Maintenance mode allows you to set a SCOM object to a suppressed state, allowing you to complete work on the object without additional alerts and errors being generated.
Objects that can be put into maintenance mode in SCOM (single objects, groups, DAs, EAs, etc.) have a convenient maintenance mode button on their drilldown in SquaredUp DS for SCOM. You can put the object into maintenance mode just by clicking the button and accessing the Maintenance Mode window. Additionally, the Maintenance Mode window allows you to create maintenance schedules - where you can specify precisely when and for how long to place SCOM objects into maintenance mode.
When you put objects into maintenance mode, the include contained objects option is selected by default. This means all contained sub-components (such as disks, software, or group members) are also put into maintenance mode along with the selected object. If you deselect this option, only the selected object is put in maintenance mode.
This information is not available when reviewing active windows: When viewing an active maintenance window, the include contained objects option is always shown as selected, regardless of whether it was selected when maintenance mode was started. This behavior matches how the SCOM console works. Information about the original state of the checkbox is not available for live maintenance mode windows because of how SCOM creates separate maintenance windows for each child object with nothing to link them together.
Note for Enterprise Applications (EAs): Putting an Enterprise Application (EA) into maintenance mode will also put the Dependencies into maintenance mode. Since you typically don't want all Dependencies in maintenance mode, it's better to put individual components of the EA into maintenance mode instead.
For example, if you want to put the components that make up your application and all the availability tests into maintenance mode, drill down to the Map and Availability objects and put them into maintenance mode, but leave the Dependencies.
View a distributed application or group in SquaredUp DS for SCOM by searching for it or drilling down from another dashboard.
Go to the object you want to put in maintenance mode by searching for it or drilling down from another dashboard.
On the drilldown page, click the maintenance mode button.
The maintenance mode window opens.
Click the New button in the Active section to create a new active maintenance instance. The New Maintenance Mode window opens.
Enter the settings for the maintenance mode:
Option
Description
objects
Displays the objects you are putting into maintenance mode. Optionally, you can search for further objects to add.
groups
Optionally, search for object groups to put into maintenance mode.
include contained objects
When this is checked child objects will also be put into maintenance mode.
When you put objects into maintenance mode, the include contained objects option is selected by default. This means all contained sub-components (such as disks, software, or group members) are also put into maintenance mode along with the selected object. If you deselect this option, only the selected object is put in maintenance mode.
This information is not available when reviewing active windows: When viewing an active maintenance window, the include contained objects option is always shown as selected, regardless of whether it was selected when maintenance mode was started. This behavior matches how the SCOM console works. Information about the original state of the checkbox is not available for live maintenance mode windows because of how SCOM creates separate maintenance windows for each child object with nothing to link them together.
Note for Enterprise Applications (EAs): Putting an Enterprise Application (EA) into maintenance mode will also put the Dependencies into maintenance mode. Since you typically don't want all Dependencies in maintenance mode, it's better to put individual components of the EA into maintenance mode instead.
For example, if you want to put the components that make up your application and all the availability tests into maintenance mode, drill down to the Map and Availability objects and put them into maintenance mode, but leave the Dependencies.
comment
Enter a comment for context and explanation, for instance if your server has failed due to low disk space you may want to give context when setting maintenance mode and correcting this issue.
reason
Choose a reason from the dropdown.
The difference between planned and unplanned categories is that planned maintenance can be excluded from affecting downtime on Service Level Objectives.
duration
Select how long the object will be in maintenance mode, in minutes, hours or days.
Click Save to put the object(s) into maintenance mode.
When an object is in maintenance mode, you'll see maintenance mode next to its name on the object's drilldown.
The health icon will display a wrench icon:
The same icon will also be displayed in tiles that show a health status for objects, such as the Status tile.
The object(s) will stay in maintenance mode for the time span you defined in the settings.
You can end or extend the maintenance mode in the maintenance pane at any time. If you closed the maintenance pane, click on maintenance mode next to the object's name to open it again.
If you finish your maintenance activities early, you can disable maintenance mode by clicking on disable in the maintenance mode pane to immediately end maintenance mode.
If you need to extend the maintenance mode time, enter a new duration in the maintenance mode pane and click on update .
View a distributed application or group in SquaredUp DS for SCOM by searching for it or drilling down from another dashboard.
Go to the object you want to put in maintenance mode by searching for it or drilling down from another dashboard.
On the drilldown page, click the maintenance mode button.
The maintenance mode window opens.
Click the New button in the Schedules section to create a new active maintenance instance. The New Schedule window opens.
Enter the settings for the scheduled maintenance mode:
Option
Description
objects
Displays the objects you are putting into maintenance mode. Optionally, you can search for further objects to add.
groups
Optionally, search for object groups to put into maintenance mode.
include contained objects
When this is checked child objects will also be put into maintenance mode.
When you put objects into maintenance mode, the include contained objects option is selected by default. This means all contained sub-components (such as disks, software, or group members) are also put into maintenance mode along with the selected object. If you deselect this option, only the selected object is put in maintenance mode.
This information is not available when reviewing active windows: When viewing an active maintenance window, the include contained objects option is always shown as selected, regardless of whether it was selected when maintenance mode was started. This behavior matches how the SCOM console works. Information about the original state of the checkbox is not available for live maintenance mode windows because of how SCOM creates separate maintenance windows for each child object with nothing to link them together.
Note for Enterprise Applications (EAs): Putting an Enterprise Application (EA) into maintenance mode will also put the Dependencies into maintenance mode. Since you typically don't want all Dependencies in maintenance mode, it's better to put individual components of the EA into maintenance mode instead.
For example, if you want to put the components that make up your application and all the availability tests into maintenance mode, drill down to the Map and Availability objects and put them into maintenance mode, but leave the Dependencies.
name
Enter a name for the maintenance schedule.
comment
Enter a comment for context and explanation, for instance if your server requires maintenance in a specific period you may want to give context when setting maintenance schedule and downtime.
reason
Choose a reason from the dropdown.
The difference between planned and unplanned categories is that planned maintenance can be excluded from affecting downtime on Service Level Objectives.
start date
Specify the date for the object to be put into maintenance mode.
start time
Specify the time the object will be placed into maintenance mode.
duration
Select how long the object will be in maintenance mode, in minutes, hours or days.
end time
Specify the time that maintenance mode for the object will end.
expires at
Select this check box to specify when the schedule is no longer needed.
frequency
Select how often to run the scheduled maintenance.
Click Save to save the maintenance schedule.
When an object is in maintenance mode, you'll see maintenance mode next to its name on the object's drilldown.
The health icon will display a wrench icon:
The same icon will also be displayed in tiles that show a health status for objects, such as the Status tile.
The object(s) will be placed in maintenance mode during the time span you defined in the settings.
You can end or extend the maintenance mode in the maintenance pane at any time. If you closed the maintenance pane, click on maintenance mode next to the object's name to open it again.
If you finish your maintenance activities early, you can disable maintenance mode by clicking on disable in the maintenance mode pane to immediately end maintenance mode.
If you need to extend the maintenance mode time, enter a new duration in the maintenance mode pane and click on update .
SCOM 2016 and above have a Maintenance Schedules feature which allows you to schedule one off or regular maintenance windows. This option is available to SCOM admins and can be accessed from the SCOM console under Monitoring > Maintenance Schedules.
In the preview versions of SCOM 2016, Maintenance Schedules was available under the Administration section.