.. _on_call_rotations:

On-Call Rotations
*****************

Introduction
============

.. image:: /_static/images/objects-contacts.png
   :align: center

Admins often have to shoulder the burden of answering pagers, cell phone
calls, etc. when they least desire them. No one likes to be woken up at
4 am to fix a problem. But its often better to fix the problem in the
middle of the night, rather than face the wrath of an unhappy boss when
you stroll in at 9 am the next morning.

For those lucky admins who have a team of gurus who can help share the
responsibility of answering alerts, on-call rotations are often
setup. Multiple admins will often alternate taking notifications on
weekends, weeknights, holidays, etc.

I'll show you how you can create :ref:`timeperiod <timeperiods>`
definitions in a way that can facilitate most on-call notification
rotations. These definitions won't handle human issues that will
inevitably crop up (admins calling in sick, swapping shifts, or throwing
their pagers into the river), but they will allow you to setup a basic
structure that should work the majority of the time.

Scenario 1: Holidays and Weekends
=================================

Two admins - John and Bob - are responsible for responding to Centreon
Engine alerts. John receives all notifications for weekdays (with 24
hour days), excluding holidays; Bob handles notifications during the
weekends and holidays. Lucky Bob. Here's how you can define this type of
rotation using timeperiods...

First, define 3 timeperiods that contains time ranges for holidays,
weekdays, and weekends::

  define timeperiod{
    name            weekdays
    timeperiod_name weekdays
    monday          00:00-24:00
    tuesday         00:00-24:00
    wednesday       00:00-24:00
    thursday        00:00-24:00
    friday          00:00-24:00
  }

  define timeperiod{
    name            weekends
    timeperiod_name weekends
    saturday        00:00-24:00
    sunday          00:00-24:00
  }

  define timeperiod{
    name                holidays
    timeperiod_name     holidays
    january 1           00:00-24:00 ; New Year's Day
    2008-03-23          00:00-24:00 ; Easter (2008)
    2009-04-12          00:00-24:00 ; Easter (2009)
    monday -1 may       00:00-24:00 ; Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)
    july 4              00:00-24:00 ; Independence Day
    monday 1 september  00:00-24:00 ; Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
    thursday 4 november 00:00-24:00 ; Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November)
    december 25         00:00-24:00 ; Christmas
    december 31         17:00-24:00 ; New Year's Eve (5pm onwards)
  }

Next, define a timeperiod for John's on-call times that include
weekdays, but excludes the dates/times defined in the holidays
timeperiod above::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name john-oncall
    use             weekdays ; Include weekdays
    exclude         holidays ; Exclude holiday dates/times defined elsewhere
  }

You can now reference this timeperiod in John's contact definition::

  define contact{
    contact_name                john
    ...
    host_notification_period    john-oncall
    service_notification_period john-oncall
  }

Define a new timeperiod for Bob's on-call times that include weekends
and the dates/times defined in the holidays timeperiod above::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name bob-oncall
    use             weekends,holidays   ; Include weekend and holiday date/times defined elsewhere
  }

You can now reference this timeperiod in Bob's contact definition::

  define contact{
    contact_name                bob
    ...
    host_notification_period    bob-oncall
    service_notification_period bob-oncall
  }

Scenario 2: Alternating Days
============================

In this scenario John and Bob alternate handling alerts every other
day - regardless of whether its a weekend, weekday, or holiday.

Define a timeperiod for when John should receive notifications. Assuming
today's date is August 1st, 2007 and John is handling notifications
starting today, the definition would look like this::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name john-oncall
    2007-08-01 / 2  00:00-24:00 ; Every two days, starting August 1st,
    2007
  }

Now define a timeperiod for when Bob should receive notifications. Bob
gets notifications on the days that John doesn't, so his first on-call
day starts tomorrow (August 2nd, 2007)::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name bob-oncall
    2007-08-02 / 2  00:00-24:00 ; Every two days, starting August 2nd, 2007
  }

Now you need to reference these timeperiod definitions in the contact
definitions for John and Bob::

  define contact{
    contact_name                john
    ...
    host_notification_period    john-oncall
    service_notification_period john-oncall
  }

  define contact{
    contact_name                bob
    ...
    host_notification_period    bob-oncall
    service_notification_period bob-oncall
  }

Scenario 3: Alternating Weeks
=============================

In this scenario John and Bob alternate handling alerts every other
week. John handles alerts Sunday through Saturday one week, and Bob
handles alerts for the following seven days. This continues in
perpetuity.

Define a timeperiod for when John should receive notifications. Assuming
today's date is Sunday, July 29th, 2007 and John is handling
notifications this week (starting today), the definition would look like
this::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name john-oncall
    2007-07-29 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every 14 days (two weeks), starting Sunday, July 29th, 2007
    2007-07-30 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Monday starting July 30th, 2007
    2007-07-31 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Tuesday starting July 31st, 2007
    2007-08-01 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Wednesday starting August 1st, 2007
    2007-08-02 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Thursday starting August 2nd, 2007
    2007-08-03 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Friday starting August 3rd, 2007
    2007-08-04 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Saturday starting August 4th, 2007
  }

Now define a timeperiod for when Bob should receive notifications. Bob
gets notifications on the weeks that John doesn't, so his first on-call
day starts next Sunday (August 5th, 2007)::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name bob-oncall
    2007-08-05 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every 14 days (two weeks), starting Sunday, August 5th, 2007
    2007-08-06 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Monday starting August 6th, 2007
    2007-08-07 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Tuesday starting August 7th, 2007
    2007-08-08 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Wednesday starting August 8th, 2007
    2007-08-09 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Thursday starting August 9th, 2007
    2007-08-10 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Friday starting August 10th, 2007
    2007-08-11 / 14 00:00-24:00 ; Every other Saturday starting August 11th, 2007
  }

Now you need to reference these timeperiod definitions in the contact
definitions for John and Bob::

  define contact{
    contact_name                john
    ...
    host_notification_period    john-oncall
    service_notification_period john-oncall
  }

  define contact{
    contact_name                bob
    ...
    host_notification_period    bob-oncall
    service_notification_period bob-oncall
  }

Scenario 4: Vacation Days
=========================

In this scenarios, John handles notifications for all days except those
he has off. He has several standing days off each month, as well as some
planned vacations. Bob handles notifications when John is on vacation or
out of the office.

First, define a timeperiod that contains time ranges for John's vacation
days and days off::

  define timeperiod{
    name                    john-out-of-office
    timeperiod_name         john-out-of-office
    day 15                  00:00-24:00 ; 15th day of each month
    day -1                  00:00-24:00 ; Last day of each month (28th, 29th, 30th, or 31st)
    day -2                  00:00-24:00 ; 2nd to last day of each month (27th, 28th, 29th, or 30th)
    january 2               00:00-24:00 ; January 2nd each year
    june 1 - july 5         00:00-24:00 ; Yearly camping trip (June 1st - July 5th)
    2007-11-01 - 2007-11-10 00:00-24:00 ; Vacation to the US Virgin Islands (November 1st-10th, 2007)
  }

Next, define a timeperiod for John's on-call times that excludes the
dates/times defined in the timeperiod above::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperiod_name john-oncall
    monday          00:00-24:00
    tuesday         00:00-24:00
    wednesday       00:00-24:00
    thursday        00:00-24:00
    friday          00:00-24:00
    exclude         john-out-of-office ; Exclude dates/times John is out
  }

You can now reference this timeperiod in John's contact definition::

  define contact{
    contact_name                john
    ...
    host_notification_period    john-oncall
    service_notification_period john-oncall
  }

Define a new timeperiod for Bob's on-call times that include the
dates/times that John is out of the office::

  define timeperiod{
    timeperod_name bob-oncall
    use            john-out-of-office ; Include holiday date/times that John is out
  }

You can now reference this timeperiod in Bob's contact definition::

  define contact{
    contact_name                bob
    ...
    host_notification_period    bob-oncall
    service_notification_period bob-oncall
  }

Other Scenarios
===============

There are a lot of other on-call notification rotation scenarios that
you might have. The date exception directive in
:ref:`timeperiod definitions <obj_def_timeperiod>`
is capable of handling most dates and date ranges that you might need to
use, so check out the different formats that you can use. If you make a
mistake when creating timeperiod definitions, always err on the side of
giving someone else more on-call duty time. :-)

