On-call schedules
Grafana OnCall makes it easier to establish consistent and thoughtful on-call coverage while ensuring that alerts don’t go unnoticed. Use Grafana OnCall to:
- Define coverage needs and avoid gaps in coverage
- Automate alert escalation
- Configure on-call shift notifications
This section provides conceptual information about Grafana OnCall schedule options.
About on-call schedules
An on-call schedule consist of one or more rotations that contain on-call shifts. A schedule must be referenced in the corresponding escalation chain for alert notifications to be sent to an on-call user.
A fully configured on-call schedule consists of three main components:
- Rotations: A recurring schedule containing a set of on-call shifts that users rotate through.
- On-call shifts: The period of time that an individual user is on-call for a particular rotation
- Escalation Chains: Automated steps that determine who to notify of an alert group.
Types of on-call schedules
On-call schedules look different for different organizations and even teams. Grafana OnCall offers three different options for managing your on-call schedules, so you can choose the option that best fits your needs.
Web-based schedule
Configure and manage on-call schedules directly in the Grafana OnCall plugin. Easily configure and preview rotations, see teammates’ time zones, and add overrides.
Learn more about Web-based schedules
iCal import
Use any calendar service that uses the iCal format to manage and customize on-call schedules - Import rotations and shifts from your calendar app to Grafana OnCall for widely accessible scheduling. iCal imports appear in Grafana OnCall as read-only schedules but can be leveraged similarly to a web-based schedule.
Learn more about iCal import schedules
Terraform
Use the Grafana OnCall Terraform provider to manage schedules within your “as-code” workflow. Rotations configured via Terraform are automatically added to your schedules in Grafana OnCall. Similar to the iCal import, these schedules read-only and cannot be edited from the UI.
To learn more, read our Get started with Grafana OnCall and Terraform blog post.
