Configuring Shutdown on NMC

[Anonymous user]

Looking to configure shutdown on the NMC to bring down servers/PCNS clients during a low battery condition post power outage (and have the UPS shut itself off).

Apparently you can set the low battery duration, but I'm not sure what this setting pertains to. Specifically, if you select 2, 5 or 10 minutes, it also factors in a client maximum required delay of 2 minutes (the default is 2, but could be more), so if the low battery default is meant to signify "2 minutes runtime remaining", not sure how this works if there is another 2 minutes supposedly allocated to the clients for shut down. Furthermore, you can also add a shutdown delay, for when the UPS is formally shut down (off). Therefore, I can make the number much larger than the low battery setting??? What am I missing? Ideally I'd like to target servers/pcns clients to receive a low battery notice about 5 minutes in advance of power cutting out on the APC unit. Do split out the time as 2 minutes Low battery duration, shutdown delay of 90 seconds, and leave 2 minutes for client required delay? Seems a bit convoluted.

Furthermore, does the PowerChute low battery shutdown command actually go out at 5:30, with the example above?

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

When the UPS reaches the low battery signal, this is the amount of run time that the UPS has left. So, if your UPS reaches a 2 minute low battery signal, any systems running Powerchute will start shutting down right away. If your systems take longer than 2 minutes to shutdown, then I would advise 1 of 2 options. Either 1) Set the low battery signal to a higher value or 2) Set a shutdown time in Powerchute for each client ie. If your UPS has 20 minutes of run time, set each client to shutdown after the UPS has been on battery for 5 minutes.

If you're looking to maximize run time but leave time for a safe shutdown, I would go with option 1. You may just need to check how long it takes each server to shutdown safely, and set an appropriate low battery signal.

If you're looking to get a safe shutdown of each system but preserve battery life, you should go with option 2.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks KVM4life. So to protect both sides of the equation, set a powerchute shutdown/on battery notification time of say.... 5 minutes/300 seconds on each server. Then also set a "Low Battery Duration" setting of 5 minutes on the UPS/NMC, which means the NMC signals Powerchute clients at 5 minutes remaining run time to shut down also, in case any are still up or there is a low battery run time to start. This also means that at the end of an extended outage, the UPS is FULLY depleted of battery. Please let me know if this all doesn't sound good.

I still have the question of the "Shutdown Delay" setting. What is it's purpose? is this only when it gets a ping from a powerchute client to shut down? It does not factor into a low battery shutdown at all, correct?

Also Maximum required delay??? How does this factor into any of the above?

Message was edited by: sdineen@orchid.com

[Anonymous user]

To add to my last post, the Maximum Required Delay looks like it gets added to the Low Battery Duration somehow. For example, I have a UPS needing a new battery with 6 mins run time. When I set the low battery duration to 5 minutes, the system says "The battery power is to low to support the load....". How come?

Or when I do a Control, Signal PowerChute Shutdown (but not Apply), it appears to be want to add 2 minutes to what ever the Low Battery Duration is? Thanks!

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I believe the jist of the graceful shutdown control function timeline looks like:(for the management card)

low battery signal duration + 2 minutes of safety time + UPS shutdown delay

When PCNS attempts to shut down the UPS it is the same timeline but adds another delay if you are having PCNS run any command files. If you are, then any delay configured in PCNS for the command file, will also be added to the timeline. So it would be:

low battery signal duration + 2 minutes of safety time + UPS shutdown delay + PCNS command file delay

Yes, the low battery signal adjust the maximum required delay. So if you have a 5 minute low battery signal, the maximum required delay should show 5 minutes.

If your total runtime is within 1 minute of the low battery signal, you might see some alarms/warnings. I suspect that is the issue you are seeing with the 6 minutes of runtime available while setting a 5 minute low battery signal.