Power failed and now we cant connect to the batteries

[Anonymous user]

Trying to log into the PBE server software, put user name and password in, then I get a pop up message saying "Could not connect to the APC Powerchute business edition server. Make sure the APC PBE server software is running and that its host is connected to network and then try again".

I've checked the services and both services are running, ie agent and the other one so what needs to be done to get the PBE software to talk with the batteries again?

For background, we've been having power outages today due to the weather. So far the battery backup has been logging in the server event log its on battery but didnt shut the server down, it just ran out of power! It also didnt send out email notifications to warn me of the situation yet all the net access, switches etc are on battery as well so theres no reason for it to happen.

This is a brand new SU2700, when I put these in and tested them in Nov all worked fine only changes have been windows updates and the power failure where the server didnt shut down properly.

Also had a report of workstation with the same problem ie power failed, UPS didnt work so the workstations just died.

TIA

Windows sbs2003 premium, XP & Win7 (32 & 64) workstations.

[Anonymous user]

Also found out the server lost a couple drives during the power outage due to the battery/PBE failing to shut down the server.

Not good!

Edit: How do we find out if the battery is faulty if cant connect to it?

Message was edited by: apcuser1

[BillP]

hi - to begin, we dont have a model SU2700 - where do you see this information? does the UPS have an LCD display on the front? if so, the model can be gathered through there so we know what we are working with.

in addition, has anyone verified the physical connection between the UPS and the server (which would be a USB type or a serial type)? If so, let me know it has been verified and what type of cable it is and what the ports are labeled to that they are connected.

can you try to log into the specific Agent on this server? you can do that by not using the Console and just using a web browser and going to http://127.0.0.1:3052 if you are at the server or replace the 127.0.0.1 with the actual IP address of the server. see if you get anything when this pops up. it should prompt you for a login to the agent on that web page. it should work if you have verified the service is running within Administrative tools->services as you mentioned.

you also mentioned you have multiple computers and a server. with PCBE, each device must be physically connected for the UPS for this to happen. can you elaborate on how everything is cabled and connected to the UPS? did those other computers work fine and just the server didnt?

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the info, what I have found:
Its a 2200 (black with lcd on the front), its USB connected, I can access it from 127.0.0.1:3052 but unable to access the PBE software still.
Been looking through the logs accessible from the web interface and I've noticed the USB communication has dropped for periods of time.

How can we stop the USB comms dropping?

With regard to setup and config.

We have two servers, main server has USB comms to 2200, older server has old beige 2200 with serial port comms. Workstations have smaller batteries which fall into two catagories, some have UPS's with comms which shutdown the workstation using the workstation version of the powerchute software or they have a UPS with no comms. With the w/s that have no comms to a UPS, the main server runs a .cmd file which issues a "shutdown -s --f \\workstation name" to shut them down remotely.

The email notification is switched on for all events in both of the the 2200's so we get notice of anything from AVR Trim to over voltages and everything else in between this way we can monitor that the servers, and can spot descrepencys between the two servers as they are both on the same power circuit so if one experiences an over voltage both should report the over voltage.

Thats basically it, we are writting some software to control the w/s with no comms UPS better so that there is a delay between the power failing and when the individual workstation shutdowns occur becuase different w/s burn through the batteries at different rates as it depends on whether some have 2 or 1 monitors, and other hardware variations that alter the amount of time they can run on battery before the power runs out, but thats all it is really.

With regard to the w/s that shutdown with out notice, we have established the w/s went into hibernation just as the user got into work for the morning so it was a timing issue becuase the user wasnt logged on and thus didnt see the onscreen warnings, but I cant help but think why didnt the bleeping from the batteries alert them to the problem plus probably the absence of lighting and other things not working, but when asked about this they said it just didnt register what was going on.

[BillP]

ok, if you can access 127.0.0.1:3052, THAT is actually the powerchute business edition agent on that server. when you say you still cannot access the PBE software, are you talking about powerchute business edition console (the purplish window you open to see all your agents on the network)? if so, can you tell me where the server and console are installed? there are three parts to powerchute business edition - the agent is the piece that actually does the monitoring. the server is the component that can help group them all together and then the console is just a GUI to access the server and see all your agents for centralized monitoring.

i guess my question is - are all of these three components installed on one of these servers? if you can access the 127.0.0.1:3052, it would be helpful to see the log for the time that the issue occured. in order for all of these three pieces of software to communicate properly, you also need to make sure the appropriate network ports are open if you have the components installed in different areas - [see this note|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2790].

so, can you clarify where these components are installed and let me know if you can provide any screenshots? also, like i said, the log from the server where you see the USB dropped comms would be helpful. lost comm could have many different root causes - could be an issue with the particular USB port, too much power being drawn from the port, using a USB hub, etc so i would first see if it happens randomly or at the same time each day or if your server is going into standby (very doubtful), or some type of pattern. it could also be a cable too or electrical noise affecting the cable as well.

[Anonymous user]

Sorry for the delay, yes all the 3 programs (agent, console and server) are installed on the same machine into their default locations C:\Program Files\APC\PowerChute Business Edition, the Jave Runtime Engine is 1.6.0_19 if thats relevent as well.

I've attached screenshots of the logs from the ups and the server event log. Re USB, its plugged straight into the server, no hub, but if its relevent this is a Dell Poweredge dual core Xexon running SBS2003 premium so yes there is a load on the server (Exchange, ISA & SQL server) but the SQL servers have their ram requirements limited so theres usually about 1Gb of RAM spare, ISA only uses a 300mb of ram, and Exchange uses 500Mb of RAM. The biggest CPU hog is BackupExec but that kicks in, in the evenings for overnight backups, everything has been tuned and looked at to ensure all runs smoothly.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Ok, we did a little investigation and here are the recommended steps:

Stop the PCBE Server service and uninstall it as well as the console portion. Then reinstall both (server first then console). When installing the Server portion, at the device list configuration, it should show a list of available Agents to be added to the Server. Add the IP address or enter 127.0.0.1.

If this does not resolve the issue, verify that the Agent is running by logging into the web interface. As long as the Agent is running, just know that the system is protected. The Server is only responsible for communications with the Agents and the Console is the GUI for PCBE. To protect the server the only piece that is crucial is the Agent.

Lastly, please send us the config.ini file from the console folder and a screenshot of the device list if the issue still persists.