Acknowledging Device Problems
Use the Acknowledge command, available from the Monitor Menu, to
acknowledge failures or problems in the network. When you acknowledge
a problem, the InterMapper program does the following:
- Changes the device's icon color to blue to show that
the problem has been acknowledged.
- Stops further notifications of the problem, either
for the duration of this outage, or for a specified time period.
- Writes any comment you enter into to the Event Log file,
along with the name and IP address of the user who acknowledged the problem.
- Displays the comment in the device's Status Window.
Why are Acknowledgements useful?
Acknowledgments allow the network administrator to see the state of
the network, as well as the responses that have been made to the current
set of problems.
Use Acknowledgements to:
- Indicate that someone has
taken responsibility for a problem - Because acknowledging a problem
turns the affected device's icon blue, it's easy to see that someone is
aware of (and is presumably working on) the problem.
- Emphasize new problems
- The normal color of icons on a map should be green (operating correctly)
or blue (having trouble, but being worked on.) When a new problem occurs,
the affected devices' color are red, orange or yellow, depending on the
severity. This makes it easy to see where new troubles lie. After acknowledgment,
these devices will also be blue.
- Suppress notification for
a problem device - When a device has been acknowledged, no further notifications
are sent.
- Provide information about
the problem and its management - Enter a comment to convey information
about the failure, and/or the corrective action.
Acknowledging a problem
To acknowledge a problem with a device:
- Click the device(s) you want to acknowledge.
- From the Monitor menu, choose Acknowledge... (Cmd-'
or Ctrl-'). The Acknowledge window appears.
- If you want keep the device in Acknowledgement mode
for a specific period of time, or for an indefinite period, choose Indefinite
or Timed... in the Ack column.
- If you want to suppress notifications for devices
that depend on this device, click to select the Block notifications
for dependent devices check box.
- Enter a comment, then click Acknowledge.
The selected device's icon changes to blue, and your comment is written
to the Event Log file. Notifications are cancelled for the selected device
for the duration of this outage.
Basic, Timed and Indefinite Acknowledgements
InterMapper offers three kinds of acknowledgements:
Basic
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The device is acknowledged, and notifications are suppressed until it
gets better or worse. The icon turns blue to indicate that someone has
taken responsibility for it, and that no further notifications will be
sent.
As soon as the device's state changes to any other status, its acknowledge
status is automatically cleared, and notifications resume. From then on,
notifications are sent for any subsequent failures.
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Down, with Basic Acknowledgement
|
Timed
|
The device is acknowledged, and notifications suppressed for the specified
period of time. The icon turns blue (if it's not okay), and the wrench
badge appears to show that notifications will be blocked for the specified
time. In this case, the state of the device is OK.
|
Up, with Timed Acknowledgement
|
Indefinite
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The device remains acknowledged until the operator unacknowledges
it.
As with the Timed acknowledgement, the icon turns blue and the
wrench badge appears to remind the operator that notifications are suppressed. In this case, the device is DOWN.
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Down, with Indefinite Acknowledgment
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Note: With timed and indefinite acknowledge,
you can acknowledge a device even when it is up and okay (i.e., green).
This is useful if you know that there may be future outages (for example,
planned maintenance) with the device, and you want to avoid extraneous
notifications. You cannot do this with Basic Acknowledge.
Note: The presence of the wrench badge
is a safety measure. When you scan the map visually, the wrench indicates
devices whose notifications are currently being blocked.
Acknowledgements and Dependencies
When you acknowledge a device, use the Block notifications for
dependent devices check box to specify whether the acknowledged
device should be considered in finding dependencies. Checking the box
suppresses notifications for any device "on the other side"
of the device being acknowledged.
To suppress notifications for all devices
that are dependent on the selected device:
- Check the Block notifications for dependent devices
box. Notifications are suppressed for any device that depends on the selected
device.
For more information on dependencies and dependent devices, see Using
Notification Dependencies.
Unacknowledging a Device
Use the Unacknowledge command to restore the device to its current notification state.
To remove the acknowledgement for a device:
- Click to select the device, or choose multiple devices.
- From the Monitor menu, choose Un-Acknowledge.
The selected devices are returned to their current notification states,
and their notifications are no longer suppressed.