<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 6.0.4630.0"> <TITLE>True purpose for parents definition</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY>  What is the true purpose for parent definitions within a hosts entry in hosts.cfg? I thought it served 2 purposes: 1. To be able to construct a true status map 2. If Nagios sees a host is down and it is a parent to other hosts it will not notify about those hosts attached to the parent host. I currently have a router that is showing as Critical state, the check_host_alive check is failing with: CRITICAL - Plugin timed out after 10 seconds Because it’s fallen off the network for some reason. Attached to this host are 2 other hosts that have the router that is down specified as their parent host. I am now receiving 3 notifications, one for each of the hosts with the message above instead of just one for the parent host. Am I wrong in my thinking and I have to setup dependencies to make my 2 attached hosts dependant upon the downed router? If that is so then I’ll have to put in a service check for the router, such as a ping check? Thanks in advance Tony </BODY> </HTML>