Impact on alerts

Route: /maintenance-windows (effect visible on Alerts → Dashboard)

Maintenance windows change alert status, not alert ingestion. Matching open alerts move to Maintenance while a window is active; they leave that state when no matching active window remains.

See also: Overview · Creating and managing · Alerts dashboard

Matching rules

An alert is placed in Maintenance when all of the following are true:

1. The alert status is not already maintenance, closed, deleted, or expired.
2. At least one maintenance window is active (current time within its Time Range).
3. Every non-empty field on the window matches the alert:

Window field	Match rule
Environment	Must equal alert environment (always required on the window)
Resource	If set, must equal alert resource. If empty, matches any resource
Event	If set, must equal alert event
Group	If set, must equal alert group
Origin	If set, must equal alert origin
Service	If set, alert service list must share at least one value
Tags	If set, alert tags must share at least one value

4. If several active windows match, the one with the lowest Priority number wins.

Empty optional fields do not restrict that dimension — they widen the match.

What is not matched on

The maintenance task does not re-evaluate alerts that are already in maintenance, closed, deleted, or expired. Existing alerts in open, ack, shelved, or other non-terminal states can enter Maintenance when they match.

Alert status: Maintenance

On the dashboard, affected alerts show status Maintenance (same label for legacy blackout display names in locales).

Default dashboard visibility

Built-in alert views often exclude status Maintenance (along with closed, deleted, expired) from the default filter. To review alerts under maintenance:

1. Open the Alerts dashboard.
2. Adjust alert filters to include status Maintenance, or remove the default exclusion.

Alerts in Maintenance remain in the system and appear in alert history with status-change records.

When the window ends

When an alert is in Maintenance and no active window matches it anymore:

• ToBeAlert restores the alert to the most recent non-maintenance status from its history (for example open or ack).
• This runs on a periodic schedule — allow a short delay (seconds) after End Time before expecting status changes.

If a new window matches immediately after the previous one ends, the alert can stay in Maintenance without a visible flicker.

Maintenance vs other concepts

Concept	What it does	Operator visibility
Maintenance window	Automatic Maintenance status for matching alerts	Often hidden by default filters; status tag Maintenance
Shelve	Manual action → status Shelved	Visible; separate workflow
Acknowledge / Close	Manual lifecycle actions	Normal dashboard visibility
Notification rules	Send email/Telegram on events	Independent — rules still evaluate unless conditions exclude maintenance alerts
Policies	Transform alert fields	Independent of maintenance windows

Notifications during maintenance

Notification rules are not automatically skipped for alerts in Maintenance. If you want silence during maintenance, add conditions to your notification rules (for example exclude status Maintenance) or pause non-critical rules for the maintenance period.

Operator actions on maintenance alerts

Treat Maintenance as “expected noise — do not action unless something looks wrong.” After the window:

1. Clear or adjust filters to include Maintenance if needed.
2. Verify alerts returned to open / ack as expected.
3. Close any alerts that represent real issues discovered during maintenance.

Audit and history

• Window Create Time and User are stored on each maintenance window row.
• Alert transitions to/from Maintenance appear in alert history as status changes.
• Delete removes window definitions; it does not by itself revert alerts already in Maintenance — wait for the removal task or adjust windows manually.

Best practices

1. Avoid environment-wide windows unless the whole environment is truly down.
2. Test matching with a narrow Resource window before broadening scope.
3. Coordinate with notification owners — maintenance status alone does not mute notifications.
4. Review history after major windows to catch alerts that stayed in Maintenance unexpectedly.
5. Do not confuse Maintenance with Shelve — shelved alerts follow a different manual process and filters.