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Maintenance window lifecycle

  • Latest Dynatrace
  • Explanation
  • 4-min read
  • Published Jun 23, 2026
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Maintenance windows go through three phases: start, active, and end. Each phase triggers actions in Grail and OpenPipeline that enrich telemetry with maintenance metadata.

At the start and end of a maintenance window, Dynatrace creates an event in Grail.

While a maintenance window is active, Dynatrace automatically adds maintenance metadata to metrics and specific events that match the window's DQL filter criteria. This metadata flags data produced during maintenance.

Maintenance enrichment provides a consistent context across the Dynatrace platform. Use it to filter dashboards, refine alerting rules, adjust workflow logic, and improve reporting and availability calculations.

Lifecycle overview

PhaseWhat happens

Start

Dynatrace records a maintenance window start event in Grail and creates an OpenPipeline enrichment rule.

Active

Incoming telemetry matching the window's filter criteria is enriched with maintenance attributes.

End

Dynatrace records a maintenance window end event in Grail and removes the OpenPipeline rule. Enrichment stops.

Start and end events are aggregated into the dt.maintenance.windows view for querying.

The maintenance attributes are present in telemetry only while the window is active. Telemetry ingested before or after the window isn't enriched.

Window start

When a maintenance window starts, Dynatrace:

  1. Records a start event in Grail with the maintenance window configuration details.
  2. Creates an OpenPipeline enrichment rule that matches incoming telemetry against the window's DQL filter criteria.

Grail start event

The start event is written to Grail as a generic event and includes maintenance window metadata.

The start event includes the following maintenance window details:

  • Window name (maintenance_window.title) and description (event.description)
  • Filter criteria (maintenance_window.filter)
  • Schedule (start_time and end_time)
  • Configuration ID (dt.settings.object_id)
  • Instance ID (maintenance_window.instance_id)
  • Owner (maintenance_window.owner)

OpenPipeline rule

The OpenPipeline rule applies an enrichment processor to the data pipelines for metrics and specific events. The rule uses the DQL filter criteria you defined to match telemetry and adds the maintenance attributes to any matching data.

The rule exists only for the active duration of the window. When the window ends, Dynatrace removes the rule, and no new telemetry is enriched.

Active window with telemetry enrichment

While the window is active, incoming telemetry that matches the filter criteria is enriched with the following attributes:

Data typeEnrichment attributes

Metrics

maintenance.is_under_maintenance=true

Davis events

maintenance.is_under_maintenance=true, dt.maintenance_window_ids

Smartscape events

maintenance.is_under_maintenance=true

Synthetic events and sessions

maintenance.is_under_maintenance=true, dt.maintenance_window_ids

Only data that matches the DQL filter criteria is enriched.

Window end

When a maintenance window ends, Dynatrace:

  1. Records an end event in Grail.
  2. Removes the OpenPipeline enrichment rule.

From this point, telemetry ingested into matching pipelines no longer receives any maintenance attributes.

Related topics

  • Create a maintenance window
  • Use maintenance window data
Related tags
Dynatrace Platform