The Specialties section lets you define host and service dependencies, host and service escalations as well as host and service extended information. It is less frequently used than the other sections of the APM administration panel but provides additional functionality for those who wish to have advanced features and improved graphics.
¶ Host dependency
Host dependencies is an advanced feature of APM that allows you to suppress notifications for hosts based on the status of one or more other hosts. Host dependencies are optional and are mainly targeted at advanced users who have complicated monitoring setups.
As an example, if you have a firewall, and behind it a switch with a server connected to it, then you can use “host dependency” and configure the server to be dependent on the switch, which in turn will be dependent on the firewall. In this case, if the firewall becomes unavailable, then you will receive only one alert. You will know that if the firewall is down, then the hosts behind it will also be unavailable.
¶ Add Host dependency
To add a host dependency click the “Add“ button. The host dependency page creation will appear.
Fields in red are required. In “Dependent hosts ”, select the name(s) of the dependent host(s). The “Hosts ” directive is used to identify the name(s) of the host(s) that are being depended upon (also referred to as the master host). The “Config name ” field is used to specify a common configuration name for a host dependency configuration.
The “Dependent host groups ” field is used to select host groups instead of, or in addition to, the hostname directive. The “Host groups ” directive is used to identify the name(s) of the host(s) groups that are being depended upon (also referred to as the master host groups).
¶ Host escalation
Host escalations are completely optional and are used to escalate notifications for a particular host.
¶ Add Host escalation
To add a host escalation, click the “Add“ button. The host escalation creation page will appear.
Fields in red are required. The “Hosts ” directive is used to identify the name of the host that the escalation should apply to. “Contacts ” lists the contacts that should be notified whenever there are problems (or recoveries) with this host. You must specify at least one contact or contact group in each host escalation definition. The “Config name ” directive is used to specify a common configuration name for a host escalation configuration.
The “First notification ” field identifies the first notification for which this escalation is effective. For instance, if you set this value to 3, this escalation will only be used if the host is down or unreachable long enough for a third notification to go out.
The “Last notification ” field identifies the last notification for which this escalation is effective. For instance, if you set this value to 5, this escalation will not be used if more than five notifications are sent out for the host. Setting this value to 0 means keep using this escalation entry forever (no matter how many notifications go out).
The “Notification interval ” determines the interval at which notifications should be sent while this escalation is valid. If you specify a value of 0 for the interval, APM will send the first notification when this escalation definition is valid, but will then prevent any more problem notifications from being sent out for the host. Notifications are sent out again until the host recovers.
The “Host groups ” directive is used to identify the name(s) of the host group(s) that the escalation should apply to. If this is used, the escalation will apply to all hosts that are members of the specified hostgroup(s).
“Contact groups ” is used to identify the name of the contact group that should be notified when the host notification is escalated. You must specify at least one contact or contact group in each host escalation definition.
¶ Service dependency
Service dependencies are an advanced feature of APM that allows you to suppress notifications and active checks of services based on the status of one or more other services. Service dependencies are optional and are mainly targeted at advanced users who have complicated monitoring setups.
¶ Add Service dependency
To add a service dependency click the “Add“ button. The service dependency creation page will appear.
Fields in red are required. In “Dependent hosts ”, select the name(s) of the host(s) that the dependent service “runs” on or is associated with. Leaving this directive blank can be used to create “same host” dependencies.
The “Dependent hostgroups ” field is used to specify the name(s) of the host group(s) that the dependent service “runs” on or is associated with. The dependent hostgroup may be used instead of, or in addition to, the dependent host directive.
“Dependent services ” is used to select the name of the dependent service to use.
The “Config name ” field is used to specify a common configuration name for a service dependency configuration.
“Hosts ” field is used to identify the name(s) of the host(s) that the service that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service) “runs” on, or is associated with. “Host groups ” identify the name(s) of the hostgroup(s) that the service that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service) “runs” on or is associated with. The hostgroup name may be used instead of, or in addition to, the hostname directive.
The “Services ” directive is used to identify the name of the service that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service).
¶ Service escalation
Service escalations are completely optional and are used to escalate notifications for a particular service.
¶ Add service escalation
To add a service escalation click the “Add“ button. The service escalation page will appear.
Fields in red are required. The “Hosts ” directive is used to identify the name of the host that the service escalation should apply to. “Contacts ” lists the contacts that should be notified whenever there are problems (or recoveries) with this service. You must specify at least one contact or contact group in each service escalation definition. The “Config name ” directive is used to specify a common configuration name for a service escalation configuration.
The “First notification ” field identifies the first notification for which this escalation is effective. For instance, if you set this value to 3, this escalation will only be used if the service is in a non-OK state long enough for a third notification to go out.
The “Last notification ” field identifies the last notification for which this escalation is effective. For instance, if you set this value to 5, this escalation will not be used if more than five notifications are sent out for the service. Setting this value to 0 means keep using this escalation entry forever (no matter how many notifications go out).
The “Notification interval ” determines the interval at which notifications should be made while this escalation is valid. If you specify a value of 0 for the interval, APM will send the first notification when this escalation definition is valid, but will then prevent any more problem notifications from being sent out for the service. Notifications are sent out again until the service recovers.
The “Host groups ” directive is used to identify the name(s) of the host group(s) that the escalation should apply to.
“Contact groups ” is used to identify the name of the contact group that should be notified when the service notification is escalated.