Nagios Professional Certification

Service Dependency Directives

Directive Definition Required?

dependency_period This directive is used to specify the short name of the time period during which this
dependency is valid. If this directive is not specified, the dependency is considered No
to be valid during all times.

dependent_host_name This directive is used to identify the short name(s) of the host(s) that the dependent
service "runs" on or is associated with. Multiple hosts should be separated by
Yes
commas. Leaving this directive blank can be used to create "same host"
dependencies.

dependent_hostgroup_name This directive is used to specify the short name(s) of the hostgroup(s) that the
dependent service "runs" on or is associated with. Multiple hostgroups should be
separated by commas. The dependent_hostgroup may be used instead of, or in No
addition to, the dependent_host directive.

dependent_service_description This directive is used to identify the description of the dependent service. Yes

dependent_servicegroup_name This directive is used to specify the short name(s) of the servicegroup(s) that the
dependent service "runs" on or is associated with. Multiple servicegroups should be No
separated by commas.

execution_failure_criteria This directive is used to specify the criteria that determine when the dependent
service should not be actively checked. If the master service is in one of the failure
states we specify, the dependent service will not be actively checked. Valid options
are a combination of one or more of the following (multiple options are separated
with commas): 



o = fail on an OK state

w = fail on a WARNING state

u = fail on an UNKNOWN state
 No
c = fail on a CRITICAL state

p = fail on a pending state (e.g. the service has not yet been checked) 

n = the execution dependency will never fail and checks of the dependent service
will always be actively checked (if other conditions allow for it to be) 



Example: If you specify o,c,u in this field, the dependent service will not be
actively checked if the master service is in either an OK, a CRITICAL, or an
UNKNOWN state.

host_name This directive is used to identify the short name(s) of the host(s) that the service
that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service) "runs" on or is Yes
associated with. Multiple hosts should be separated by commas.

hostgroup_name This directive is used to identify the short name(s) of the hostgroup(s) that the
service that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service) "runs"
No
on or is associated with. Multiple hostgroups should be separated by commas. The
hostgroup_name may be used instead of, or in addition to, the host_name directive.

inherits_parent This directive indicates whether or not the dependency inherits dependencies of the
service that is being depended upon (also referred to as the master service). In other
words, if the master service is dependent upon other services and any one of those No
dependencies fail, this dependency will also fail.

Page 1 of 2
notification_failure_criteria This directive is used to define the criteria that determine when notifications for the
dependent service should not be sent out. If the master service is in one of the
failure states we specify, notifications for the dependent service will not be sent to
contacts. Valid options are a combination of one or more of the following: 



o = fail on an OK state

w = fail on a WARNING state

u = fail on an UNKNOWN state
 No
c = fail on a CRITICAL state

p = fail on a pending state (e.g. the service has not yet been checked)

n = the notification dependency will never fail and notifications for the dependent
service will always be sent out 



Example: If you specify w in this field, the notifications for the dependent service
will not be sent out if the master service is in a WARNING state.

service_description This directive is used to identify the description of the service that is being
Yes
depended upon (also referred to as the master service).

servicegroup_name This directive is used to specify the short name(s) of the servicegroup(s) that will
No
inherit the dependency. Multiple servicegroups should be separated by commas.

Page 2 of 2