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node-system-status

Create your own webapp status page with a Twitter account and this tiny Node.js app from your friends at ACT.md.

The basics

At ACT.md, we use Twitter to notify our users of upcoming maintenance or, heaven forbid, an unplanned outage. node-system-status shows those messages in a clean and professional way, distinguishing between issues (red), maintenance notices (yellow), and all-clear messages (green) using the hashtags #issue, #maintenance, and #ok.

Running locally

Abbreviated four-step process

Assuming you have Node.js and foreman installed.

  1. Clone the repo and npm install the dependencies
  2. Copy config.orig.json to config.json and customize
  3. Copy twitter_credentials.orig.json to twitter_credentials.json and customize
  4. nf start and visit http://localhost:5000

Detailed instructions

  1. Clone the repo
  2. Open a terminal window in that directory and install the npm dependencies
  • npm install
  1. Install the Heroku Toolbelt if you plan on deploying on Heroku, or just install foreman to test locally.
  • npm install -g foreman
  1. Copy config.orig.json to config.json and update it with your own values.
  • application_name: The name of your application, e.g. ACT.md
  • twitter_handle: Twitter username you use to post application updates, e.g. actmdstatus
  • number_of_tweets: Total number of status tweets to show, e.g. 10
  • help_email: E-mail address your users should contact if they need additional assistance
  • copyright: Official name for your copyright notice, e.g. Accountable Care Transactions, Inc
  1. Create a Twitter API Key and Access Token for node-system-status to use
  2. Sign into the Twitter Application Management site and click "Create a new app," the "app" being your new Twitter-based application status website.
  3. Fill out the form. Leave Callback URL empty.
  4. With your app created, click the "API Keys" tab. You'll see your API Key and API Secret waiting for you.
  5. At the bottom, click "Create my access token."
  6. Wait for the token to appear. You'll see an Access Token and Access Token Secret.
  7. Copy twitter_credentials.orig.json to twitter_credentials.json and update it with the above keys & secrets.
  • consumer_key: Your Twitter API Key
  • consumer_secret: Your Twitter API Secret
  • access_token_key: Your Twitter Access Token
  • access_token_secret: Your Twitter Access Token Secret
  1. Start your app
  1. Post status messages to your Twitter account. Messages must include a recognized hashtag to appear.
  • #ok (renders in green)
  • #maintenance (renders in yellow)
  • #issue (renders in red)

Deploying to Heroku

Abbreviated four-step process

  1. Clone the repo
  2. heroku login and heroku create
  3. Set all the application variables. (See step 5 below)
  4. git push heroku master and open in a browser.

Detailed instructions

  1. Install the Heroku Toolbelt and create a Heroku account, if you don't have one.
  2. Clone the repo and open a terminal window in that directory
  3. Log into Heroku
  • heroku login
  1. Create a new Heroku app instance
  • heroku create
  1. Set all the application variables
  • heroku config:set APPLICATION_NAME=...
  • heroku config:set TWITTER_HANDLE=...
  • heroku config:set NUMBER_OF_TWEETS=...
  • heroku config:set HELP_EMAIL=...
  • heroku config:set COPYRIGHT=...
  • heroku config:set TZ=<your_timezone>
  • heroku config:set TWITTER_CONSUMER_KEY=...
  • heroku config:set TWITTER_CONSUMER_SECRET=...
  • heroku config:set TWITTER_TOKEN_KEY=...
  • heroku config:set TWITTER_TOKEN_SECRET=...
  1. Deploy to your Heroku instance
  • git push heroku master
  1. Note the URL that's displayed in the response and open that in your browser.

Acknowledgements

  • The "What is this site?" text is modeled closely on GitHub's status page text.