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Configure mute timings

A mute timing is a recurring interval of time when no new notifications for a policy are generated or sent. Use them to prevent alerts from firing a specific and reoccurring period, for example, a regular maintenance period or weekends.

Note

Mute timings are assigned to a specific Alertmanager and only suppress notifications for alerts managed by that Alertmanager.

Mute timings vs silences

Mute timings and silences are distinct methods to suppress notifications. They do not prevent alert rules from being evaluated or stop alert instances from appearing in the user interface; they only prevent notifications from being created.

The following table highlights the key differences between mute timings and silences.

Mute timingSilence
SetupCreated and then added to notification policiesMatches alerts using labels to determine whether to silence them
PeriodUses time interval definitions that can repeat periodicallyHas a fixed start and end time

Add mute timings

  1. In the left-side menu, click Alerts & IRM, and then Alerting.
  2. Click Notification policies and then the Mute Timings tab.
  3. From the Alertmanager dropdown, select an external Alertmanager. By default, the Grafana Alertmanager is selected.
  4. Click + Add mute timing.
  5. Fill out the form to create a time interval to match against for your mute timing.
  6. Save your mute timing.

Add mute timing to a notification policy

  1. In the left-side menu, click Alerts & IRM, and then Alerting.
  2. Click Notification policies and make sure you are on the Notification Policies tab.
  3. Find the notification policy you would like to add the mute timing to and click … -> Edit.
  4. From the Mute timings dropdown, choose the mute timings you would like to add to the policy.
  5. Save your changes.

Time intervals

A time interval is a specific duration during which alerts are suppressed. The duration typically consists of a specific time range and the days of the week, month, or year.

A mute timing can contain multiple time intervals.

Supported time interval options are:

  • Time range: The time inclusive of the start and exclusive of the end time (in UTC if no location has been selected, otherwise local time).
  • Location: Depending on the location you select, the time range is displayed in local time.
  • Days of the week: The day or range of days of the week. Example: monday:thursday.
  • Days of the month: The date 1-31 of a month. Negative values can also be used to represent days that begin at the end of the month. For example: -1 for the last day of the month.
  • Months: The months of the year in either numerical or the full calendar month. For example: 1, may:august.
  • Years: The year or years for the interval. For example: 2021:2024.

All fields are lists; to match the field, at least one list element must be satisfied. Fields also support ranges using : (e.g., monday:thursday).

If a field is left blank, any moment of time matches the field. For an instant of time to match a complete time interval, all fields must match.

If you want to specify an exact duration, specify all the options.

Example

If you wanted to create a time interval for the first Monday of the month, for March, June, September, and December, between the hours of 12:00 and 24:00 UTC your time interval specification would be:

  • Time range:
    • Start time: 12:00
    • End time: 24:00
  • Days of the week: monday
  • Months: 3, 6, 9, 12
  • Days of the month: 1:7