Place a blackout in Grid Control

There are two ways to place a blackout in Grid Control.
- From the Grid Control UI (Console), using Setup to create a blackout or using the icon on each Target page.
- From the command line at the agent home.

Here are the commands for creating a blackout:

- Place a blackout at host level. In $AGENT_HOME/bin
$ ./emctl start blackout test_dev3 -nodelevel -d 12:00
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2005 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Blackout test_dev3 added successfully
EMD reload completed successfully

$./emctl status blackout
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2005 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Blackoutname = Blackout-Sep 11 2008 11:47:59 PM
Targets = (bidev.corpnet.com:oracle_database,)
Time = ({2008-9-11|20:50:2|3600 Sec,|} )
Expired = True

Blackoutname = test_dev3(NODE_LEVEL)
Targets = (dbdev:host,)
Time = ({2008-10-01|11:09:33|720 Min,|} )
Expired = False

- Place a blackout on a target / database. In $AGENT_HOME/bin
$ ./emctl start blackout test_dev3 bidev.corpnet.com:oracle_database -d 03:00
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2005 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Blackout test_dev3 added successfully
EMD reload completed successfully

./emctl status blackout
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2005 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Blackoutname = Blackout-Sep 11 2008 11:47:59 PM
Targets = (bidev.corpnet.com:oracle_database,)
Time = ({2008-9-11|20:50:2|3600 Sec,|} )
Expired = True

Blackoutname = test_dev3
Targets = (bidev.corpnet.com:oracle_database,)
Time = ({2008-10-01|12:50:49|180 Min,|} )
Expired = False

- To stop the blackout, run
$ ./emctl stop blackout test_dev3
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 10.2.0.1.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2005 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Blackout test_dev3 stopped successfully
EMD reload completed successfully

- Additional notes
1. After "emctl start blackout test_dev3 ..." is executed, it will add an entry in $AGENT_HOME/sysman/emd/blackouts.xml. When "emctl stop blackout test_dev3 ..." is run, the entry is removed from the file. It seems if the blackout expires before the stop command is run, the entry will stay in the file for ever.
2. If you do not use the "-d" option in running "emctl start blackout ..." command, the GC console (Setup --> Blackouts) will list the blackout with "Ended" status and "Indefinite" duration immediately. It seems the blackout without "-d" option stops out quickly. It may be a bug in Grid Control 10.2.0.1.0.
3. Checking the blackout status from the repository table MGMT_BLACKOUTS.
SQL> select * from sysman.MGMT_BLACKOUTS
where BLACKOUT_NAME like 'test_dev3%';