Request Tracking (RT) The new ticketing system Tomasz Wlodek

Why RT? The old ticketing system (CTS) has reached its limitations Users must have BNL accounts to post tickets With increasing customer base this is not practical CTS does not operate with other ticket systems – we cannot easily pass tickets from one computing center to another.

What does RT offer? Tickets can be submitted by or web interface. More configuration options RT is becoming standard ticketing system – it is already used by Star, Slac, VDT,… In the future we may be able to interface various RT installations RT can be extended by AT (Asset Tracking). More about it later.

RT from user point of view How do I submit ticket? How do I reply to followup to a ticket? How do I reopen ticket? How do I search tickets?

How to open ticket? First, decide which problem category your ticket belongs to BatchSystems DataTransfer FileSystems General GridServices HPSS LinuxFarm Network Security Test UserAccounts

Then submit ticket by Write to To submit ticket to LinuxFarm write to Thats it.

Queues (Problem categories) Each queue has a set of experts assigned to it. When a ticket is submitted it is given status new Then one of experts decides to work on it and takes ownership of this ticket. Status becomes open Experts will send followups to ticket submitter. They will appear as regular . To reply to them use reply button. Finally ticket is resolved (closed)

That is all (from the perspective of 80% of users) For vast majority of users this is enough Ticket submission and correspondence is done by Each time someone sends a ticked for first time he/she is given local RT account so that we can track RT users. Incoming mail is filtered for spam and viruses, positive hits ->/dev/null

Possible problems The simplicty of this design can be abused Do not create tickets in automatic scripts Do not cross posts tickets from mailing lists Do not post explicitly RT mail addresses on www pages

What is the problem with the following exchange: From: RT User To: RT Subject: my equipment does not work From: RT To: RT User Subject: [RT #23] Your problem has been assigned number 23… From: RT To: RT User Subject: [RT #23] Please power on the device. Ticket closed.

What is the problem with the exchange: From: RT User To: RT Thank you, it works now.

How do I search tickets? Use web interface Logon as guest (this account is not yet activated) You can search ticket database and see active/closed tickets

Can I have my own RT account and submit/read tickets from www? Yes By default user accounts are created with NO right to access the web We expect that majority of users will not use www interface If you want to access the www site all you have to do is to ask for access Just submit ticket to RACF-RT- asking for www accessRACF-RT- The RT password will be mailed to you. Logon to RT and change it.

RT from expert point of view Experts reply to tickets. It is possible to reply to ticket by For more complex operations use www site. Experts can: take ownership of ticket, reply to ticket, resolve a ticket, delete a ticket, join tickets

How to use RT ? (experts point of view) Let me give you a demonstration, it is very simple if you actually see it!

RT – future We will operate a relatively open RT system – anyone can submit tickets from anywhere. Spam filtering is included, but possibility of abuse exists We assume that users will be responsible If we see abuse of the system, we will require user registration User registration can involve checking kerberos password OR grid certificate.

RT extension - AT AT (Asset Tracking) is a RT extension which allows users to integrate a resource database to the ticketing system A ticket posted to RT can update also the status of relevant hardware. machine rcasXXXX needs OS upgrade The ticket links to database of machines, after resolving the OS system of the machine is updated in the bookkeeping system This will be our next possible goal, later this year.