PCNS 4.2 and Hyper-v and something else

[Anonymous user]

Hi!
I have 5 physical servers with OS Windows Server (2008 and 2012). One of them is hyper-v server with 2 virtual machines.

All of the servers (except for virtual ones) have “Powerchute Network Shutdown 4.2.0” installed. But I’d like to point out that I installed PCNS without "hyper-v support" on the server with hyper-v, so now all of my servers running a “basic” PCNS. None of the servers have USB-connection with ups. They’re just in one LAN.
I have ups APC Smart-UPS X 3000 with UPS Network Management Card 2.

I want all servers to shut down immediately if ups switches to its battery. So in Powerchute web-interface on each server I choose shutdown in 40 seconds on "ups on battery" event.
But the thing is that when a power blackout really happened, only 3 servers out of 5 shut down, I had to shut down the hyper-v server and another one manually (the power had been turned off for 10 minutes by that moment).

Also I have to say that all of the servers have in its log an event “The kernel power manager has initiated a shutdown transition”. Event time fits the power blackout time, so Powerchute really send a command to shut down servers.

1) Was there a possibility that the hyper-v server and another server would have shut down a bit later, and I actually just had to wait for a couple more minutes before shut them down?

2) also was there a chance that the hyper-v server was just shutting down its virtual machines and that's why it took server so long to shut down? Another server didn't have a hyper-v role (all it had was a Russian accounting platform “1C”), and still they both didn't shut down automatically.

3) was it my mistake to install Powerchute without "hyper-v support" on the hyper-v server? As far as I know, that "hyper-v support" includes just a special menu with a virtual machines shutting down option.

4) Ups has that thing in logs (for like two weeks or more):

03/09/2020 23:31:07 UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately.

03/09/2020 23:30:20 UPS: A discharged battery condition no longer exists.

03/09/2020 23:30:06 UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately.

03/09/2020 23:26:16 UPS: A discharged battery condition no longer exists.

03/09/2020 23:26:08 UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately.

I’ve already googled it and found out that it's probably a problem with old batteries. I’m concerned about it and that power blackout I’ve had. The UPS didn’t shutdown that day, but could it create problems with servers shutting down process?

5) I’m confused with all these options. Like, I can set a shutdown with Powerchute (which is exactly what I did) and also I can set it through NMC web-interface in that “Low battery duration” option. I think I don’t understand a difference between all these options. Did I do the right thing choosing PCNS events settings instead of NMC “Low battery” settings?

If you need any additional info, I’ll write it. Thank you!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

On 3/9/2020 4:37 PM, Erin said:

1) Was there a possibility that the hyper-v server and another server would have shut down a bit later, and I actually just had to wait for a couple more minutes before shut them down?

Did you review the PCNS event log and if so did it record shutting down the OS? If it did then the issue is with the server. PCNS uses the Windows command shutdown.exe to shut the system down. 

On 3/9/2020 4:37 PM, Erin said:

2) also was there a chance that the hyper-v server was just shutting down its virtual machines and that's why it took server so long to shut down? Another server didn't have a hyper-v role (all it had was a Russian accounting platform “1C”), and still they both didn't shut down automatically.

Yes it is possible. As noted for question 1 you should review the PCNS Event log.

On 3/9/2020 4:37 PM, Erin said:

I’ve already googled it and found out that it's probably a problem with old batteries. I’m concerned about it and that power blackout I’ve had. The UPS didn’t shutdown that day, but could it create problems with servers shutting down process?

You should replace the battery. A week battery may not keep the UPS running the expected amount of time to allow the servers to power off properly. 

On 3/9/2020 4:37 PM, Erin said:

5) I’m confused with all these options. Like, I can set a shutdown with Powerchute (which is exactly what I did) and also I can set it through NMC web-interface in that “Low battery duration” option. I think I don’t understand a difference between all these options. Did I do the right thing choosing PCNS events settings instead of NMC “Low battery” settings?

The low battery duration is a fail safe. If the UPS reaches low battery the NMC will signal any registered PCNS clients and they will begin the shutdown process immediately. Example: PCNS has been configured to wait until the UPS has been on battery for 15 minutes and then start the shutdown process. After only being on battery for 10 minutes the UPS reports low battery. The NMC will signal PCNS and it will start the shutdown process even though the 15 minute delay has not completed.