Cannot Manage Smart-UPS 2200 via USB and Powerchute Business Edition: Failed to Add

[howdoiusethisthing_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 2/2/2017

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Hi,

I'm having difficulty managing the above UPS with Powerchute Business Edition. I have a Windows 10 laptop currently connected to the UPS with an RJ50 to USB cable. When I install PBE, I choose 'Windows Agent' and it detects the UPS correctly. So far, so good. I set my username and password, then proceed to install PBE in server mode on a Windows 10 desktop on the same network.

Our subnet is 192.168.8.0/21, and discovery doesn't seem to work. If I enter the hostname or IP of the agent connected to the USB manually then click 'Apply', it thinks for a while and eventually fails with 'Failed to add '

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your time.

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 2/2/2017

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Hi,

If the Smart-UPS is a SUA2200 or SMX2200 then you should use a standard USB A to USB B cable not USB to RJ50.

Once the Agent is installed you can check the communication status using web browser. On the system the Agent is running open a browser and enter https://127.0.0.1:6547 You will be warned that the site is not safe and that is because the security certificate is create with either the systems IP address or host name and the browser does not recognize that as being safe. Select to proceed and you should be allowed to log into the Agent web interface. If the web interface shows that there is a communications issue with the UPS then the PBEServer will not discover the Agent until the communication issue has been resolved. 

[howdoiusethisthing_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 2/3/2017

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Thanks for the reply.

It looks like the unit is a Smart-UPS 2200 RM. Aside from serial, the only communications socket on the back is an RJ50, so I purchased an RJ50 -> USB cable for the job.

I've visited the local address and I do get a web interface, which is good news. I was able to perform an automatic calibration from there, which was one of the reasons for wanting to gain access, but I still cannot connect the server to the agent.

Is the server software incompatible with 21-bit subnet masks?

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 2/3/2017

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Hi,

That is the correct cable for that Smart-UPS. 

As for a 21 bit subnet mask PCBE will work in that environment. I set up 2 Windows system (Win 7 and Win 10). The Win 10 system has the Agent install with IP 192.168.0.8 and the Win 7 has the Server and Console installed with IP 192.168.0.10 both has the subnet mask set to 255.255.248.0 and the PowerChute Server on the Win 7 system was able to discover and connect to the PowerChute Agent on the Win 10 system. 

When you installed the PowerChute Server did you use the same user name and password that is being used by the PowerChute Agent? If not the Agent will not be added the the Server. 

[howdoiusethisthing_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 2/6/2017

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Regarding the username and password: I did, yes. A bit of further diagnosis has revealed that the agent's web server is not accessible from anywhere but the local machine; if I try entering the agent's IP and port into a browser on another machine, I get nothing. I've disabled the firewall on the agent and server machines for testing, but this didn't help.

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 2/8/2017

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Hi,

These are the port used for communications

TCP
2161 - Communication between Server and Agent
2260 - Communication between Console and server (PowerChute 7.x, 8.x, 9.x)
3052 - Agent Web UI and Logging features
6547 - Agent Web UI (PowerChute 9.x)

UDP
2161 - Discovery of Agents by Server
2160 - Discovery of Servers by Console
7846 - Business Edition SNMP Agent

If you cannot access the Agent over the network on port https 6547 then there must be something in the network configuration blocking access since the system firewall is down. 

[howdoiusethisthing_apc · Accepted solution]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 2/9/2017

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Yeah, it's really strange. The only thing between the server and client is a switch. I'll have to do some investigating.