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Events

This guide gives an overview of event tracking with OpsChain.

After following this guide you should know:

  • what events are created by OpsChain automatically
  • how to query events via the API
  • how to create custom events using the API
tip

All the examples in this guide assume the OpsChain API server is running on your local machine. Replace localhost with your OpsChain server name if connecting to a remote OpsChain server.

Overview​

Any API request that modifies data in OpsChain will be tracked for auditing and reporting purposes. In future versions OpsChain will track more events, please let us know if there are particular events you would like tracked.

info

OpsChain does not track API requests to the api/events API itself.

The data provided within the attributes section of the event API response varies depending on the type of event.

All automatically created API events start with the api: prefix and are then followed by the API controller, and then the API method. The index method is analogous to list.

A full list of API events is available below.

Viewing events​

The OpsChain api/events endpoint can be queried to see events in the OpsChain system.

curl -u "{{username}}:{{password}}" http://localhost:3000/api/events

The response is a JSON:API payload containing a list of the most recent events. The response will include the relevant events from oldest to newest in the response data array, i.e. data[0] will be the oldest event in the result set.

Example project index event​

Below is an example of a project index event returned by the api/events endpoint.

{
  "id": "43404b06-e265-4d4e-a387-4fc83320a778",
  "type": "event",
  "attributes": {
    "username": "opschain",
    "system": true,
    "type": "api:projects:index",
    "created_at": "2021-01-01T01:00:00.000000Z"
  },
  "relationships": {},
  "links": {
    "self": "/events/43404b06-e265-4d4e-a387-4fc83320a778"
  }
}

Filtering events​

The query to the api/events endpoint can be filtered by providing the relevant query parameters.

For example, the following query will return up to 100 events that were created after 2021-01-01.

info

By default, the response is limited to only 10 events, and there is a hard limit of 1000 events. The response status code will be 206 Partial Content when the response has been truncated by the limit.

curl --globoff --user "{{username}}:{{password}}" 'http://localhost:3000/api/events?filter[created_at_gt]=2021-01-01T01:00:00.000000Z&limit=100'
note

The --globoff argument is required when using the filtering queries using curl.

Filtering examples​

The API filtering and sorting guide includes a variety of examples that highlight OpsChain's filtering feature and how it can be used to find specific events.

More complex examples​

Below are some more complex examples of querying the api/events API.

note

The examples require the jq and curl utilities, and have been tested with Zsh and Bash 4.

Waiting for an event to occur​

The following is an example of watching the events API waiting for an event to occur.

user='{{username}}:{{password}}'
since="$(date --iso-8601=ns)"
event='api:changes:create'

while true; do
  response="$(curl -s -G --user "${user}" http://localhost:3000/api/events --data-urlencode "filter[created_at_gt]=${since}" --data-urlencode "filter[type_eq]=${event}")"
  if jq -e '.data | length > 0' <<<"${response}" >/dev/null; then
    echo "${response}"
    break
  fi
  sleep 1
done
tip

Don't forget to add --data-urlencode "filter[system_true]=yes" if you wish to wait for a system event.

Paginating through events​

The following is an example of paginating backwards through the events API. It will output the newest event to the oldest.

user='{{username}}:{{password}}'

while true; do
  response="$(curl -s -G --user "${user}" http://localhost:3000/api/events --data-urlencode "filter[created_at_lt]=${before}")"
  before="$(jq -r '.data[0].attributes.created_at // empty' <<<"${response}")"
  if [[ -z "${before}" ]]; then
    break
  fi
  jq '.data | reverse[]' <<<"${response}"
done

Creating custom events​

Events can be created in the OpsChain events framework by sending a POST request to the api/events endpoint.

The request needs to be a valid JSON:API request. E.g.

curl --fail --user {{username}}:{{password}} http://localhost:3000/api/events -H 'content-type: application/vnd.api+json' -d '{ "data": { "type": "Event", "attributes": { "type": "custom", "some": "value", "nesting": { "also": "works" } } } }'
curl --fail --user {{username}}:{{password}} http://localhost:3000/api/events -H 'content-type: application/vnd.api+json' -d @event-file.json

OpsChain responds with a 201 status code and no response body when the event is created successfully.

System created events​

Events created internally by OpsChain can be identified by the system property. If system is true then the event was created by OpsChain, if it is false then the event was created by a user using the api/events endpoint - the username field identifies the user that created the request.

System event types​

Currently, the following system events are supported. These values will be present in the type field for an event:

  • api:automated_change_rules:create
  • api:automated_change_rules:destroy
  • api:changes:create
  • api:changes:destroy
  • api:nodes:create
  • api:nodes:update
  • api:nodes:destroy
  • api:git_remotes:create
  • api:git_remotes:update
  • api:git_remotes:destroy
  • api:projects:create
  • api:projects:update
  • api:projects:destroy
  • api:properties:update
  • api:settings:update
  • api:steps:approve
  • api:steps:approve:denied
  • api:steps:continue
  • error:automated_change_rule:change_creation
  • error:automated_change_rule:git_sha

Custom (i.e. user created) events can have any type as it is specified when the event is created.

Removing events​

Older OpsChain events can be removed, see the OpsChain data retention guide for more details.