clarification on host downtime

[lyle]

A couple of clarifications on Host Downtime, if I might. I've read the docs and gone through previous posts, especially:
http://support.nagios.com/forum/viewtop ... ime#p40278

With Core (3.0.3 here, sorry) if I put a Host into Downtime (let's say fixed downtime):
- are Host checks still performed? service checks?
- can Host alerts still happen? service alerts?
- will Host notifications still be sent?(at least here, I assume the answer is "no") service notifications?

I always thought that once a host was put into downtime, even if it was still functioning, I'd never get notified of a service alert. But reading the post above, I'm wondering if the services need to be explicitly put into downtime too, if I don't want any notifications at all from the host or services for the duration.

Thanks....Lyle

[lmiltchev]

...if I put a Host into Downtime (let's say fixed downtime):

- are Host checks still performed? service checks?

Yes, the host/service check will be performed.

If you want to disable all checks for this host and its services, you can do it easily by going to:

Host Detail->Advanced->See this host in Nagios Core->Disable checks of all services on this host->Disable For Host Too:->Commit

You can also disable all notifications:

Host Detail->Advanced->See this host in Nagios Core->Disable notifications for all services on this host->Disable For Host Too:->Commit

- can Host alerts still happen? service alerts?

If you scheduled a downtime for a host, host alerts would be suppressed. If you scheduled a downtime for a service, service alerts would be suppressed.

- will Host notifications still be sent?(at least here, I assume the answer is "no") service notifications?

Host notifications - no; service notifications - yes

[lyle]

I just tested this on Core 3.4.1 and with the Host in downtime, a failing service check went into a hard/critical state, but no notifications went out. This is the behavior we always expected.

So I'm still confused about this. Unfortunately, understanding this point is very important to us.

If we're going to reboot a critical server, we would normally set the *Host* into downtime, then start shutting down applications before rebooting. If a service check then goes into hard/critical and sends out notifications, our KPI metrics are affected and we lose money to our customer, when it was just a planned downtime.

Yes we could also put all the services into downtime, but that's an extra step we might not remember, and at a cost. And sometimes it seems to work as we expect: host in downtime, service alerts can happen but no notifications go out.

Thanks for any advice.....Lyle

[scottwilkerson]

In a typical setup, if you place a host in downtime, you will NOT get service notification as you saw demonstrated on your test.

[lyle]

Thanks, Scott. That's what we always thought and relied on.

...Lyle