host escalation profiles

[pspagnola]

I have been using host escalation profiles for a few days. The alerts seem to be working, but I think I need a better configuration. I think my current setup will skip certain hosts.

Goal: setup 3 escalation profiles for all hosts, except test hosts.

inside the escalation profiles I can...
- Use host group objects to select all groups except test. This won't catch hosts that have no host group, correct?
- use host objects to select "*" hosts, but this would include test hosts.

I need an options that says: all hosts , except selected ones, or all host groups except the one named "test"

Am I understanding this correctly?

Also, how do I find hosts that do not have a host group?

[cdienger]

You could create a host group that contains all hosts except test hosts. Call it something like 'escalations'. You would need to remember to update the list as new hosts are added but it should be easy creating the group initially and identifying which hosts need to be in the group.

[pspagnola]

I am still hoping for an answer to my lat question, but I have a new question:
How are overlapping host escalation handled?

In the official guide: https://assets.nagios.com/downloads/nag ... scalations

I found this:
"Since it is possible to have overlapping escalation definitions for a particular host or host group, and due to the
fact that a host can be a member of multiple host groups, Nagios has to make a decision on what to do as far
as the notification interval is concerned when escalation definitions overlap. In any case where there are
multiple valid escalation definitions for a particular notification, Nagios will choose the smallest notification
interval."

Can someone explain that better?


example: what happens in this scenario?

Host H1 is part of host group G1 and host group G2

host escalation for host group G1 is
- notification 1 to 4, interval 5 minutes. emails user1 and user2.
- notification 5 to 10, interval 10 minutes. emails user1, user2, user3.

host escalation for host group G2 is
- notification 1 to 4, interval 30 minutes. emails user4 and user5.
- notification 5 to 10, interval 60 minutes. emails user4, user5, user6.

[pspagnola]

You could create a host group that contains all hosts except test hosts. Call it something like 'escalations'. You would need to remember to update the list as new hosts are added but it should be easy creating the group initially and identifying which hosts need to be in the group.

Thank you for the reply. I will have to think about this for a while to see if it fits my situation.

[cdienger]

Sounds good. Please update the thread if you have any further questions.

[pspagnola]

Can you speak to my later question about overlapping host escalation profiles?

[cdienger]

H1 will use the notification intervals for G1; 5 AND 10 minutes. Does that clarify things?

[pspagnola]

H1 will use the notification intervals for G1; 5 AND 10 minutes. Does that clarify things?

I think so.

just to confirm, G2 escalation profile settings would never apply because it is in two groups and G1 has the shorter interval?

follow-up question:
If I create multiple escalation profiles I should probably make sure no hosts fall into more than one escalation profile?

[cdienger]

Correct. G1 has the shorter intervals so those will be applied.

For the follow up, I'm sure someone could think of a reason why they'd want to have a host get multiple escalation profiles, but if you can keep it to just one then I think you'll have an easier time working with escalations.