PowerChute Network Shutdown

[Anonymous user]

Hi

Thanks to my previous question being answered (Thanks again) I have installed PCNS on a few servers and have created the script to shutdown exchange, which has been placed in the run this command file section on the configure shutdown page. It has been given 3 minutes to complete and the low battery duration has been set to 10 minutes.

Now I have a couple of questions about this set up, They are, do we need to do anything else or will the server get shutdown cleanly now that PCNS is installed and the command file has been set, or is there something that I have missed on the configure events page. This incidentally has confused me, I want this server to shutdown when the UPS has only 10 minutes of runtime remaining and for it to be shutdown cleanly. but don’t understand some of the options, battery discharge, does this option need setting to shut the system down when the ups is down to its last 10 minutes?

Sorry for the seemingly basic questions.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

hi,

dont be sorry for asking questions!

in PCNS, the configure events page can be configured to shutdown or run a command file based on several different types of events. (for example, if you wanted this particular server to shutdown after the UPS had run on battery after 1 minute to preserve battery power, you could do that on the configure events page.) by default, it will always shutdown though based on the low battery duration that you have set in the network management card. for configuration settings based on the low battery duration, this should be configured under Server name->Configure shutdown which states: When PowerChute shuts down your operating system, it will use these settings. Use the Configure Events page to select which events will cause the system to shut down.

so, if you have the low battery duration set to 10 minutes in the management card, the runtime should hit 10 minutes, and then your server with PCNS will receive this notification from the management card. then it will run the command file and after 3 minutes, proceed to do a graceful shutdown. (i also think and extra 2 minutes is thrown in the timeline here just incase anything unexpected happens, just for good measure and you cant disable that)

essentially, it sounds like you have configured everything correctly. if you want your server to turn back on after power is restored and the UPS reboots, then make sure you set your BIOS correctly. APC cannot assist you on doing that though. [you can refer to this article|http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=948]

let me know if i missed anything or if you have any other questions.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the quick response.

So if i have got this right, the default installation is to shut the system down when the ups reaches 10 minutes remaining (or whatever time you set in the Management card, configuration, shutdown page. Plus the 2 minutes it adds here also) If you want this to change you have to configure events on the system (server) itself. Is this the Battery: discharge option or the Runtime: Exceeded ?

So with the configuration I have the server will run until there is 10 minutes of runtime left and then initiate the shutdown to the server which will run the ExchangeShutdown, wait 3 minutes and then shutdown?

[BillP]

hi,

you are correct about what you mentioned on low battery duration.

if you want to shut something down at a different point other than the low battery duration, i would suggest configuring UPS:On battery event. so you could configure the UPS to shutdown (or even run a command file, notify a user) to happen after the UPS has been on battery for x amount of seconds.

[Anonymous user]

Great, thanks again for assisting.

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

Having installed the network shutdown app on most of the servers and configured them idividually, is there any software out there that can manage the systems centrally, so I can group the systems and have different shutdown details for each group. It would be nice to be able to make one change and this be replicated out to all the systems, rather than having to visit each in turn.

Thanks

[BillP]

unfortunately, no. we dont have any tools for centralized management of powerchute software. it may be coming in the future though..

we only have tools for centralized management of network management cards and other networked accessories.

we do have a silent install procedure for deploying powerchute network shutdown to several machines but thats really for installing it. you'd have to reinstall it each time you want to make a configuration change and mass deploy it so i am sure you do not want to do that..