PCNS 3.1 configuration questions with VMWare ESXi 5.1.0

[jrmvt_apc]

I have some questions on setting up PCNS on my system.  I think part of my difficulty is with the terminology and how the NMC and PCNS interact.

Details & background:

     1 VMware server hosting 4 virtual servers (Windows SBS2011 Server, Windows 2008R2 server, vMA5.1 and the PCNS 3.1 virtual machine downloaded from APC site)

     1 APC Smart-UPS 3000-XL with extra battery pack and installed NMC

     I have installed the PCNS 3.1 virtual appliance and gone through the basic configuration wizard.

     I also went into Configuration on the ESXi host, chose "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown" and "Properties" and made sure "Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system" was checked and changed "Default Shutdown Delay" > "Shutdown Action" from "Power Off" to "Guest Shutdown".

I am stuck on the next steps.

NMC interface is showing estimated runtime remaining of 4 hours 20 minutes.  My goal is, at about 30 minutes of runtime remaining, for PCNS to signal the ESXi host to begin the graceful shutdown.  Then, when power is restored, for everything to come back on.

Questions:

1)     In PCNS, in Configure Events, what is the difference between "Runtime Exceeded" and "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold"?

2)     On the NMC, under UPS > Configuration > Shutdown, what do the "Low Battery Duration" and "Shutdown Delay" control and how do these interact with the PCNS settings, if at all?

3)     Also on the NMC under UPS > Configuration > Shutdown, I assume I want to set "Controlled Early Shutdown" to "UPS runtime remaining is less than ___30___ minutes."  Is that correct?  Will the PCNS settings affect this?

4)     FA159688 also has me confused in terms of the shutdown order.  #3 tells me to arrange the virtual machines in my desired startup order, which means moving them into the "Automatic Startup" section.  Done and clicked OK (#4).  Then #5 says to change all VMs from "Any Order" to "Manual Startup".  There are no VMs in "Any Order" because I just moved them all to "Automatic Startup" in #3.  If I move the ones in "Automatic Startup" down to "Manual Startup", then I lose the startup order.  Then #6 says to change the "Startup" setting to "disabled for all VMs.  The only way to do that, again, is to move them to "Manual Startup" and again that loses the startup order.

5)     Where should the PCNS 3.1 appliance go in the shutdown order?  Does it shut down first, next to last just before the SBS server, or should it be the last thing to shut down?

Thank you!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Questions:

1)  In PCNS, in Configure Events, what is the difference between "Runtime Exceeded" and "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold"?

Runtime Exceeded = For both conditions below, the “total shutdown time” includes the following delays:

• Shutdown command file delay
• Built-in delay of 2 minutes (this consists of a 10 second OS shutdown delay and a 60 second OS shutdown duration; rounded up)

This event occurs under either of the following conditions:

Condition 1

When the total shutdown time required by PowerChute is greater than the Low Battery Duration configured for the UPS. In the event of a low battery condition, PowerChute will not have enough time to complete the shutdown sequence before the UPS powers off.

Resolution:

Increase the Low Battery Duration value on the NMC using Configure - Shutdown or decrease the shutdown delays being used by PowerChute.

Condition 2

When the shutdown delay configured for the UPS On Battery event plus the total shutdown time required by PowerChute is greater than the Runtime Remaining on the UPS minus two minutes. This condition can be caused by having too great a load on the UPS when the battery is fully charged.

Resolution:

a) remove some equipment from the UPS to increase the available runtime

b) decrease the shutdown delay time for the UPS On Battery event

c) decrease the command file execution time via the Shutdown Settings screen.

This event is logged and event actions are carried out even if it occurs on a single UPS in a Redundant or Parallel UPS configuration.

Runtime Remaing Below Threshold = The runtime remaining has dropped below the configured threshold while on battery. You can configure this threshold via the shutdown action on the Configure Events page. When the UPS in running on Battery power and the runtime remaining on the UPS drops below the threshold, PowerChute will trigger a shutdown sequence.

2)     On the NMC, under UPS > Configuration > Shutdown, what do the "Low Battery Duration" and "Shutdown Delay" control and how do these interact with the PCNS settings, if at all?

Low Battery Duration = Defines how long the UPS can continue to run on battery power after a low-battery condition occurs. Example: If you know your server/s need 10 minutes to power down gracefully you would set low battery duration to 12 minutes. That way the NMC will send a power down signal to PCNS when the UPS has 12 minutes of runtime allowing the OS/s to power down before the battery/s run out.

Shutdown Delay = How long the UPS will continue to provide power to the outlets after UPS shutdown command has been given.

3)     Also on the NMC under UPS > Configuration > Shutdown, I assume I want to set "Controlled Early Shutdown" to "UPS runtime remaining is less than ___30___ minutes."  Is that correct?  Will the PCNS settings affect this?

Yes. When enable the NMC will turn off the UPS if it is running on battery when the runtime remaining is less than the value set. This will affect PCNS. If the UPS falls below this value the NMC will send a signal to PCNS to start OS shutdown.

4)     FA159688 also has me confused in terms of the shutdown order.  #3 tells me to arrange the virtual machines in my desired startup order, which means moving them into the "Automatic Startup" section.  Done and clicked OK (#4). Then #5 says to change all VMs from "Any Order" to "Manual Startup".  There are no VMs in "Any Order" because I just moved them all to "Automatic Startup" in #3.  If I move the ones in "Automatic Startup" down to "Manual Startup", then I lose the startup order.  Then #6 says to change the "Startup" setting to "disabled for all VMs.  The only way to do that, again, is to move them to "Manual Startup" and again that loses the startup order.

This VMware Knowledge base document will help answer this questionhttp://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-4-esx-vcenter/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.vsphere.vmadmin.doc_41/vsp_...

5)     Where should the PCNS 3.1 appliance go in the shutdown order?  Does it shut down first, next to last just before the SBS server, or should it be the last thing to shut down?

If you would like to arrange the appliance it should be the last powered down and the first powered up. PCNS virtual appliance will shut itself down.

[jrmvt_apc]

Wow, lots of information!  I really appreciate the detailed answers!

1)     OK, so "Runtime Exceeded" - I'll just have it send me a Notification.  "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold" - I'll configure to trigger shutdown when runtime remaining falls below 1800 seconds (30 minutes).

2)     You said "Low Battery Duration - Defines how long the UPS can continue to run on battery power after a low-battery condition occurs."  What triggers that low-battery condition so I can calculate how long it can continue to run on battery power in order to set this?

     "Low Battery Duration" - If I set it to 23 minutes, then at 23 minutes runtime remaining, NMC sends signal to PCNS, which in turn sends signal to ESXi, which begins shutting down the virtual servers, correct?  How does my setting in question #1 above affect or override this?

     Shutdown Delay - what do you mean by the "UPS shutdown command"?  Is that a command from the PCNS virtual appliance that the APC unit itself can power down?  If so, when does it issue this command?

3)     OK, but how does my setting here interact/overlap/override my settings in PCNS "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold" (Question #1 above) and "Low Battery Duration" on the NMC (Question #2 above)?

4)     That KB document just tells me how to change the settings.  I can change the settings.  I guess I need to know where my virtual machines should be for all of this to work, in "Automatic Startup" or in "Manual Startup".  The instructions seem to say "Manual Startup", but that just doesn't seem to make sense to me.

5)     Perfect!

Again, Thanks for the help!

[BillP]

Hi,

1) OK, so "Runtime Exceeded" - I'll just have it send me a Notification.  "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold" - I'll configure to trigger shutdown when runtime remaining falls below 1800 seconds (30 minutes). You can configure PCNS to shutdown when runtime is exceeded, just receive a notification or deselect it and nothing will happen. As for Runtime Below Threshold, yes, you can configure that setting to signal OS shutdown with runtime falls below X minutes.

2)  You said "Low Battery Duration - Defines how long the UPS can continue to run on battery power after a low-battery condition occurs."  What triggers that low-battery condition so I can calculate how long it can continue to run on battery power in order to set this? Low battery condition is triggered by the discharge of the battery. The default setting is 2 minutes. So, when the UPS has 2 minutes of available runtime (available runtime is determined by the amount of draw/load and the available charge) the battery is at the configured low level and the alarm will be recorded and sent. Most customer change the low battery setting to be 2 minutes greater than the last OS to shut down. Example: server requires 12 minutes to power down so the low battery setting would be 14 minutes.

Shutdown Delay - what do you mean by the "UPS shutdown command"?  Is that a command from the PCNS virtual appliance that the APC unit itself can power down?  If so, when does it issue this command? The command given to the UPS to power down. When the UPS has been told to shutdown it waits this delay and then powers down.

3) OK, but how does my setting here interact/overlap/override my settings in PCNS "Runtime Remaining Below Threshold" (Question #1 above) and "Low Battery Duration" on the NMC (Question #2 above)? The reason for having both setting is for flexibility. There are users that want some systems powered down at low battery and other systems powered down when the runtime remaining is greater than the low battery setting.

4) That KB document just tells me how to change the settings.  I can change the settings.  I guess I need to know where my virtual machines should be for all of this to work, in "Automatic Startup" or in "Manual Startup".  The instructions seem to say "Manual Startup", but that just doesn't seem to make sense to me. If you want the VMs to start automatically then set them up that way. The Kbase recommends manual startup because that is what most users are using and what was recommended to Schneider Electric engineering by VMware.

[jrmvt_apc]

Great!  Thanks for the help!  Now I just need to do a test run to see if it works.