Change the time of day a self-test runs.

[Anonymous user]

I've seen a number of posts basically asking the same question but I've not seen one with an answer. I have 5 ups's. The self tests run at 4:40AM, 5:13AM, 5:27AM, 5:30AM and 6:34AM.

How can I change it so they run at 9AM?

[BillP]

any way you do this to modify the self test time that we've discussed so far will affect the power output from your UPS and cause anything plugged in to turn off/on. you must either power down your equipment (gracefully if need be) or else it will definitely turn off.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks, thats what i thought. It will have to be done during a planned maintenance.

Thanks!

[BillP]

that will cause them to turn on and off as well.

what type of UPS do you have? after researching, it appears different UPSs may have different behaviors. if it is an SMX/SMT/SURTD which uses micro-link communication, the behavior might be different and you may be able to issue a self test and then tell the UPS to add 7 days since the last self test. for older models, it goes by what I said.

either way, it is not something we offer an easy answer for correctly so that is why i have had to investigate. it is not offered as an option really but we can work something out most likely depending on UPS model.

[BillP]

this is not something we offer directly is an option unfortunately. as described in another post you brought up, the only sure fire way i know of for all UPS models is to turn it off/on again at the time you want it to occur. you can also consider disabling it completely and then running a script or similar and issue it when you want to occur at the interval you specify. depending on the UPS model, mine seems to offer something like "UPS Start Up and every 7 (or 14 days) since last test." I don't know for sure but this makes me think it will keep adding 7 or 14 days after you do your own test. i havent verified.

[Anonymous user]

Models I have are:

4 Smart-UPS RT 5000 XL
2 Smart-UPS 3000 XL

[BillP]

i believe these most likely do not have the newer options and would rely on the on/off trick which would require downtime.

may i ask why you want to change the time it happens?

[Anonymous user]

Because the IT V.P. is on the email list. He travels between the offices in Pennsylvania and California. He doesn't want the emails coming in at 5:30am E.T. or 2:30AM P.T.

We're in PA.

His instructions are to "simply" change when it runs.

Removing him from the list is not an option.

Would this work? I believe the Date and Time Configuration on the UPS's are currently Synchronized with NTP Server.

What if I change it to manual and set the clock six hours ahead? I'm using six for those times he's in California with the three hour time difference.

[voidstar_apc]

>
What if I change it to manual and set the clock six hours ahead? I'm using six for those times he's in California with the three hour time difference.
>

There's no relationship between the time on the network management card and the self-test times.

For your convenience I've attached a script (test.bat) to this message. It initiates self-tests over SNMPv1, and includes a full set of SNMP programs. Edit the script to use the IP of your NMC(s). You can schedule it using windows scheduler or similar. Hopefully you won't have to turn off the automatic self-test... just let the SNMP-induced tests force the UPSes to align on schedule.

Note that turning off automatic self-test introduces an additional point of failure. If for some reason your setup stops commanding the UPSes to self-test every week or so, failed batteries may not be detected before swelling, leaking or dropping the load.

[BillP]

the self test on the UPS itself (with or without the management card installed) will still run at the same time it is now because the timer for this is on the UPS - what you suggest I believe will just modify the time on the NMC and cause all your logs to be incorrect but the email will still go out at the same time the self test passes.

is the VP a single recipient or is it a mailing list? by what you say, it sounds like you are emailing something like helpdesk@company.com rather than individual. i was going to say we disable self test passed/failed events specifically for that one recipient.

unfortunately, i think stuff like this was not considered until recently as far as configuring when an automatic self test runs.

if this is required, for your UPS models, you'll need to turn the UPS off and on (as well as your attached servers) at the time you want it to run 😞

OR configure the email differently on the card and consider editing the notifications and which you get (which may be easier).

[Anonymous user]

They are also going to cell phones as text messages. I will take everything here under advisement and discuss it with him.

Thanks for all your help.

[Anonymous user]

One other question, this must be a hard shutdown? Physically turning it off and back on. It can't be a Reboot?

[BillP]

hello.

did some testing here because i was not sure. I issued the "reboot" command via the management card and the UPS did NOT do a self test:

02/20/2013 10:29:32 UPS: The output power is now turned on.
02/20/2013 10:29:29 UPS: The output power is turned off.
02/20/2013 10:27:57 UPS: Started a reboot process.

I did the command of "turn off" and then "turn on" via the management card and it did do a self test:

02/20/2013 10:31:55 UPS: Passed a self-test.
02/20/2013 10:31:39 UPS: The output power is now turned on.
02/20/2013 10:31:39 UPS: Started a self-test.
02/20/2013 10:31:13 UPS: The output power is turned off.

so you can do it that way - just make sure you do it within 10 minutes of each other or the UPS will braindead itself and the NMC will turn off.

it appears to be the difference between what commands are given to the UPS. in the first example it is a reboot command where as commanding the unit on with turn on forces the self test.

[Anonymous user]

Does the second way of turning it off and on shut down the servers?

I'd try it myself but I have servers on all of them. I have some in the DR rack but I'd have to hyper terminal to the to see if they've been set up.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

What affect does powering off/on the UPS have on the servers attached?

[Pietje]

I would very much like to have the option to specify a time window when a self test is run. 
Or even at a specific date and time. Like first Monday of each month at 11:00 AM.  

I have many UPS systems and last night one did the self test. This also triggered our monitoring solution which detected that the UPS was on battery power. Resulting me getting woken up at 3 AM because of SMS messages..