PowerChute not working as expected?

[Anonymous user]

Hello People,

At our company we have several off-site locations running with a Vmware ESX server connected to a APC UPS(several different types).

(We've never really tested the UPS shutdown sequence though, so that's what I'm doing now).

On the ESX server I've created a separate PowerChute VM(installed pcns310win-x86-64), and configured it(Powerchute setup) without problems(I thought).

First step in wanted to take: shut down the Vmware host when UPS runtime is less then 900 seconds.

So I configured to shutdown using the "Runtime remaining below threshold", and set it to 900 seconds.

Now the problem is: it just does not do anything. When I pull the power cord from the UPS, it immediately logs an "UPS has switched to battery power" event in Powerchute. But nothing happens when it passes the 900seconds barrier(15 minutes as shown in the UPS interface itself). I let it continue all the way until there was only 1 minute left in the UPS(even logs critical "Low Battery" events in the minutes before that the logs), but no shutdown was initiated.

Now, I do not understand I lot of options in the UPS configuration thoroughly.

What am I doing wrong? I've included some screenshots with the settings i've made.

Thanks in advance!

--Mark

[BillP]

Hi,

Are the host ESX or ESXi? IF the hosts are ESX you should install PowerChute on the ESX host. If the hosts are ESXi then you should install the PCNS appliance.

Here is a link to PCNS for ESX and the Appliance.

You ahould review PCNS VMware Users Guide.

[Anonymous user]

Bill, thanks for you reply!

We're using ESXi(5.5+).

 I'm not a big fan of virtual appliances, they are hard to maintain, often impossible to update, hard to keep secure, and always an exceptions of the rest of the environment(Windows/specific Linux version/ etc..). And it is an OS you should maintain nonetheless. so that why I specifically chose not to use the VA.

 Also, I think that running PCNS on standard Windows/Linux is not very different from running the same thing on a VA(only the VA is a lazy way). It's just Powerchute on a trimmed down linux, right? The same questions remain.

 Is there some way I can troubleshoot this? We have 20 ESXi servers running on 20 APC UPS, all configured in the same way. However, this is the first time we really tested it(in a way to really drain the battery). I used the "PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1" Installation Guide(number 990-2838H-001, Windows, Linux, Hyper-V, Vmware combined).

[BillP]

Mark,

Your configuration is not officially supported but it should work. You need to configure PCNS with a standalone host. Provide the host credentials, and the host must be fully licensed (not the free license). You must configure the host to power down the VMs (Kbase FA159688). Also, each VM must have VMware tools installed for them to be shut down by the host.

[Anonymous user]

Tnx Bill. I did all that. Everything is configured as I think it should be. So 1 PowerChute installation for every ESX host/UPS.

Powerchute should give the command to ESX to power down.The ESX host will power down the VM's, when the power comes back the host will power on, and the VM's will start again.

This all seems to work "kinda". Powerchute communicates with ESXi and communicates with the UPS(see logs/screenshots).

The problem is is that "Runtime remaining below threshold" does absolutely nothing, see logs/screenshots. So when i pull tje plug, Powerchute sees that the UPS is running on battery, and in the UPS webinterface i eventually see the runtime dropping below the 900 seconds(configured threshold in Powerchute), but nothing happens.

How does this work under the hood(Powerchute pulls this runtime data from the UPS right?)?

[BillP]

Mark,

As I wrote earlier this is not supported.

You should look in the folder that PowerChute is installed in and there will be an error log. Review the error log. It should give an indication as to what is happening when the threshold is met. Also, the screenshot shows that the UPS hit low battery. PowerChute should start a shutdown as soon as low battery is met. Since it did not that looks to me as though there is a communications issue with the host and you should see that in the error log.

[Anonymous user]

Thank for the reply Bill. 

I will have a look at the logs.

So you're saying the Virtual appliance the only supported way of shutting down a standalone ESXi host(in de the case that there are no physical machines)?

The manual I have(Installation Guide v3.1) says it's recommended to use the VA, but nothing idicates it's unsupported. Of course I do not want a unsupported situation, but I do not want a virtual appliance either(and certainly want no vMA, don't know if thats still required for the 4.0 VA). 

[BillP]

Mark,

On 7/3/2015 10:03 AM, Mark said:

So you're saying the Virtual appliance the only supported way of shutting down a standalone ESXi host(in de the case that there are no physical machines)?

If you don't want to install the Appliance or a vMA the other option is to install PowerChute on a standalone Windows system (none VM) and configure it to power down the ESXi host.

On 7/3/2015 10:03 AM, Mark said:

The manual I have(Installation Guide v3.1) says it's recommended to use the VA, but nothing idicates it's unsupported. Of course I do not want a unsupported situation, but I do not want a virtual appliance either(and certainly want no vMA, don't know if thats still required for the 4.0 VA). 

PCNS 4.0 is the same as 3.1. We offer the Appliance, vMA or standalone options.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Installed the VA version 4 now. Configured exactly the same settings. Going to test it later.