PowerChute shutting down servers inadvertantly

[Anonymous user]

I am setting up powerchute to shutdown and esxi host and a standalone server. These are new servers so I set them up on a workbench everything looked ok. When I moved them to the rack, PowerChute shuts the the esxi host down and the standalone server. I am trying to find out why I do not see anything in the logs.

[BillP]

Hi,

Sorry for the inconvenience. There is no way to tell what may have triggered the shutdown without the logs. Did anything get entered in the PowerChute Eventlog or in the error.log file? If you attach the logs I will look them over. I would also need the pcnsconfig.ini file and the config.ini file from the network card. 

You will find information as to where to find the needed PowerChute troubleshooting files in Schneider Electric FAQ FA241061. 

[Anonymous user]

Here are the files I could find. I will be out of the office for a good part of the day, if there is anything else you need let me know.

[BillP]

Hi,

The reason the servers are shutting down is because you configured PCNS with event_RunTimeExceeded_enableShutdown = true 

The event log shows 

11/01/2017 12:36:13 Available runtime has been exceeded. .3.5.1.6.1

11/01/2017 12:36:13 UPS critical event: Runtime Exceeded. .3.4.9.9

11/01/2017 12:36:13 Shutdown process started. Windows will shut down soon. .3.5.1.4.3

Runtime Exceeded is explained in the User's Guide, by clicking on help in PCNS or by reviewing Schneider Electric FAQ FA241713

I see that the network card is configured for LowBatteryDuration=2 Insufficient amount of time set for the low battery duration is the leading cause to trigger Available runtime has been exceeded. You need to increase that to accommodate the time PCNS needs to power down the systems. 

For a standard Windows system the low battery setting should be a minimum of 4 minutes. For VMware the minimum is 10 minutes. 

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thank you for getting back to me. I do not work Mondays normally, I was able to make this change. The servers are not shutting down.