PCNS 4.2 with two UPS and Multiple ESXi hosts

[vx_it_apc]

Hello,

I'm trying to understand how to correctly set up this environment:

• UPS 1, single non-redundant
  • ESXi Host #1 (standalone)
    • vCenter Server deployed here as a VM
    • PCNS 4.2 deployed here as a Virtual Appliance
  • ESXi Host #2 (standalone)
• UPS 2, single non-redundant
  • ESXi Host #3 (standalone)

As you can see, we have a PCNS 4.2 appliance (the older, pre-CentOS7 release, if that makes any difference) deployed already on ESXi Host #1. There used to be a separate PCNS appliance on ESXi host 2 and 3 as well, but they did not get migrated over during the last upgrade.

My question is, for best control of graceful shutdown of the hosts/VMs, should I set up PCNS appliances for the other two ESXi hosts again, or is the one I have on ESXi Host #1 sufficient for management of all 3 hosts even though they are spread across different UPS's?

I don't mind deploying additional PCNS appliances per host if that's considered best practice. 

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You should install PCNS on each of the host. Configure host 1 with vCenter to allow vCenter to be powered down properly. Configure PCNS on hosts 2 & 3 as standalone. 

[vx_it_apc]

Thanks, Bill. Do you know how I can change the time zone of the PCNS CentOS7 virtual appliance after the initial setup? The older virtual appliances had a splash screen for this, the newer ones do not

3/4 /2019 7:35 AM, Bill said:

Hi,

You should install PCNS on each of the host. Configure host 1 with vCenter to allow vCenter to be powered down properly. Configure PCNS on hosts 2 & 3 as standalone. 

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Sorry for the inconvenience. What version of PCNS appliance did you install? the latest version allow you to set the time zone when the OS first start up.  

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to set the time zone from the command line the command is 

timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York 

That is assuming you are in Eastern time zone. 

[vx_it_apc]

On 2/4/2019 2:40 PM, Bill said:

timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York 

This is exactly what I was looking for! I accidentally left the timezone setting on default for two of the virtual appliances, so I needed to change it without redeploying. 

[vx_it_apc]

Bill  Do you know the best way to change the hostname displayed in the top right of the web page for the PCNS virtual appliances?

All three of mine are displaying "localhost" at the moment - I know there are files in /etc/hosts and /etc/sysconfig/network that I can edit, but I'd like to know if there is a better way to do it from the command line.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Go to /etc and edit the file hostname. Once the file has been edited you will need to restart the VM. 

[vx_it_apc]

On 2/5/2019 7:22 AM, Bill said:

Hi,

Go to /etc and edit the file hostname. Once the file has been edited you will need to restart the VM. 

Perfect. Thanks!