REST API. Click **"CREATE API KEY"**.

Provide a unique name and a description. Name - **AIOPs Demo Key** Description - **My API Demo Key** Select **"Create API Key"** in the bottom right corner.

Tip! The API Key creation feature is not supported in Simulator Mode. However, key creation can take up to 5 minutes to complete. Once created, click **"View Key"** to view the key information in the Dell Developer portal. Existing keys can be deleted or retried from this page.

Tip! Other team members may use an existing key. Use caution when deleting a key, as this may affect other services or scripts that rely on it.

Webhooks

Dell AIOps webhooks send automated notifications to external services when a health issue is detected or resolved. This enables integration with tools such as Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, and Slack. Select **Admin -> Integrations** from the left-hand navigation menu.

Select **"Webhooks"** to open the Webhook page.

Click **"ADD WEBHOOK"**.

The first step is the **Webhook Settings** content page. Fill out the information as follows: 1. **Event Type**: Choose the event type that you would like to create a webhook for. In this case, choose **Health Issue Change.** 2. **Name:** Provide a name for your webhook - **AIOPs Demo Webhook** 3. **Payload URL:** Provide the URL from the tool you want to integrate with. In this case, let's put a generic webpage - **https://www.dell.com/en-us** 4. **Secret:** The secret generates an HMAC signature that the receiving application can use to verify the sender. In this case, put in any text. 5. **Server Authentication:** For certain applications this is required. In this case, select **No**. Once completed, select **"Next"** in the bottom right corner.

The next step is the **Policy** page. In this page you choose which systems this webhook will be active for. If no policy is set, then the webhook will be active for all systems. In this case let's not set a policy. Select **"Next"** in the bottom right corner.

The third step is the **Payload** page. Here we can configure the JSON payload that will be sent to the receiving application. Dell AIOps provides template variables using Handlebars syntax (e.g., [[system ]], [[description ]]) that are automatically substituted with actual values at send time. The payload format varies depending on the receiving application. Click **"TEST PAYLOAD"** to validate the syntax.

AIOps will run a test on the payload JSON that is currently input into the text box. In this case there are some errors that appear because we are running in a Simulator version. Select **Close** in the bottom right corner.

Select **"Next"** in the bottom right corner.

Last is the **Test Webhook** section. Click **"TEST WEBHOOK"** to send the payload with dummy values to the configured URL. This validates both communication and expected format. This will return a 401 Unauthorized error as we are running in the Simulator. Select **"Add Webhook"** in the bottom right corner to create the webhook.

The Webhook will not be created as we are running in simulator mode.

Tip! Dell AIOps webhooks can be integrated with a variety of external services. Common examples include Microsoft Teams (using Adaptive Card formatting) and Slack (using Incoming Webhooks). For detailed walkthroughs of these integrations, refer to the Dell AIOps Webhook Integration tutorials.

Congratulations! You have reached the end of this lesson. You now know how to configure webhooks for automated notifications and how to create and manage API keys for programmatic access to your Dell AIOps data.