Service Dependencies stopped working

[uidaho]

We have a service dependency set up with the following configuration (/usr/local/nagios/etc/static/nsclient-servicedependencies.cfg):

define servicedependency{
service_description State - NSClientPP win
dependent_servicegroup_name All_Windows_Services_Dependent_On_NSCLIENT_DSG
execution_failure_criteria p,c,u,w
notification_failure_criteria p,c,u,w

Recently we observed that when the service "State - NSClientPP" goes down on a host, notifications are also being sent on services that are members of "All_Windows_Services_Dependent_On_NSCLIENT_DSG". We created a static configuration file. We were unable to create the dependencies through the GUI, because we are using service groups. In the past, notifications for these services depending on NSClient were suppressed when NSClient went down, so something has changed.

We could use some help in making the dependency work again. We are currently at Nagios XI 2014R1.4.

[Box293]

This has been identified as a bug in Core 4.0.8.

Here's a forum post that covers it:
http://support.nagios.com/forum/viewtop ... 05#p112159

Here's the issue on GitHub:
https://github.com/NagiosEnterprises/na ... /issues/19

[uidaho]

Thanks for the reply. We hadn't even thought to look for a Core bug. We heavily use servicegroups to suppress notifications for services depend on NRPE/NSCLIENT services. This is a rough bug for us!

Does anyone here know if that bug is being actively worked on? Would creating a ticket with XI Support help prompt a quicker resolution?

[tmcdonald]

I spoke with our Core dev and, I hate to say it, this is not currently being worked on. Opening a ticket would not speed that process up in this case.

However, there was a workaround posted in the linked thread that might help in the meantime:

Annoying as it is, specify the individual hosts in the service dependency using the host_name directive. When this is done the service dependency works as expected.

[uidaho]

I'll create a ticket. I'd really like to avoid setting a host for every dependency. Not every host has the same set of services, so we'd basically need a dependency rule per host!

Do you know if "service parents" works in core 4? I saw there was another forum post about it not working, six months ago. I realize that option is not available through XI interface, but I'm hoping I could use a static config to make it work...

http://nagios.sourceforge.net/docs/nagi ... tsnew.html

" Services now support a parents attribute. A service parent performs a function similar to host parents and can be used in place of service dependencies in simple circumstances. "

[abrist]

Do you know if "service parents" works in core 4?

It should. The option has been around for a while and we have not heard of any bugs associated with it.