How to suppress automatic case creation during scheduled maintenance windows

Content

Issue Description

During a scheduled maintenance window, expected events such as reboot and takeover activity generate AutoSupport messages. These messages create Technical Support cases that result in users' receiving e-mails from IBM and phone calls from Technical Support personnel asking questions about the cases. This activity can affect the user satisfaction and can needlessly consume Technical Support resources.

Solution

IBM has introduced a new AutoSupport feature that prevents unnecessary cases from being created by AutoSupport messages during a scheduled maintenance window.
To use this case-suppression feature, a storage administrator generates a manually invoked, or user-triggered, AutoSupport message with the specially formatted text string MAINT=<x>h, where <x> is the duration of the maintenance window in hours.
For information on the CLI syntax, see the following table:

When IBM has received the user-triggered AutoSupport message, case creation is immediately suppressed for the specified time period. After that time period, case creation is automatically re-enabled.

Note:

• Text strings are not case-sensitive.
• The letter 'h' suffix is optional.
   

• How soon does the suspension of automatic case creation take effect?
  Case creation is suspended as soon as the IBM AutoSupport servers receive and process the manually invoked AutoSupport message with the appropriate text string. The typical processing delay is about 10 to 15 minutes.
   
• Do I get any confirmation when IBM receives the AutoSupport message or when the maintenance window expires?
  Yes. An e-mail is sent to all destination addresses that are specified by the autosupport.to option (7-Mode) or by the –to parameter (clustered Data ONTAP) of the storage system’s AutoSupport configuration.
   
• Can I end the maintenance window before the previously indicated duration has elapsed?
  Yes. If you need to end the maintenance window and resume automatic case creation immediately, invoke another AutoSupport message with the MAINT=END or MAINT=STOP text string.
   
• Is there a maximum duration for the maintenance window?
  Yes. The maximum duration is 72 hours. If a greater duration is specified, the window is capped at 72 hours. If the maintenance window requires more than 72 hours, a new AutoSupport message must be invoked to extend the maintenance window.
   
• What happens if I inadvertently trigger another AutoSupport message with this parameter during the previously indicated maintenance window?
  In that case, the previously recorded duration is reset; that is, the duration clock is restarted based on the newly specified parameter. If that action is unacceptable, you can terminate the maintenance window immediately by invoking an AutoSupport message with the MAINT=END text string. You can then invoke another AutoSupport message with the correct remaining duration of the maintenance window.
   
• Which Data ONTAP versions support this new AutoSupport feature?
  This feature was specifically designed to work with any supported Data ONTAP version.
   
• Does this capability work for IBM E-Series storage arrays, as well?
  No. At this time, the case-suppression feature works for Data ONTAP storage systems only. We are considering extending this functionality for E-Series storage arrays in the future.
   
• What happens if a hardware fault or other issue occurs during a scheduled maintenance window, and the controller triggers an AutoSupport message that in a normal situation would automatically open a case?
  With this new feature, no cases are created during a scheduled maintenance window. For genuine failures during the maintenance window, you must manually log a case with IBM Support.