PCNS/vCenter Best Practices

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

I'm just in the beginning phases of figuring out a good way to use PCNS in this environment. Here are the specs:

A SmartUPS 5000 RM XL with NMC

Two ESX hosts managed by a vCenter VM on one of the hosts. This is an HA cluster with vMotion.

In the past, I've deployed the PCNS VMWare OVF (appliance) on ESX and used it to manage a host directly. (I did try once managing a single host through vCenter in which both vCenter and PCNS were VMs on that same host, but I never could get the timing right. Either PCNS would lose connectivity because it shutdown too soon or PCNS couldn't finish its script because the vCenter VM powered down before PCNS.)

I have two questions:

1. Should we look to put PCNS on a physical workstation outside the cluster? We can do it, but we'll need to purchase something.
2. Is it really not possible to run PCNS in a VM and use it to manage shutdown of a VM vCenter when both are on the same physical host?

[BillP]

Mike,

You should review Application Note 180 and the user's guide. They provide information concerning set-up and configuration possibilities.

On 5/8/2015 3:22 PM, Mike said:

• Should we look to put PCNS on a physical workstation outside the cluster? We can do it, but we'll need to purchase something.
• Is it really not possible to run PCNS in a VM and use it to manage shutdown of a VM vCenter when both are on the same physical host?

1. You do not need to install PowerChute on a standalone system but you can. That possible configuration is discussed on page 3 of the application note.
2. You can run PowerChute appliance and vCenter on the same host. That configuration is discussed on page 4 of the application note.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the information about Application Note 180. I have read it since you wrote. 🙂

On 5/9/2015 9:00 AM, Bill said:

You can run PowerChute appliance and vCenter on the same host. That configuration is discussed on page 4 of the application note.

Ok, I'll give this a go again. However, I don't quite understand something.

The Note seems to indicate that after vCenter has shut down there is a timeout period and, upon expiration, PowerChute will proceed with shutting down anything else. In other words:

1. UPS goes on battery ... other things are shut down.
2. vCenter is shut down.
3. PowerChute loses connection with vCenter (because it's down) but waits for a time and then continues anyway.

Is this accurate? If so, what is that timeout period?

Thanks, Bill!

Cheers,

m

[BillP]

Hi

On 5/12/2015 11:43 AM, Mike said:

1. UPS goes on battery ... other things are shut down.
2. vCenter is shut down.
3. PowerChute loses connection with vCenter (because it's down) but waits for a time and then continues anyway.

Is this accurate? If so, what is that timeout period?

Yes. That is accurate. The time out period is configurable. It is set under the heading of Virtualization Settings - vCenter Server VM Shutdown Duration. The default delay is set for 240 seconds / 4 minutes.

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[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Wow. Wonderful. I'll check that out. Thanks again.