Disable Network Watchdog Service?

[Anonymous user]

I have an APC 1500 UPS that keeps sending out warmstart alerts because of the watchdog service thinking there is a connectivity problem with its gateway. I know the documentation says that I can change it to point to something else in its subnet but I dont have anything else to point it to. I would rather just disable this on the management card but cannot find any documentation to do so. Is there a way to just turn it off?

Thanks

Message was edited by: rlarocque

[Anonymous user]

Thanks, the email would be appreciated.

[BillP]

if you understand the consequences of disabling this - meaning that if there is a network problem, the card will not necessarily be able to reboot itself to fix any issues because you have disabled the watchdog service, then we could look into doing that.

also, before you do this, are you sure that this is what is causing the warmstart issue? how often does it happen? can you post your event.txt following [these instructions|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9321]. i'd like to confirm that this is the issue before we proceed further.

it'd be helpful to know what model NMC you have also. the event.txt will tell me the firmware version.

also, what model 1500 do you have? i am monitoring an issue with SMX1500RM2UNC that is not related to network trouble and you may see warmstarts.

for reference: [apc knowledgebase on warmstarts and what can cause them|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2572/]

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the reply, please see attached my event.txt file. The warmstart alerts happen very frequently. I dont remember the model off of the top of my head though, sorry...a 1500 xl rack mountable type?

[BillP]

ok, this very well could be a different problem. please check the UPS tab->about and tell me what you see there for a model number. i think it has to be a new SMX1500RM2UNC because the event log indicates outlet groups being turned on (which they are not turning on and off but its a little misleading since the NMC says so when it warmstarts)

also, this is a new network management card but the firmware is not the latest version. pending what you want to do from the available options, we could try upgrading first.

i can tell you how to disable the watchdog service but if that doesnt fix it, i suggest you turn it back on and we pursue a different avenue.

is there absolutely no other valid IP address on your network that you can change the default gateway to..?

I would suggest, trying another valid IP address, even if its your computer, think about upgrading firmware, find out the exact model number of the UPS, let me know if there are any temp probes or accessories connecting to the NMC itself, and then let's start there and potentially we can disable the watchdog service to start.

[Anonymous user]

The info in my about tab shows as this:

Model: Smart-UPS X 1500
Serial Number: AS1007122628
Firmware Revision: UPS 02.2 / COM 02.3 / UBL 05.0 / CBL 01.0
Manufacture Date: 02/12/2010

Apparent Power Rating: 1440 VA
Real Power Rating: 1200 W

Is flashing the card the only option?

[BillP]

no, if your email is correct in your profile, i will email the instructions on disabling the watchdog to see if the problem goes away. you cannot change the gateway to any other IP at all on the network?? is there a reason why you dont want to upgrade to the latest?

[BillP]

Hi,

I have the following UPS and Network Management Card, a Silicon SL120KH with an integrated AP9617 NMC. I keep
receiving warmstart alerts through the night which can be very disrupting. Have you got a way in which I can disable
for the time being until I can find for an engineer to come out and actually attend to this.

The alerts that I receive are as follows:-

Serial # : JA0346054609
Device Ser #: NA
Date: 03/25/2011
Time: 01:47:16
Code: 0x0002

Critical - System: Warmstart.

Serial # : JA0346054609
Device Ser #: JA0338035634
Date: 03/25/2011
Time: 01:47:27
Code: 0x0101

Informational - UPS: Restored the local network management interface-to-UPS communication.


Serial # : JA0346054609
Device Ser #: JA0338035634
Date: 03/25/2011
Time: 01:48:28
Code: 0x0344

Informational - Environment: Restored the local network management interface-to-integrated Environmental Monitor Input TH Sensor (Int Sensor at Int Sensor Loc) communication.

Could you please help in disabling these alerts.

Thanks

[BillP]

can you post the entire event.txt for us to look at? you can download it via FTP from the card using apc knowledgebase # 9321.

to disable this alert temporarily, assuming 3.x firmware, you can go the administration tab, notifications, By event click on System and find the warmstart event and then uncheck which email recipients you want to disable it from sending it to.

hope that helps.

[BillP]

this is tough to read. can you can the files in this format? http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9321 so we can review?

[Anonymous user]

I have an APC 1500 UPS that keeps sending out warmstart alerts because of the watchdog service thinking there is a connectivity problem with its gateway. I know the documentation says that I can change it to point to something else in its subnet but I dont have anything else to point it to. I would rather just disable this on the management card but cannot find any documentation to do so. Is there a way to just turn it off?

Thanks

Message was edited by: rlarocque

[Anonymous user]

Angela,

Can you give me directions on how to disable WatchDog? I need my UPS to hold its ip while it is off the network for a while. My email is correct.

[BillP]

If it is a static/manual IP, it will stay without issue even if the management card interface is off the network. If it is a DHCP address, then it will lose it probably when it goes to renew the lease. Neither of these are affected by the network watchdog mentioned here.

To effectively disable the watchdog, you can unplug the ethernet cable from the management card interface and then press and release the pinhole reset button on the management card once. This will just reboot the management interface of the network management card and not the UPS. Because the management interface is never connected to the network (after the reboot), the watchdog mechanism will never come into effect.

Hope that clarifies.

[Anonymous user]

"The NMC 2 implements internal watchdog mechanisms to protect itself from becoming inaccessible over thenetwork. For example, if the NMC 2 does not receive any network traffic for 9.5 minutes (either direct traffic,such as SNMP, or broadcast traffic, such as an Address Resolution Protocol [ARP] request), it assumes that there is a problem with its network interface and restarts."

I am on static ip. What does Watchdog restart if it doesn't get network traffic every 9.5 minutes? Should I disable watchdog because of this?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi Cher,

So if you're on static IP, you can disconnect the UPS Management Card from the network, or even uninstall it from the UPS and your IP will remain.

The watchdog mechanism restarts the network management interface within the NMC2. This does not affect the UPS power output. And in my previous post, I described the steps to avoid this mechanism completely by disconnecting the network cable from the NMC2 and then pressing and releasing the pinhole reset button that is on it. The NMC will have rebooted and having never been connected to the network after the reboot you did, will not reboot every 9.5 minutes. The watchdog is only first enabled when the device is connected to a network.

What would happen is if you unplug the network cable and don't press/release the pinhole reset button is that your IP address will remain but the management interface would briefly reboot every 9.5 minutes. This wouldn't affect the UPS as I mentioned but you'd just see it in the logs every 9.5 minutes until you reconnect it to the network. More of a nuisance and unnecessary thing to have rather than a "problem" as it'd just probably clog up the event log which you may not even be looking at anyway without the device on the network.

Disabling the watchdog permanently is only suggested in extreme or very particular circumstances and I don't recommend it here for what you're explaining (especially since you can temporarily disable it with the steps I mentioned). Then, it'd have to get turned back on and someone would need to remember to do that, else, it could be a problem in the future if you do not have it enabled when the device is back on the network. And again, disabling it for your scenario does not appear to make sense based on what you stated.