Time Periods

Time periods control when a Nagios check job is allowed to run. Each time period is a named schedule with one or more allow rules.

Outside the active time period, the check does not execute and its state becomes paused.
The built-in 24x7 period (always allowed) is the default check_period.
Set the check_period option in a job to reference a named time period.
Define custom time periods using the time_periods option within the same job.

Rule Types

Type	Description	Key Fields
`weekly`	Repeats on specific weekdays	`days`, `ranges`
`nth_weekday`	Nth occurrence of a weekday in a month	`weekday`, `nth`, `ranges`
`date`	Specific calendar dates	`dates`, `ranges`

Fields

days — List of weekday names: monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday
ranges — List of time ranges in HH:MM-HH:MM format (e.g., "09:00-18:00"). Use "00:00-24:00" for all day.
weekday — Single weekday name (for nth_weekday rules)
nth — Which occurrence of the weekday in the month (1 = first, 2 = second, etc.)
dates — List of calendar dates in YYYY-MM-DD format
exclude — List of other time period names to subtract from this period

Examples

Business hours (Mon–Fri, 09:00–18:00)

yaml

time_periods:
  - name: business_hours
    alias: Business Hours
    rules:
      - type: weekly
        days: [monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday]
        ranges: ["09:00-18:00"]

First Monday maintenance window each month

yaml

time_periods:
  - name: first_monday_maintenance
    alias: First Monday Maint
    rules:
      - type: nth_weekday
        weekday: monday
        nth: 1
        ranges: ["02:00-04:00"]

Holiday blackout by specific dates

yaml

time_periods:
  - name: holidays
    alias: Holiday Blackout
    rules:
      - type: date
        dates: ["2026-12-25", "2026-12-31"]
        ranges: ["00:00-24:00"]

Always allowed, except during maintenance and holidays

yaml

time_periods:
  - name: run_checks
    alias: Run Checks
    rules:
      - type: weekly
        days: [sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday]
        ranges: ["00:00-24:00"]
    exclude: [first_monday_maintenance, holidays]

Notes

Date format is strict YYYY-MM-DD.
Time range format is strict HH:MM-HH:MM. 24:00 is valid only as an end boundary.
The built-in 24x7 period is always available and is the default check_period.