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Managing your support cases

Managing your support cases

Each support case is assigned a unique number and severity level based on the details in the case description. You can use the case number to track the progress of your reported issue, leave feedback, or update the support case. Updates and feedback are recorded in the case notes, which you can find by selecting the specific support case. You can also add users in your account to a watchlist so they can receive alerts about a case. For more information, see Updating your support case's watchlist.

To view and manage your support cases, go to the Manage cases page.

If you're a classic infrastructure user, and you don't see a listing of a previous case, click View classic infrastructure cases.

Searching for support cases

From the Manage cases page, you can filter by case status and search for all of your support cases by using query parameters in the search bar. All parameters can be used together and entered in any order. You can also filter cases by selecting All cases, My cases, and Watchlist cases.

See the following table for details about the search parameters:

Search query parameters and options
Parameter Option Rule
number target case number This parameter can't be used with other parameters. When the number parameter is used, all of the other parameters and options ignored. The number parameter doesn't autofill the search. You must use the whole case number to start the search.
sort number
subject
severity
updatedAt
Only one of the sort options can be used at one time. You can use the ~ prefix to reverse the sorting order.
status new
inProgress
waitingOnClient
resolutionProvided
resolved
closed
Any number of options can be used. The available options can be entered as status:new,inProgress or as status:new status:inProgress.
page target page to view If you have several results from your search that spans multiple pages, you can view your results from any result page. For example, to view page 5 out of 10, use page:5.
pageSize 10
25
50
100
The size of that page to be viewed. The page size refers to the number of results that you want to load.

If you enter a term without a parameter, the search results are shown for the support case number and the case subject.

Query and URL examples

You can enter search queries in the search bar by stating a parameter and option separated by a colon (:) or you can use parameters in a URL to go directly to a specific case or group of cases on the Manage cases page.

To use parameters in the URL, add a question mark (?) to the end of the URL. Then, set your parameter equal to the option you select. You can also separate additional parameters with an ampersand (&).

To search for a case by keyword, you can enter the word in the search bar without a parameter. To search for a keyword with the URL, use search as a parameter and set it equal to your keyword, for example, search=server.

Searching by case number

Enter the following to search support cases by case number:

Query
number:CS1234567
URL
https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/cases?number=CS1234567

Searching with multiple parameters

You might want to search for both new and in progress support cases, limit the results to 25 per page, and displayed by severity. You also know that the case that you're looking for isn't going to be within the first couple of pages, so you want to start on page 5. Enter the following search query:

Query
status:new,inProgress page:5 pageSize:25 sort:severity
URL
https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/cases?status=new&status=inProgress&pageSize=25&sort=severity

Searching for resolved cases

Enter the following query to view all of the resolved cases based on when they were last updated:

Query
sort:~updatedAT status:resolved
URL
https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/cases?sort=~updatedAT&status=resolved

Viewing support cases by using the API

You can programmatically view a support case by using the API as shown in the following sample request. For more information, see the Case Management API.

To view a case, see the following samples:

curl -X GET 'https://support-center.cloud.ibm.com/case-management/v1/cases/{case_number}?fields=number,updated_at,resources' -H 'Authorization: TOKEN' \
GetCaseOptions getCaseOptions = new GetCaseOptions.Builder()
  .caseNumber(caseNumber)
  .addFields(GetCaseOptions.Fields.DESCRIPTION)
  .addFields(GetCaseOptions.Fields.STATUS)
  .addFields(GetCaseOptions.Fields.SEVERITY)
  .addFields(GetCaseOptions.Fields.CREATED_BY)
  .build();

Response<Case> response = service.getCase(getCaseOptions).execute();
Case xCase = response.getResult();

System.out.println(xCase);
const fieldsToReturn = [
  CaseManagementV1.GetCaseConstants.Fields.DESCRIPTION,
  CaseManagementV1.GetCaseConstants.Fields.STATUS,
  CaseManagementV1.GetCaseConstants.Fields.SEVERITY,
  CaseManagementV1.GetCaseConstants.Fields.CREATED_BY,
];

const params = {
  caseNumber: caseNumber,
  fields: fieldsToReturn,
};

caseManagementService.getCase(params)
  .then(res => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res.result, null, 2));
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.warn(err)
  });
fields_to_return = [
  GetCaseEnums.Fields.DESCRIPTION,
  GetCaseEnums.Fields.STATUS,
  GetCaseEnums.Fields.SEVERITY,
  GetCaseEnums.Fields.CREATED_BY,
]

case = case_management_service.get_case(
  case_number=case_number,
  fields=fields_to_return
).get_result()

print(json.dumps(case, indent=2))
getCaseOptions := caseManagementService.NewGetCaseOptions(
  caseNumber,
)
getCaseOptions.SetFields([]string{
  casemanagementv1.GetCaseOptionsFieldsDescriptionConst,
  casemanagementv1.GetCaseOptionsFieldsStatusConst,
  casemanagementv1.GetCaseOptionsFieldsSeverityConst,
  casemanagementv1.GetCaseOptionsFieldsCreatedByConst,
})

caseVar, response, err := caseManagementService.GetCase(getCaseOptions)
if err != nil {
  panic(err)
}
b, _ := json.MarshalIndent(caseVar, "", "  ")
fmt.Println(string(b))

Updating support cases by using the API

The following sample request shows how to programmatically update a support case. For more information, see the Case Management API.

curl -X PUT '/case-management/v1/cases/{case_number}/status' -H 'Authorization: TOKEN' -d '{
  "action": "resolve",
  "comment": "The issue is resolved. Thank you!",
  "resolution_code": 1
}'
ResolvePayload statusPayloadModel = new ResolvePayload.Builder()
  .action("resolve")
  .comment("The problem has been resolved.")
  .resolutionCode(1)
  .build();
UpdateCaseStatusOptions updateCaseStatusOptions = new UpdateCaseStatusOptions.Builder()
  .caseNumber(caseNumber)
  .statusPayload(statusPayloadModel)
  .build();

Response<Case> response = service.updateCaseStatus(updateCaseStatusOptions).execute();
Case xCase = response.getResult();

System.out.println(xCase);
const statusPayloadModel = {
  action: 'resolve',
  comment: 'The problem has been resolved.',
  resolution_code: 1,
};

const params = {
  caseNumber: caseNumber,
  statusPayload: statusPayloadModel,
};

caseManagementService.updateCaseStatus(params)
  .then(res => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res.result, null, 2));
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.warn(err)
  });
status_payload_model = {
  'action': 'resolve',
  'comment': 'The problem has been resolved.',
  'resolution_code': 1,
}

case = case_management_service.update_case_status(
  case_number=case_number,
  status_payload=status_payload_model
).get_result()

print(json.dumps(case, indent=2))
statusPayloadModel := &casemanagementv1.ResolvePayload{
  Action:         core.StringPtr("resolve"),
  Comment:        core.StringPtr("The problem has been resolved."),
  ResolutionCode: core.Int64Ptr(int64(1)),
}

updateCaseStatusOptions := caseManagementService.NewUpdateCaseStatusOptions(
  caseNumber,
  statusPayloadModel,
)

caseVar, response, err := caseManagementService.UpdateCaseStatus(updateCaseStatusOptions)
if err != nil {
  panic(err)
}
b, _ := json.MarshalIndent(caseVar, "", "  ")
fmt.Println(string(b))

Adding comments to support cases by using the API

The following sample request shows how to programmatically add a comment to a support case. For more information, see the Case Management API.

curl -X PUT '/case-management/v1/cases/{case_number}/comments' -H 'Authorization: TOKEN' -d '{
  "comment": "Test comment api"
}'
AddCommentOptions addCommentOptions = new AddCommentOptions.Builder()
  .caseNumber(caseNumber)
  .comment("This is an example comment.")
  .build();

Response<Comment> response = service.addComment(addCommentOptions).execute();
Comment comment = response.getResult();

System.out.println(comment);
const params = {
  caseNumber: caseNumber,
  comment: 'This is an example comment,',
};

caseManagementService.addComment(params)
  .then(res => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(res.result, null, 2));
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.warn(err)
  });
comment = case_management_service.add_comment(
  case_number=case_number,
  comment='This is an example comment.'
).get_result()

print(json.dumps(comment, indent=2))
addCommentOptions := caseManagementService.NewAddCommentOptions(
  caseNumber,
  "This is an example comment.",
)

comment, response, err := caseManagementService.AddComment(addCommentOptions)
if err != nil {
  panic(err)
}
b, _ := json.MarshalIndent(comment, "", "  ")
fmt.Println(string(b))

Support case status types

When your response to an update in your support case is needed, the status is displayed as Waiting on client. If you don't provide a response within seven days, the status is updated to Resolved. The case is then closed if there's still no response after seven more days. For a description of each status type, see the following table:

Support case status types
Status Description
New A created case not yet viewed by a support engineer.
In progress A case that is under review.
Waiting on client The support engineer has submitted an inquiry on the case that needs the user's response.
Resolution provided The support engineer provided a resolution that the user needs to perform.
Resolved The support case is considered finished and ready to be closed.
Closed Case is closed by a support engineer and can't be reopened.

Escalating support cases

You can use the escalation process to surface critical issues and voice your concern about a support case. When a case is escalated, the IBM Cloud support team reviews the information in the support case and responds with appropriate updates. For information about case severity, see Case severity and initial response times.

To escalate a case, complete the following steps:

  1. Contact IBM Cloud Support by chat or by phone.
  2. Provide your existing case number and a request to escalate the case.
  3. Provide the justification an escalation and explain the business impact of your problem or issue.

Basic support plans: If you have a Basic support plan, access to support is through cases only. If your support inquiry requires a more immediate response, consider upgrading to a Premium or Advanced support plan so you assign a severity level to a case. To upgrade your support plan, contact a IBM Cloud Sales representative.

Updating your support case's watchlist

You can update which users in your account can receive notifications about your support case by adding them to the watchlist. Users can be added to the watchlist when you create a support case or after the support case is created.

By default, account users don't have access to create, update, search, or view cases. The account owner must provide users access by assigning an Identity and Access Management (IAM) access policy. For more information, see Assigning user access for working with support cases.

To ensure that users are notified about updates to an existing support case that you created, complete the following steps to add them to the watchlist.

  1. From the IBM Cloud console menu bar, click the Help icon Help icon > Support center.

  2. Select the support case from the Recent support cases tile.

  3. From the Watchlist section, click the Settings icon Settings icon.

  4. Select users that are in the account to add to the watchlist.

    Users that are added to the watchlist must be a member of the account in which the case was created. For more information about assigning users access to your account, see Adding users to your case management access group.