Integrating Blameless with Backstage can streamline incident management and enhance collaboration within your organization. This guide walks you through the process of configuring your Blameless instance to work seamlessly with Backstage

Prerequisites

• Access to your Blameless instance (e.g., https://<your-instance-name>.blameless.io)
• Administrative privileges on both Blameless and Backstage instances

Getting Started

To integrate your Blameless instance with Backstage, follow these steps which instruct you to go to your Blameless instance before completing the integration in Backstage by installing the Blameless plugin:

Step 1: Log into Your Blameless Instance

1. Open a web browser and navigate to your Blameless instance URL (e.g., https://<your-instance-name>.blameless.io).
2. Enter your credentials to log in to your Blameless account.

Step 2: Access Service Catalog Settings

1. Once logged in, navigate to the "Settings" section located in the top navigation bar.
2. Open up Service Catalogs -> Integrations -> Service Catalogs

Step 4: Enter Backstage BaseURL and Enable Integration

1. Look for the "Backstage Integration" and click on "Manage" next to it.
2. In the Backstage Integration settings, you'll find fields to input relevant information.
3. Enter the BaseURL for your Backstage instance into the designated field.
4. Enable the integration toggle.
5. Click on "Save" to apply the changes.

Step 5: Configure Backstage Instance with Backstage Plugin

1. Now that you've configured your Blameless instance, it's time to set up your Backstage instance with the Blameless plugin.
2. Navigate to the README file in the Backstage plugin repository: Backstage Plugin Repository.
3. Follow the instructions provided in the README to install and configure the Backstage plugin for Blameless integration.
   • This typically involves steps such as installing dependencies, configuring plugin settings, and starting Backstage with the plugin enabled.

By following these steps, you established a seamless connection between Blameless and Backstage, enabling efficient incident management and collaboration.

Testing the integration

After completing the above setup, login to your Blameless instance and click on the "Start Incident" button on the "Incidents" list page. 

The following two drop-downs should be displayed when the integration with Backstage is enabled:

• Backstage Entity type: used to filter down the list of Backstage services to search for
• Backstage service: multiple services can be selected

Selecting a Backstage entity type or service is optional:

After completing the form, click on the start incident:

Check that the previously selected Backstage services appear in the Impacted services section under the Incident Summary panel on the right side of the incident detailed page:

This article provides a detailed walkthrough for integrating Blameless with Backstage, ensuring a smooth setup process for users. Adjustments can be made to tailor the instructions to specific instance configurations or user preferences.