How alerts work with CIs in maintenance

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated June 2, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of How alerts work with CIs in maintenance

    This content explains how ServiceNow Event Management handles alerts related to Configuration Items (CIs) that are in maintenance. A CI is considered in maintenance if there is an active change request scheduled or if itsInstall Statusfield is set toIn Maintenance. Understanding this behavior helps you manage alerts effectively during planned changes and maintenance windows.

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    How Alerts Behave for CIs in Maintenance

    • Active Change Request or Install Status In Maintenance:
      • All alerts on the affected CI are excluded from impact calculations; they do not affect the impact tree or service map.
      • The Alerts tab hides alerts related to these CIs temporarily.
      • The CI is shown in green with a note "(In Maintenance)" in the impact tree and service map.
      • For services containing such CIs, all related alerts are hidden, and the entire service appears green.
      • For hosts with active change requests, child applications are treated as part of the host until the change completes.
    • Change Request Active State Definition:
      • The change request state is Scheduled or Implement.
      • The current time falls between the planned or actual start and end dates of the change request.
    • Inactive Change Requests or CI Not in Maintenance:
      • Impact calculation resumes, and alerts appear normally in the impact tree, service map, and Alerts tab.
      • Inactive states include New, Assess, Authorize, Review, Close, or if the current time is outside the scheduled maintenance window.
      • You can address alerts as usual during inactive change request states.
    • CI in Maintenance without Active Change Request:
      • Alerts are excluded from impact calculations similar to active change requests when the CI’s Install Status is set to In Maintenance.
      • These CIs appear green in the impact tree with the Maintenance note.

    Practical Guidance

    • Monitor the progress of change requests to know when alerts related to CIs in maintenance should be addressed—typically after the change request moves to Review or Closed state.
    • The Maintenance checkbox on alerts is automatically selected based on the CI’s Install Status, helping you identify which alerts are hidden during maintenance.
    • Use the impact tree, service map, and Alerts tab to get a clear view of the current impact severity considering maintenance windows.
    • To customize alert behavior during maintenance, create and configure maintenance rules within your ServiceNow instance.

    When a CI is in maintenance, the impact tree, the service map, and Alerts tab are updated based on various factors.

    Watch this brief video to learn about how alerts work with CIs.

    A CI is in maintenance when:
    • A change request is scheduled for the CI.
    • The Install Status field on the CI record is set to In Maintenance.
    Note:
    To customize how alerts work with CIs in maintenance, see Create maintenance rules.
    How CIs in Maintenance appear in Event Management Description and the optimal time to resolve the alert
    Figure 1. CI with an active change request
    Event Management impact

    If an active change request is scheduled for the CI or if the Install Status of the CI is In Maintenance, all alerts on the affected CI are excluded from impact calculation. The Alerts tab also temporarily hides all corresponding alerts. The impact tree shows the CI in green with a note of (In Maintenance). The impact tree and the service map temporarily show CIs in green.

    For a service, all alerts on CIs in the service are also hidden from the Alerts tab. The entire service is shown in green on the impact tree. For a host with an active change request, the host applications are considered as one unit. All child applications are treated in the same manner as the host until the change request is no longer active.

    		An active change request has the following values:
    • The State is Scheduled or Implement.
    • The current time is between the Planned start date and Planned end date on the change request.

      OR

    • The current time is between the Actual start date and Actual end date on the change request.
    You can monitor the progress of the change request. Wait until the change request moves to the Review or Closed state. Then you can address all alerts for the affected CI and any alerts that generated between start and end dates. Use the impact tree, topology, and Alerts tab to show the calculated impact severity.
    Note:

    The Maintenance check box for an alert is selected when the Install Status field on the CI record is In Maintenance. This Maintenance check box indicates that the alert must be hidden from the Alerts tab. When the maintenance job updates this field, the Updated field (sys_updated_on) changes for open alerts, but not for closed alerts.

    Figure 2. CI with no active change request and not in maintenance
    Event Management map

    When there is no active change request for a CI and when the CI is not in maintenance, impact calculation resumes. The impact tree, the service map, and Alerts tab show the calculated impact severity for alerts.

    		 An inactive change request has the following values:
    • The State is New, Assess, Authorize, Review, Close, or has no changes at all.
    • The State is Scheduled or Implement. However, the current time is before or after the planned or actual date ranges on the change request.

    You can monitor the progress of the change request. When a CI has an inactive change request, you can address the corresponding alerts as appropriate.
    Figure 3. CI with no active change request and in maintenance
    Event Management impact

    If no active change request is scheduled for the CI and if the Install Status of the CI is In Maintenance, all alerts on this CI are excluded from impact calculation. The impact tree shows the CI in green with a note of (In Maintenance). The impact tree and the service map temporarily show CIs in green.

    		 All alerts on a CI with an inactive change request and In Maintenance has no impact calculation.