Automated Runbook

Transform incident documentation from hours to minutes. Scoutflo automatically generates comprehensive runbooks during incidents and complete post-mortem reports upon resolution, creating a single source of truth for your entire organization.

Introduction

Runbook creation is a core feature of Scoutflo that empowers teams to standardize their operational procedures and automate routine tasks. By creating well-structured runbooks, you can ensure consistent incident response, reduce resolution times, and minimize human error across your organization.

What are Runbooks?

A runbook is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that documents procedures for handling specific operational tasks or incident scenarios. Think of runbooks as detailed recipes that anyone on your team can follow to achieve consistent results, whether they're troubleshooting a production issue, performing routine maintenance, or responding to security incidents.

Why create runbooks with Scoutflo?

• Standardization: Ensure every team member follows the same proven procedures

• Knowledge Retention: Capture institutional knowledge that doesn't leave with departing team members

• Faster Resolution: Reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR) with pre-defined response procedures

• Compliance: Meet regulatory requirements with documented operational procedures

• Training: Onboard new team members with clear, actionable guidance

Example Runbook Templates

High Memory Usage Response

Trigger: Memory usage > 85% for 10 minutes

1

Initial Assessment

• Check current memory utilization

• Identify top memory-consuming processes

• Verify if this is expected behavior

2

Immediate Response

• Send alert to #ops-alerts Slack channel

• Create incident ticket in Jira

• Page on-call engineer if usage > 95%

3

Mitigation Actions

• Clear application caches

• Restart non-critical services

• Scale instances if auto-scaling enabled

4

Follow-up

• Monitor memory levels for 30 minutes

• Update incident ticket with resolution

• Schedule post-incident review if needed

Database Connection Issues

Trigger: Database connection failures > 5 in 5 minutes

1

Immediate Response

• Create incident bridge in Zoom

• Notify database team via PagerDuty

• Enable read-only mode for application

2

Diagnosis

• Check database server status

• Verify network connectivity

• Review recent configuration changes

• Analyze database logs for errors

3

Resolution

• Restart database connections

• Apply configuration fixes if identified

• Gradually restore write operations

• Verify application functionality

4

Documentation

• Record root cause analysis

• Update monitoring thresholds if needed

• Schedule follow-up preventive actions

Security Incident Response

Trigger: Suspicious activity detected by security tools

1

Initial Triage

• Assess threat severity level

• Preserve relevant logs and evidence

• Notify security team immediately

2

Containment

• Isolate affected systems

• Revoke potentially compromised credentials

• Block suspicious IP addresses

3

Investigation

• Analyze attack vectors

• Determine scope of compromise

• Collect forensic evidence

4

Recovery

• Apply security patches

• Restore from clean backups if needed

• Implement additional monitoring

5

Post-Incident

• Document lessons learned

• Update security procedures

• Conduct team debrief session

Support & Resources

Getting Help

• Email: [e-mail]

• Community: https://community.scoutflo.com

Ready to transform your incident documentation?

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