Uptime Monitoring: Maintenance
Overview
Use this page to schedule and manage maintenance windows that pause uptime checks. A maintenance window is a defined start and end time during which selected uptime checks stop raising incidents, so planned downtime such as server patching or a deployment doesn't trigger false alerts.
Maintenance windows depend on checks you already created on Uptime Monitoring: Checks; you choose which of those checks a window covers. While a window is active, the checks it covers are suppressed from generating new entries on Uptime Monitoring: Incidents, and any dashboard tracking those checks reflects the planned pause instead of a failure.
This page lists every scheduled window with its name, affected checks, start and end time, recurrence, and reason. From here you create new windows, edit an existing window's schedule or scope, and delete windows that are no longer needed.
Key concepts
- maintenance window - A scheduled period during which selected uptime checks are paused so planned downtime doesn't generate incidents or false alerts. (related: Uptime Monitoring: Checks)
- Checks - The uptime checks a window pauses. In this list the only observed value is All, meaning every check in your account pauses during that window. (related: Uptime Monitoring: Checks)
- Recurrence - How often a maintenance window repeats. The observed value One Time means the window runs once at its scheduled Start and End and does not recur.
- Times in - The timezone used to display and enter a window's Start and End times on this page.
When to use it
- Before planned infrastructure work, such as patching or a server reboot, that will take a monitored system offline
- Before a scheduled deployment or release that causes brief, expected downtime
- When you want to prevent an intentional outage from generating a false-positive incident
- To review which windows are currently scheduled before investigating why an incident was or wasn't raised
- To correct or remove a previously scheduled window whose time, scope, or reason changed
Before you begin
- Have at least one uptime check already created on Uptime Monitoring: Checks, since a maintenance window pauses specific checks
- Confirm the zone shown in Times in matches the zone you plan to schedule in, since Start and End are entered and read in that zone
- Know the exact start time, end time, and a short reason for the planned downtime before opening the create dialog
Common workflows
Schedule a maintenance window before planned downtime
Persona: Uptime monitoring admin
- Open Maintenance under Uptime Monitoring.
- Expect: The Maintenance Windows table loads, listing any existing windows.
- Select New Window.
- Expect: A dialog opens for you to define the new window's name, affected checks, Start and End time, recurrence, and reason.
- Enter the window's details, for example name it Octans quarter-close burst, choose the checks it should pause, set Start and End, pick a recurrence, add a reason, then select Create Window.
- Expect: The dialog closes and the new window appears as a row in the table with the values you entered.
Verify: The new row shows the correct name, Checks, Start, End, and Recurrence, and the Start/End times match your intended downtime in the zone shown by Times in.
Remove an obsolete maintenance window
Persona: Uptime monitoring admin
- Open Maintenance under Uptime Monitoring.
- Expect: The table lists all scheduled windows, including ones that are no longer needed.
- Select the delete icon in the Actions column for that row.
- Expect: A confirmation prompt titled Delete Maintenance Window? appears.
- Confirm the deletion.
- Expect: The prompt closes and the window's row no longer appears in the table.
Verify: The window is gone from the Maintenance Windows table, and uptime checks it previously covered resume normal incident alerting for that time period.
Steps
Step 1
Open Maintenance under Uptime Monitoring in the navigation menu.
Expected result: The Maintenance Windows page loads, showing a table of scheduled windows with each one's name, affected checks, Start and End time, recurrence, and reason.
Reviewing the current list is how you confirm what downtime is already planned before scheduling a new window or investigating an incident.
- The Times in dropdown in the header shows the timezone used for the Start and End columns.
- Each row's Actions column has an edit (pencil) icon and a delete (trash) icon.
Field reference
| Field | Purpose | Format / Validation | Required | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times in | Sets the timezone used to display and enter Start and End times on this page. Change it if you need to read or enter the window's schedule in a different zone than the one currently shown. | dropdown, timezone name | No | Europe/Amsterdam |
Column reference
| Column | What it shows | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Name | - | The label given to the window when it was created; use it to identify the window in the list. |
| Checks | - | Shows which uptime checks the window affects. All means every check in your account is paused for the duration of the window. |
| Start | - | The moment the window begins, shown in the zone selected in Times in. |
| End | - | The moment the window ends, shown in the zone selected in Times in. Checks resume normal alerting once this time passes. |
| Recurrence | - | Shows how often the window repeats. One Time means it runs once and does not recur. |
| Reason | - | A free-text note describing why the window was scheduled. If it ends in an ellipsis, open the window for edit to read the full text. |
| Actions | - | Holds the edit and delete icons for that row; there is no data value to read, only the two controls. |
Controls reference
New Window
Opens a dialog to define a new maintenance window.
When to use: When you need to schedule an upcoming pause for one or more uptime checks.
Side effects: Read-only until you submit the dialog; no window is created just by opening it.
Create Window
Submits the window you defined in the dialog.
When to use: After you've set the window's name, checks, Start and End times, recurrence, and reason.
Side effects: Mutating: adds a new row to the Maintenance Windows table, and uptime checks covered by the window stop raising incidents once the window becomes active.
Edit icon
Opens the maintenance window dialog pre-filled with that row's values.
When to use: To correct a scheduled window's time range, affected checks, or reason before it runs.
Side effects: Mutating only after you save: updates the existing row's Name, Checks, Start, End, Recurrence, or Reason.
Delete icon
Opens a confirmation prompt titled Delete Maintenance Window?
When to use: To remove a window that's no longer needed or was scheduled by mistake.
Side effects: Mutating once confirmed: permanently removes the window from the list, and the checks it covered resume normal alerting for that time period.
Verify the result
After you create a maintenance window, it appears as a new row in the Maintenance Windows table showing the name, Checks, Start, End, and Recurrence you set. The Start and End times display in the zone shown by Times in, so confirm that zone matches the downtime you intended. While the window is active, the checks it covers should not raise new incidents. If the row doesn't appear, reopen Maintenance and confirm you selected Create Window rather than closing the dialog without saving.
Troubleshooting
- Symptom: The New Window button isn't visible in the page header. Fix: Dismiss any notification banner covering the header (such as a credentials-expiring notice), then check the top-right of the page header again.
- Symptom: The Reason column shows text ending in an ellipsis. Fix: Open the window using the edit icon to read the full reason text.
- Symptom: The Start or End time doesn't match the downtime you expected. Fix: Check the Times in dropdown; Start and End are displayed in that zone, not necessarily your local zone.
- Symptom: An uptime check still raised an incident during what should have been a paused window. Fix: Edit the maintenance window and confirm the Checks field actually includes that check and that Start/End fully cover the downtime period.
- Symptom: You selected the delete icon by mistake. Fix: Close the Delete Maintenance Window? prompt without confirming; the window is only removed once you confirm the deletion.
Related articles
- Prerequisite: Uptime Monitoring: Checks - a check must exist before a maintenance window can be scoped to pause it
- Next step: Uptime Monitoring: Incidents - confirm that checks covered by an active window didn't raise new incidents
- See also: Uptime Monitoring: Dashboards - view overall status for checks affected by a scheduled or active maintenance window