PowerChute cannot connect to management card

[BillP]

Hello there

We have a Smart-UPS 1000 VA unit with the AP9630 Ethernet management card installed.

I have configured the management card with an IP address of 192.168.0.11 using the arp/ping method as I could not get the Device IP Configuration Wizard to work correctly. (It would find the unconfigured card, I would assign the required IP address but the address would not get set in the card.)

I can access and browse the web interface at 192.168.0.11 just fine, so I am looking to configure the PowerChute network shutdown on all of the connected machines.

When installing Powerchute, I use the same IP address and the default login details, user apc, password apc, and authentication phrase "admin user phrase". However I get a time out when trying to connect:

Registering with Management Card(s)
Please wait.
Gathering Management Card addresses
Connecting to Management Card(s)
Sending registration to Management Card(s)
Verifying communication with Management Card(s) . . .
Registration Results:
A time out occurred while waiting for a response from 192.168.0.11


I know that some connection is being made because if I enter the wrong security details I am told that they do not match.

Any help would be appreciated.

[BillP]

Make sure you have ports 80 and 3052 open, TCP/UDP on both. The software registers with the card on port 80 and then communicates over 3052.

This kbase outlines troubleshooting tips for no comm between the NMC & PCNS, though sounds like you've already verified most of it.

[BillP]

also, is the network management card using HTTP or HTTPS access for the web interface? if using HTTPS, you can run into this problem and we can help you get around it.

the registration is done over the HTTP port that the NMC is using. This particular NMC closes the HTTP port if its using HTTPS so PCNS cannot communicate properly.

if it was a problem with the security credentials, you should get a security error instead like you mentioned you tried.

this appears to be a port issue in my opinion

[BillP]

Thanks for all the replies.

The card is configured to use HTTP. I enabled HTTPS out of interest and then the PCNS couldn't communicate with the UPS at all as it seemed to be trying to go to port 80 which wasn't available as I had turned on HTTPS.

I manually set PCNS to connect to port 443 but it still doesn't connect, so I reverted back to ordinary HTTP / port 80.

I have reset the management card back to its default settings, including TCP/IP, but i still get time outs.

To try and eliminate network issues I have disabled the firewall on the machine I want to connect and cabled it directly into the management card with a network lead. The subnet on both the management card and PC are 255.255.255.0, but still no luck.

[BillP]

hmm if you directly connect and have reset the unit to defaults then I really think the next step may be a packet capture? we can look at that and make sure things are being sent correctly.

another thing that came to mind is the binding order of your network interface cards but i am not even sure if that applies to you - if you checked it already or if you even have multiple network interfaces.

[BillP]

I'm honestly kind of confused in terms of what's been done so far...

"I manually set PCNS to connect to port 443 but it still doesn't connect"

That won't work, PCNS will always use port 80 to register the card, no matter what port you change that to during installation. That value is for post-installation comm only.

Resetting the card to defaults, including TCP/IP, clears the card's IP address... So the card doesn't have an IP anymore?

Pretty much the only reason you'd be able to access the web interface and NOT establish comm installing PCNS is if you have ports blocked - namely, port 80.

Leaving your firewalls disabled, you can try to reassign an IP to the card, ensure it's using HTTP, leave the PCNS info to default, and continue the installation.

If you're running [PCNS 2.2.4|http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=127], you can also continue the installation even if the NMC registration fails, and see what happens after that. Just remember in this case, you'd have to add the server IP to the NMC clients after and verify comm is established.

If you're still having issues, then try the direct connection between your computer and the card using a crossover cable to verify it works.

I'm not sure how you originally configured the card's IP address, but let's use these settings:
IP address: 192.168.0.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.2

Disconnect your computer from your network (and turn off wireless) and assign static info to your computer's NIC:
IP address: 192.168.0.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.1

Make sure you can access the web interface, then try the installation. Of course you can't leave it that way, but that should at least confirm it's possible.

[BillP]

another thing i have seen is a problem with subnetting..not sure that is the case here based on the stuff we do know but i'll throw it out there.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I got a similar issue, and figured that it is the problem of Subnet Mask. The ips of both the management card and the computer that runs PowerChute have to be within the scale of the same subnet mask on the both side. Hope this helps.