CanaryAlertEarly Access
OverviewGetting StartedEmail ForwardingHTTP PingClassification RulesIntegrationsMaintenance WindowsSource GroupsReportsDigest Notifications

Maintenance Windows

Maintenance windows let you suppress alerts during planned downtime. When a window is active, CanaryAlert still processes emails and tracks events, but it won't fire alerts for failures or missing emails.

How it works

During a maintenance window:

  • •Incoming emails are still received and classified normally
  • •Events are still recorded in the timeline
  • •Alerts for FAILURE, WARNING, and MISSING are suppressed
  • •The dead man's switch is paused for affected sources

When the window ends, normal alerting resumes automatically.

Setting up a maintenance window

  1. 1Go to the Dashboard and click Maintenance Windows in the sidebar.
  2. 2Click Add Window and give it a name (e.g., "Saturday patching").
  3. 3Set the start time and end time. Times use your configured timezone.
  4. 4Choose which sources the window applies to. You can select individual sources or an entire source group.
  5. 5Optionally set a recurrence (e.g., every Saturday) so the window repeats automatically.

Timezone handling

Maintenance windows use the timezone configured in your Settings. If your team spans multiple timezones, set the window in the timezone of the systems being maintained.

Cross-midnight windows

Windows can span midnight. For example, setting a start time of 11:00 PM and an end time of 3:00 AM creates a 4-hour window that crosses into the next day. CanaryAlert handles this automatically.

Tips

  • • Create recurring windows for regular patching schedules so you never forget to suppress alerts.
  • • Use source groups to quickly apply a window to all related sources (e.g., all servers in a site).
  • • Check the event timeline after maintenance to verify everything came back healthy.

Next guide

Source Groups