Managing reboot windows

BMC Client Management provides automated rebooting after specific operations, such as after a patch or a software installation, when it is necessary. However, end users should not be interrupted with a reboot request at the wrong time. Reboot windows are specifically designed with regards to critical situations and allow the BMC Client Management administrator to define timeframes in which devices can be rebooted or are absolutely not to be rebooted. A reboot window's role is to provide a simple lookup service to verify whether the reboot can take place. 

All reboot windows are created and managed under the Global Settings > Reboot Windows node. Each reboot window consists of information for every hour of the week, starting from 0:00 on Monday all the way to 23:00 on the following Sunday. As such the window does not, and cannot, control rebooting based on anything such as predefined calendar dates or times. As an example, the setting configured for the 8:00 slot on Wednesday controls device reboots between 8:00 and 8:59:59 for every Wednesday regardless of date. A reboot window authorizes, for example, the reboot of a device requested by a patch, but does not execute it.

Reboot windows can be assigned at will to devices and device groups. A device can have more than one reboot window assigned. But be aware, that if there is more than one window assigned and these windows do not have common allowed timeframes, the device can never reboot.

This topic includes:

• Creating a new reboot window
• Defining reboot window time-slots
• Assigning reboot windows
• Activating reboot window
• Reassigning reboot windows to their targets