This is a feature request to add more sophisticated calendar logic and blackout options to the unmanage function in NPM.
My monitoring team has been tasked with creating a solution that will import patch schedules in an agreed upon format (.xml or spreadsheet format) into a utility that can either toggle an existing node-level custom property or issue an unmanage for a node when it needs to be patched.
The input file includes the fqdn or management IP address as the primary key, along with date/time/duration info for its patching window (perhaps using cron-like directives).
An extension of this would be to have the input file include the business unit or functional area (business application) that each device is a member of, and this client code would be used to perform a blackout for all nodes containing that code.
Having the ability to unmanage or suppress alerts for large numbers of managed nodes in Orion during planned or unplanned outages has long been on the wishlist, and the ability to accept and process these directives in a standard format would be a huge selling point with customers.
Existing product functionality like a logfile monitoring template or file watcher could be employed as a vehicle for this purpose, or a published integration between patch management tools and the Orion API would be well-received!
