Acknowledging Device and Link Problems

Use the Acknowledge command, available from the Monitor Menu, to acknowledge failures or problems in the network. When you acknowledge a problem, Intermapper does the following:

  • Changes the device icon or link 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.
  • Logs your comments in the Event Log file, along with the name and IP address of the user who acknowledged the problem.
  • Displays the comment in the device or link's Status window.

Why Are Acknowledgments 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 do the following:

  • Indicate that someone has taken responsibility for a problem - because acknowledging a problem turns the affected device's icon blue, it is 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 are red, orange, or yellow, depending on the device status. This makes it easy to see where new troubles are. After acknowledgment, these devices are turned to 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:

  1. For devices, click or Right-click or Ctrl-click (Mac) the device(s) you want to acknowledge.

    For interfaces, Right-click or Ctrl-click (Mac) the link.

  2. From the Monitor menu or Context menu, select Acknowledge. The Acknowledge window is displayed.
  3. To keep the device or link in Acknowledgment mode for a specific period of time, or for an indefinite period, select Indefinite or Timed in the Ack column.
  4. To suppress notifications for devices that depend on this device, select the Block notifications for dependent devices check box.
  5. Enter a comment and click Acknowledge. The selected device's icon changes to blue and your comment is written to the Event Log file. Notifications are canceled for the selected device for the duration of this outage.

Basic, Timed, and Indefinite Acknowledgments

Intermapper offers the following device acknowledgments:

Basic

The device or link is acknowledged and notifications are suppressed until it gets better or worse. The device icon or link turns blue to indicate that someone has taken responsibility for it, and that no further notifications are sent.

As soon as the device or link state changes to another status, its acknowledge status is automatically cleared and notifications resume. After that, notifications are sent for any subsequent failures.


Down, with Basic Acknowledgment


Link, with Basic Acknowledgment
Timed

The device or link is acknowledged and notifications suppressed for the specified period of time. In this case, the device state is OK.

The icon or link turns blue if it is not okay and the clock badge is displayed to show that notifications are blocked for the specified time.


Up, with Timed Acknowledgement


Link, with Timed Acknowledgment
Indefinite

The device or link remains acknowledged until the operator unacknowledges it.

As with the Timed acknowledgment, the icon turns blue and the wrench badge is displayed to remind the operator that notifications are suppressed. In this case, the device is DOWN.

Down, with Indefinite Acknowledgment


Link, with Indefinite Acknowledgement

NOTE:
  • When you acknowledge an interface outage, the interface's link turns blue, rather than the device itself, and an X, wrench, or clock is displayed on the link, depending on whether it is a Basic, Indefinite, or Timed Acknowledgment.
  • With timed and indefinite acknowledgment, 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.
  • 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.

Acknowledgments 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. Selecting this check 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:

Select the Block notifications for dependent devices check 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.

Use the Unacknowledge command to restore the device to its current notification state.

To remove a device acknowledgment:

  1. Select a single or multiple devices.
  2. From the Monitor menu, select Un-Acknowledge. The selected devices are returned to their current notification states and their notifications are no longer suppressed.

To remove a link acknowledgment:

  1. Right-click or Ctrl-click (Mac) the link. The Context menu is displayed.
  2. From the Context menu, select Un-Acknowledge. The selected link is returned to its current notification state, and notifications for the link are no longer suppressed.