Scheduled Downtime and Nagios

When a server or device is being worked on and you need to schedule downtime so Nagios does not notify administrators that can be performed at the web interface.  When you select the host or service that will be down you have an option to schedule downtime.  When downtime is scheduled Nagios will place a comment in the web interface in order to communicate the fact to all administrators who access the web interface.

There are two types of downtime.  Fixed downtime allows for and exact start and end time when the host or service will be unavailable. Flexible downtime allows for a start time but an open ended startup time as the exact time cannot be determined based on the nature of the situation.

Triggered downtime is when the downtime of a parent will trigger downtime for all of it's children.  In other words, the downtime for a switch, will impact all of the devices connected to it.

Scheduling Downtime for a Host
In order to schedule downtime for a host, select host details from the web interface.  On the right hand side you will notice the “yellow clocks” permit scheduling for host or services.  Select the host option.



Once you have selected the host, “Command Options” appears and provides a place to explain why the downtime to other administrators in the comment area, which is a good idea in most situations.  If you select a “Fixed” time you will enter the start and end of the downtime.   If this machine that was going down provided network connection with other devices you may want to notify downstream devices with a “triggered by” option that is created by this device going down.  Or you may choose to do nothing.



On the Nagios interface on the left menu, if you select “Downtime” you will see a list of all scheduled downtimes for hosts and services. Remember it may take a few minutes to allow the devices to show up.




Here is how the host looks with downtime (this is the exfoliation frontend), note the “yellow clock” which is an indicator of scheduled downtime.



If you select the clock you will see the details on the host list it as being in a scheduled downtime.



At this point it will be listed in the “Downtime” menu.  Note you can cancel by deleting the downtime.



Notifications and Downtime
Notifications for downtime should stop in the downtime period.  If the notifications do not stop verify that you do not have the “d” option set for your contacts.  The “d” option will send notifications on downtime.