Integrating Helix ALM and Slack
We’ve been using Slack at Perforce for some time. Personally, it’s my preferred form of communication. It lets me control how much noise I hear and, best of all, there is no spam. At this point, I prefer to get all my need-to-know information (web stats, network alerts, buildbot notices, and even to-dos) via Slack.
So, the more I can do in Slack, the better.
One of my favorite uses of Slack email integration is using it to integrate Perforce products, such as Helix ALM.
Email Integration for Slack and Helix ALM
For this example, let’s say I’m working on “Project InSight” and our team wants any new issue entered into Helix ALM to automatically show up in a private Slack channel we have for this project.
1. Set Up a Slack Email Integration
For instructions on how to set up email integration in Slack, refer to this help article: https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/206819278-Sending-emails-to-Slack.
In the following screenshot, you can see what my setup looks like. Any email to [email protected] will get pushed to the private project-insight channel.
2. Set Up Helix ALM Email Notifications
First add a new user to your Helix ALM project, set that user to Local, and enter the email address Slack provided.
Next, add the user to a security group that has access to all issues. In this example, I am adding them to the Business Analysts/Product Managers security group.
Now you need to configure an email automation rule in Helix ALM.
Go to Tools>Administration>Automation Rules. Create a rule that sends an email to the Slack user, using the "Issue Added" email template, each time an issue is added to Helix ALM.
That's it! All new issues will now automatically appear in the Slack project-insight channel.
Slack Email Integrations Are Just the Beginning
This is just one simple workflow. But your options are endless.
You'll be able to do even more if you add the Helix ALM Slack app, available through a Slack integration.
With this Slack integration, you'll be able to collaborate more efficiently across your project lifecycle. You can share Helix ALM items in Slack. You can track Slack conversations in Helix ALM. And so much more.
