Command file to put VMWare 6.5 host in/out maintenance mode

[DennisVW_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 7/4/2018

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Hi,

I have a cluster of VMWare 6.5 hosts and have PCNS running as an appliance.
Right now we have configured a shutdown event for the event On Battery.
This works as expected, the only downside is that it will continue to shutdown the VMWare hosts even when power is restored.

So what i'm looking for is a way to use the command file option.
The goal is to put the host in maintenance mode after running on battery, so all VM's are migrated of the affected hosts
Then when power is restored it should exit maintenance mode on the hosts that where put in maintenance mode.

Sounds easy, but don't know where to put the command files and also don't know how to 'interact' with VMware.

Dennis

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 7/9/2018

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Hi,

Do you have PowerChute configured with vCenter Server and if so have you configured VM migration through PowerChute? Also, instead of starting the shutdown process after the UPS has been on battery for x amount of time have you tested starting the shutdown when the UPS has x available runtime? Using that method would allow PowerChute to perform the shutdown and yes it would still be possible for AC to be restored during the process but less likely. 

On 7/4/2018 10:18 AM, Dennis said:

This works as expected, the only downside is that it will continue to shutdown the VMWare hosts even when power is restored.

The reason PowerChute continues the shutdown process is to allow the host to power back on automatically. The servers BIOS can be configured to start the system when AC is restored so to accomplish this task AC must be cut.