by Jonas Lenntun, on Jul 1, 2025 9:52:26 AM
Server restarts are routine, but in SCOM they often result in unwanted alerts if not handled properly. The Opslogix Autonomous Maintenance Mode Management Pack addresses this by automatically managing maintenance mode during restarts, minimizing false alerts and improving operational efficiency.
The Autonomous Maintenance Mode Management Pack brings practical automation to a core task, helping IT teams save time and avoid unnecessary noise.
Features and benefits
1. Automatic Maintenance Mode during server restarts
When a Windows server is restarted, either manually or as part of a scheduled update, the Autonomous Maintenance Mode Management Pack detects the action and automatically places the server in maintenance mode. This prevents false alerts during the reboot process.
The mechanism relies on Windows Event ID 1074, which is logged during restarts. The Management Pack uses this event to detect restart actions and trigger maintenance mode. Note: This process applies only to restart events, not shutdowns.
For example: during routine patching of a Windows Server using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), the server will be restarted. The Management Pack detects this restart event and immediately places the server in maintenance mode for 30 minutes. This avoids generating false alerts for services going offline and ensures a clean restart process without noise in the monitoring system.
2. Flexible timing and override options
By default, a server will remain in maintenance mode for 5 minutes after a manually triggered restart, and for 30 minutes after a restart triggered through System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
Admins can customize the duration of maintenance mode using SCOM overrides, allowing for greater flexibility depending on the environment or restart context.
3. Maintains integrity of pre-existing Maintenance States
Before applying maintenance mode to a server, the Management Pack checks if any objects on the server (e.g., a SQL database) are already in maintenance mode. It preserves these object-level states throughout the process.
Once the server is back online, the Management Pack ends maintenance mode for the server, but restores the prior maintenance mode state for any objects that were already in maintenance.
This ensures that temporary server-wide actions do not interfere with planned or longer-term maintenance at the object level.
4. Local GUI and expert options for manual control
The Management Pack also includes a lightweight application that can be deployed to servers, giving administrators the ability to initiate maintenance mode directly from the server, without accessing the SCOM console.
There are multiple options for initiating maintenance manually:
- Standard GUI Mode: Start maintenance mode immediately, with manual stop or scheduled stop time.
- Scheduled Mode: Set a start and stop time for maintenance.
- Expert Mode: Schedule maintenance for computers, applications, or Distributed Applications (DAs). This requires SCOM SDK access and appropriate user credentials.
These modes provide flexibility for teams that need both automation and manual control in different scenarios.
5. Exclusions for management servers
To maintain stability, the Management Pack is configured not to place SCOM management servers into maintenance mode, even if they are restarted. This ensures that monitoring continues uninterrupted for the rest of the environment.
Summary
The Opslogix Autonomous Maintenance Mode Management Pack streamlines server restarts in SCOM. By automatically applying and managing maintenance mode during restarts, it reduces false alerts and gives teams better control over planned and unplanned downtime.
Are you interested in learning more? The Opslogix Autonomous Maintenance Mode Management Pack is a part of our Digital Operations Framework, which is included in our Monitoring as a Service.