PCNS @ vMA + ESXi

[BillP]

Hello together

At the moment I'm trying to get this to work but as you can imagine it won't work.

Test situation:

1 ESXi host with installed license!
1 vMA-4.1.0.0-268837
2 SmartUPS 2200

I installed the vMA and on top "PCNS224_VIMA41".
I configured PCNS for multiple devices.
I added the ESXI host as target via vifp addserver
I configured the ESXi to shutdown/start VMs with the host.
The PCNS software has registered successfully on both UPS management cards.
The communication seems to work. If I unplug the power cables the PCNS EventLog.txt sais:

PowerChute Network Shutdown version 2.2.4 started
Management Card 192.168.251.208 communication has been established
Management Card 192.168.251.207 communication has been established
Communications have been established
.
.
.
UPS 192.168.251.207 is running on battery power.
UPSs have switched to battery power
Shutdown process started. Linux will shut down soon.
Multiple Critical Event occurred: OnBattery, UPSTurnOffInitiated
Multiple UPS turn offs have been initiated.
and so on ...

BUT nothing happens.
It seems that the ESXi gets no shutdown signal, at least I can't see anything in the ESXi's log.

Maybe there is a Problem with the shutdownhost.pl in /opt/APC/Powerchute/group1/bin

if run it manually ./shutdownhost.pl

Can't load '/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/libvmatargetlib_perl.so' for module vmatargetlib_perl: libtypes.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory at /usr/lib64/perl5/5.8.8/x86_64-linux-thread-multi/DynaLoader.pm line 230.
at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/VMware/VmaTargetLib.pm line 10
Compilation failed in require at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/VMware/VIFPLib.pm line 10.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.8/VMware/VIFPLib.pm line 10.
Compilation failed in require at ./shutdownhost_o.pl line 16.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at ./shutdownhost_o.pl line 16.

I found a Solution for that in the VMware community:

I changed the name of the shutdownhost.pl to shutdownhost_o.pl
I created a new script called shutdownhost.pl.

#!/bin/bash
#
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/vmware/vma/lib64:/opt/vmware/vma/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
PATH=/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/java/jre-vmware/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/home/vi-admin/bin
export PATH
/opt/APC/PowerChute/group1/bin/shutdownhost_o.pl

Now the scripts runs but it seems that there are some operations/parameters missing. Maybe PCNS adds them if it calls the script.

Any ideas?
Are there some additional logs where I can see what's probably wrong?

Regards
Patrick

[BillP]

Good morning

No haven't tried version 3.0 yet.
And just on a vMA.

Message was edited by: Patrick1

[BillP]

Thanks for the heads up.

Is it possible for us to try this on PowerChute Network Shutdown 3.0?

[BillP]

Hello,

I am having the same exact error in PCNS 3.0.0

Scenario:
APC UPS with a NIC.
ESXi 4.1 U1 installed on a HP server. License is vSphere Essentials Kit.
vMA 4.1 installed on the ESXi host.
APC PowerChute Network Shutdown installed on vMA, [following these instructions, starting on p.6 bottom|http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/PMAR-8EMDEM_R0_EN.pdf]
This was all set up ~1mo. ago with latest available software.

We tested this setup by simulating a power outage. ESXi did not shut down gracefully, it just lost power, as if it never received the shutdown command from PCNS.
I learned from [this page|http://blog.rebelit.net/?p=118] that you can trigger the shutdown command by executing the shutdown script manually. I get errors when I execute it -- see attached file.

There are 3 files in that directory: notifier, shutdown, and shutdown.pl. Is my syntax correct? Am I executing the right file?
I edited the 'shutdown' file -- see attached file. (the PCNS instructions don't include this)

I have triple-checked all APC NIC and PCNS settings, they all seem correct. Why is the perl script erroring out?

If you need any more info on the environment let me know. Thank you.

Crossposted to VMWare forums here: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1778053

[BillP]

Hello again

Your linked procedure is pre installation, isn't it?
I'll give it a try.
And for us it doesn't matter if we use 2.2.4 or 3.0, it only has to work properly 🙂

[BillP]

Patrick,

If you wish to proceed on using PCNS 2.2.4, please follow the steps outlined on this APC Knowledgebase.

[Procedure for running PCNS 2.2.4 installtion patch on VMware vMA 4.1|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11144/kw/11144]

[BillP]

by the way ... who's right, PCNS installation or the knowledgebase?
The knowledgebase says:

sudo cp shutdown /opt/APC/PowerChute/group1/bin/shutdown

but the scripts is called shutdown.pl

Message was edited by: Patrick1

Message was edited by: Patrick1

[BillP]

Meanwhile I tried PCNS3.0 on Windows 7 x64 with two UPS and one ESXi 4.1 host.

It works!

If both UPS are on battery, PCNS launches a PowerCLI script which sends a shutdown command to the ESXi. ESXi waits xxx seconds to shutdown guests properly and then itself.

Maybe I'll try the vMA solution again.

For PCNS 2.2.4 I got a download link from the APC support for a vMA edition.
With PCNS 3.0 what version is the right one? for Linux or ESXi?

Regards

[BillP]

Good morning

//Edit:

Finally I got it 🙂

The file "shutdown" from the patch does what I already mentioned in my first post.

#!/bin/sh

# Patch for PCNS-1635
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/opt/vmware/vma/lib64:/opt/vmware/vma/lib
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

perl *./bin/shutdownhost.pl* operation shutdown username xxxxx --password xxxxx


1. So you just can run shutdown if you copy it to /opt/APC/PowerChute/group1 or edit the path to ./shutdownhost.pl if both scripts are located in the bin dir.
2. You better don't touch the original shutdownhost.pl 🙂

But now it works also with vMA and PCNS 2.2.4 + Patch

But will PCNS on vMA directly use this script if I configure "Shut Down System" or do I need to use "Run Command File" and call the shutdown script?


Regards




Regards
Patrick

Message was edited by: Patrick1

Message was edited by: Patrick1

[BillP]

I haven't tried it personally but most of our customers who followed the kbase that I gave you got it working. With regards to PCNS 3.0, this is the first time that I've encountered the issue that was posted above.

[BillP]

Are you using the paid version of VMWare and have you tried PCNS 3.0?

[BillP]

That's good to hear Patrick.

Just a reminder the script that comes from APC/PCNS should never be edited or changed. If a customer edits our script, we will not be supporting it.

PowerChute Network Shutdown calls the script shutdown and that calls shutdownhost.pl he does not need to do anything as long as he copies the shutdown script to the proper place as indicated in the APC Knowledgebase Article.

[BillP]

JonPro wrote:
PowerChute Network Shutdown calls the script shutdown and that calls shutdownhost.pl he does not need to do anything as long as he copies the shutdown script to the proper place as indicated in the APC Knowledgebase Article.

I believe this is not correct. The script "shutdown" points to ./bin/shutdownhost.pl but it already lies in the "bin" folder, together with "shutdownhost.pl".

Edit: Of course, if the "shutdown" script is executed in the folder "group1", this may work...

Message was edited by: blub

[Anonymous user]

I'm experiencing almost exactly the same problem as user Patrick1, so I don't open a new thread.

I have set up ESXi 4.1 with (patched) PCNS 2.2.4. The ESXi is visible when issuing a "sudo vifp listservers". Everything seems to be communicating, calling the shutdown script manually also gives a message

Connecting to server localhost ...
Operation :shutdown
Version on xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:
----------------------------------------

Folder :host
Host :
Shutting down host

but nothing happens.

Is calling the shutdown script trough the shell an appropriate way for testing the ability to shut down?

Is there something additional that must be done to enable the communication between PCNS and ESXi?

[BillP]

Hi Lucky,

Unfortunately you will need to purchase a licensed copy of VMWare. We do have an APC Knowledgebase Articles regarding this .

[VMware ESXi server not shutting down when commanded to by PowerChute Network Shutdown.|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10727/kw/paid%20vmware]

It also says it on the [PCNS Compatibility Chart|http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SJHN-7AYQNP_R25_EN.pdf]

[Anonymous user]

Hey there!

I know the thread is old, but the topic is still relevant to me.

Would PCNS work with the VMware vSphere Essentials Kit listed here http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/small-business/essentials-kits.html ? This seems to be the cheapest one (495$ + 65$), the others are too expensive for my budget. Prices are listed here: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/pricing.html

[BillP]

Hi Patrick,

Have you tried using the latest PCNS 3.0? Also, do you have a viMA installed on the ESXi as well or just the vMA?

[BillP]

That's good to hear Pat.

Here is the download page for PCNS 3.0, it is categorized by Operating System - [PCNS 3.0 Download|http://www.apc.com/tools/download/software_comp.cfm?sw_sku=SFPCNS300&id=127&family=127&part_num=SFPC...]

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

JonPro wrote:
Are you using the paid version of VMWare and have you tried PCNS 3.0?

We're using the free version of ESXi. I haven't tried PCNS 3.0. So it is your recommendation to do this next?