Advice on shutdown of UPS protecting 3 host VMware cluster

[BillP]

This question was originally posted by Terry on APC forums on 7/18/2018

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Hi

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place - be gentle with me, this is my first time....

I have recently configured a Smart-UPS SRT 8000 to protect a 3-host VMware cluster. I'm using the PCNS card and as far as I can see, everything seems set up OK. The vCentre Server is a VM and (hosts are numbered 0 to 2) lives on Host #1 which is where the virtual appliance for PowerChute is also installed.

In theory, it should run for 10 minutes before deciding that the outage isn't just a blip. When the 10 minutes are up, it should gracefully shut down the VMs on Hosts 0 and 2 and then shut down those hosts via Maintenance Mode. VMs resident on Host 1 should be the next to go and finally the vCentre Server VM itself. Host 1 then gets powered down via Maintenance Mode. When power returns, Host 1 should fire up first, then the other hosts and finally the VMs that were Active at the time of shut down should get powered On again.

Well, this is a mixture of reading the sometimes conveniently vague documentation, conversations with Support and my own understanding. What I really want to know from the more experienced members on here, who have had a similar configuration and goals, is where are the trapdoors? In other words, what kind of oddities have cropped up for you when shutting down and powering On a cluster like this? I aim to carry out a test on this process in the near future and I'd really appreciate some advice on what to double check in the PCNS config and/or VMware cluster, so that it actually works as documented.

Thanks in advance.

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 7/18/2018

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Hi,

The shut down process is

1 - UPS switches to battery. PCNS receives message from the UPS and waits 10 minutes. 

2 - The 10 minutes elapses and PCNS starts the shut down process

3 - All hosts enter maintenance mode

4 - All VMs are commanded down with the exception of PCNS and vCenter

5- The VM shut down time elapses and host 1 is taken out of maintenance mode

6 - vCenter is commanded down

7 - Host 0 and 2 are commanded down

8- Host 1 is commanded down and PCNS VM powers down

If you would like the VMs on host 1 to power down last and up first you will need to configure VM prioritization.

If you have not down so already you should review Application Note 180 and the PCNS VMware User's Guide.

One major mistake people make is to not have the proper permissions set up so PCNS can shut the hosts down once vCenter is down. You should read pages 17 - 20 of the Application Note. 

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Terry on APC forums on 7/19/2018

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Thanks Bill - I really appreciate the info.

Cheers

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Terry on APC forums on 7/19/2018

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One question - the local Admin user that is created on the vCentre Server and then assigned to my hosts using vSphere - is it those login details I should specify in the PCNS Admin web interface under Communication Settings--vCentre Server Details? At the moment, the user in that section is our AD Domain Administrator user account.

Thanks

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 7/20/2018

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Hi,

On 7/19/2018 9:35 AM, Terry said:

At the moment, the user in that section is our AD Domain Administrator user account.

Thanks

Can you log into the hosts using the AD account and will the AD server always be available during the host shut down? If not you should use a local account as suggested in the Application Note. 

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Terry on APC forums on 7/23/2018

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Thanks Bill. I thought that would be the case but I wanted some confirmation. The user account in question is now the PCNSAdmin account, so in theory there shouldn't be any problems when I test a power failure...........