title: Nagios max_check_attempts/retry interval ignored with host checks
body: <p>I'm running Nagios 3.2.3 and I have a mysterious issue with host checks. Here's an example host definition.</p>
  
  <pre><code>define host {
    host_name HOST
    contacts CONTACTS_HERE
    alias ALIAS
    max_check_attempts 15
    check_interval 5
    active_checks_enabled 1
    passive_checks_enabled 1
    check_period 24x7
    obsess_over_host 0
    retry_interval 1
    check_freshness 0
    freshness_threshold 120
    retain_status_information 1
    retain_nonstatus_information 1
    low_flap_threshold 0
    high_flap_threshold 0
    flap_detection_enabled 0
    process_perf_data 1
    notification_interval 120
    notification_period 24x7
    notification_options d,u,r
    check_command check-host-alive
    icon_image_alt Linux
    icon_image linux40.png
    statusmap_image linux40.gd2
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>As you can see, max_check_attempts is set to 15 and retry_interval is set to 1 minute. The check command looks like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>define command {
    command_name check-host-alive
    command_line /usr/lib64/nagios/plugins/check_ping -H $HOSTNAME$ -w 3000.0,80% -c 5000.0,100% -p 1
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What happens however is this sequence of events:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Host Up[01-30-2017 21:41:56] HOST ALERT: HOST_NAME;UP;HARD;1;PING OK - Packet loss = 0%, RTA = 0.17 ms
  Host Down[01-30-2017 21:41:21] HOST ALERT: HOST_NAME;DOWN;HARD;1;PING CRITICAL - Packet loss = 100%
  Host Down[01-30-2017 21:41:10] HOST ALERT: HOST_NAME;DOWN;SOFT;1;PING CRITICAL - Packet loss = 100%
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So, after the first check failure, the host goes into a hard state instead of trying the check for 15 times 1 minute apart. I should add that this seems to happen when the host is not really down but extremely busy.</p>
  
  <p>Any ideas?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks,
    Sergei</p>