# Alert configuration httpcheck timeout

**URL:** <https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [August 16, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713 "2024-08-16T13:10:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JB\_Walton](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/jb_walton/32/3505_2.png) [@JB\_Walton](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/JB_Walton)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/1 "2024-08-16T13:10:09Z")

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I am using httpcheck to verify my websites are up and running.  
I setup this for several websites in the go.d/httpcheck.conf.  
This works very good.

The problem is about the timeout alerts, specified in health.d/httpcheck.conf.  
The reponse times are good and I expect no alerts to be raised.  
However, thay are often raised and recovered.

Looking in the alert definition:

```auto
 template: httpcheck_web_service_timeouts
       on: httpcheck.status
    class: Latency
     type: Web Server
component: HTTP endpoint
   lookup: average -5m unaligned percentage of timeout
    every: 10s
    units: %
     warn: $this >= 10 AND $this < 40
     crit: $this >= 40
    delay: down 5m multiplier 1.5 max 1h
  summary: HTTP check for ${label:url} timeouts
     info: Percentage of timed-out HTTP requests to ${label:url} in the last 5 minutes
       to: webmaster

```

This alert seems to calculate average timeouts, so response times are rlated to each other…  
I would like to be alerted only when the specified timeout (in go.d/httpcheck.conf) is reached several, say 3, in the last, say 2 minutes or so.

How should I change the settings in go.d/httpcheck.conf and the alert definition in health.d/httpcheck.conf?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ilyam8](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/ilyam8/32/134_2.png) [@ilyam8](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/ilyam8)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/2 "2024-08-16T13:35:49Z")

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Hi, @JB_Walton. The response times don’t matter, your alert is: “If httpcheck status was “timeout” 10+% of the time in the last 5 minutes - warning”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JB\_Walton](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/jb_walton/32/3505_2.png) [@JB\_Walton](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/JB_Walton)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/3 "2024-08-16T14:21:27Z")

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Thanks,

I am missing something I guess.

You say, that cesponse times don’t matter.  
Only timeout is checked.

What does define “timeout”?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ilyam8](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/ilyam8/32/134_2.png) [@ilyam8](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/ilyam8)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/4 "2024-08-16T14:52:20Z")

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> [@JB\_Walton](#):
>
> `on: httpcheck.status`

The `httpcheck.status` metric is the status of HTTP check. Possible values are:

- `success`: got response and the response status code is in configured `status_accepted` (200 by default).
- `bad_status`: got response but the response status code is not in configured `status_accepted` (not 200 by default).
- `bad_content`: got response and the response status code is in `status_accepted` but unexpected body content (when using `response_match`).
- `bad_header`: got response and response status code is in `status_accepted` but unexpected heders (when using `headers_match`).
- `timeout`: no response within configured timeout (1 second by default).
- `no_connection`: connection refused.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JB\_Walton](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/jb_walton/32/3505_2.png) [@JB\_Walton](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/JB_Walton)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/5 "2024-08-16T15:12:45Z")

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Thanks,

I think I understand it.  
I have set the timeout in go.d/httpcheck.conf.

In the netdata httpcheck.status chart I can see the timeouts occurring.  
Now I just need to find in my server logs what is causing those timeouts.  
I cannot find it quickly on my debian /var/log files, so I have to dig into it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ilyam8](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.netdata.cloud/ilyam8/32/134_2.png) [@ilyam8](https://community.netdata.cloud/u/ilyam8)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.netdata.cloud/t/alert-configuration-httpcheck-timeout/5713/6 "2024-08-16T15:21:30Z")

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Added statuses description to docs in [18351](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/pull/18351).