How do I shutdown VMs with PCNS on a standalone ESXi setup?

[stanj]

We have two ESXi host running vSphere 8. 

They are connected to two APC SRT6KRMXLT UPSs in a redundant setup.

I installed and configured the PCNS v5.1 VM on one ESXi host so far

When I open and access PCNS via the Web interface on port 6547, I do not see an option to configure the VMs to shut down.

I see main tabs across the top – Home, Configuration UPS Configuration, Help (see screen attached)

I am thinking the paid for version is when vCenter is added to PCNS?

In the standalone ESXi setup in PCNS, what is the process to notify the ESXi host and VMs to shutdown once the UPS battery reaches low (about 10 minutes of battery)?

We have a small setup - one ESXi has about 10 VMs, the other about 20

thanks

[PowerChuteTester]

@stanj 

See Schneider Electric FAQ000266949

[stanj]

Thanks . 

I already followed that article but it does not say when the ESXi host is notified to shut down 

In PCNS, I see the attached.  Does this need to be set as i could not find this in the FAQ or PCNS manual

[PowerChuteTester]

@stanj 

You have configured PowerChute to trigger a shutdown after the UPS has run on battery for 2 minutes. After the 2-minute elapse, PowerChute will command the ESXi host down, and the host will command the VMs.

[stanj]

ok,,i think i may need to adjust the 120 seconds but the complication is we have PCNS set in a redundant config but there is more to add to this....

We have two UPS and there are 2 ESXi servers

Here is the setup:

UPS1 has about 26 minutes of battery power with the different servers connected to it

UPS2 has about 11 minutes of battery power with the servers connected to it

ESXi-A has about 21 VMs up and one pwr supply is connected to UPS-1 and one pwr supply is connected to UPS-2

ESXi-B has about 10 VMs up and one pwr supply is connected to UPS-2 and one pwr supply is connected to UPS-1

The ESXI servers have the shutdown config as "shutdown action" set to Guest shutdown (automatic) with a shutdown delay of 120 seconds

So, there are 2 issues i think i see

1.  With not a lot of battery time on either USPs,  even if the ESXI is signaled to shut down after 2 minutes on battery, with the VMs set at 120 second delay, there would not be enough time to shut down the VMs and then the ESXi host

2.   In the PCNS guide and in the PowerChute Network Shutdown in Redundant
UPS Configurations guide, the below is talked about, which leads me to some concern if we can configure PCNS to direct the ESXi host to shutdown VMs in an orderly fashion 

PCNS guide

If one UPS is on battery and another UPS switches to battery before the configured delay for
Single UPS turn off has elapsed, then the first UPS will not be turned off.

If the shutdown action is enabled for the On Battery event, a Multiple Critical event condition
will occur if a second UPS switches to battery power (after the first UPS has been
commanded to turn off by PowerChute). When this occurs the shutdown sequence will start
after 10 seconds

Redundant UPS Configurations guide

In a Redundant-UPS configuration, each UPS must be able to support the entire load itself. A
critical event must occur on two of the UPS’s to trigger PowerChute Network Shutdown to initiate
a graceful server shutdown.

In a Redundant-UPS system, this means that two UPS’s must report the issue before PowerChute
Network Shutdown will report the event and initiate the required safe server shutdown actions.