Powerchute Business Edition Basic (Failed to apply the config profile)

[BillP]

Hi,

I installed POwerchute Business Edition Basic Version 7.0.2 on one of my servers and connected it using the USB to RJ-45 connector. My UPS is Smart-UPS 3000 SUA. Then I installed the Agent on my other 3 servers because I also want the software to manage them and send shutdown during power outages or in case of any toubles.

In the Powechute Console, under Tools> Configure Device List, I can see the other 3 servers where I installed the agent under the Discovered Devices, but the problem is when I'm trying to add them to the Current Device LIst and hit "Apply" button, there's always an error saying *"Failed to apply the configuration profile".* Obviosly the Console detects the other servers with agent insatlled but why can I add them to the Current Device List?
Did I miss something? I need to make it running badly, Hope somebody could help me.

Thank you,
Elijah

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks all..

Daryl

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc · Accepted solution]

That's what I get for troubleshooting while trying to get ready for work. Totally overlooked that...

[BillP]

Thanks Kevin

[BillP]

Hi Voidstar,

Yes please check if return delay and the return runtime are done in parallel or in series. Btw, do you have any idea on how much charge is retained in the UPS after it shuts down?

Thanks.

[Anonymous user]

I was looking for the same error massage: Failed to apply the configuration profile

Very bad solution from APC to do it this way.. (Networkcard)
Should be done by the agent!


tnx for your help guys

[BillP]

did you find the answer to your question in this thread? or do you still need help?

[BillP]

I realise the original question was answered but I've foudn a lot of useful information here and I believe the contributors can answer my questions:

Environment:
UPS is a Smart-UPS RT 8000XL
Network Management Card installed.
Agent on all servers. (Windows Server 2003, various hardware.)

-I want to configure shutdown based on the "Runtime" Exceeded" - which I believe means when there is isnsufficient power in the UPS Battery to hold the Server up for longer than it takes to shut it down - firstly, is this the correct meaning?
-Secondly, where do I configure how long it takes to shutdown each server? I'm not using a script - just the basic in-built ability of the UPS to shutdown the server (it does have this doesnt it?)
-Finally, there is a "Delay" setting on this - it looks to be at a default of 10000seconds which makes no sense as the UPS only has a runtime of about 1hour... I'm happy to have it consider a RunTime Exceeded to be valid when it has been so for 10minutes so do I set this to 600?

[BillP]

Welcome to the APC Forum Softech.

I would like to ask which one among the two you would like to accomplish.
- Shutdown the servers after the UPS has been on battery for X amount of minutes (e.g. the UPS has been on battery for 10 minutes).
- Shutdown the servers once the UPS has reached it's low battery state, this is the default setting whenever you install the PowerChute Network Shutdown application.

With regards to the delay is that the Shutdown Delay, Maximum Required Delay or Return Delay?

[Techie_apc]

There is an easy way to manage your Servers from your Smart-UPS RT 8000XL. *{color:#0000ff}Power Chute Network Shutdown software{color}* can be installed to shutdown your Servers gracefully during power failure. PCNS software works in conjunction with the Network Management Card to shutdown a Server gracefully.

If you are able to monitor the UPS on the network through NMC, you make the UPS a node on your network. You will then download the free PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS) software from www.apc.com/tools/download and install it on any computer you wish to shutdown gracefully during a power event. Operating system compatibility with PCNS is also listed on our software downloads page.

When the UPS goes to battery, it broadcasts a message to any computer with PCNS installed. Options and parameters are easily configured through the web interface. You can remotely configure the servers for shutdown and remotely monitor the UPS with the NMC option.

There are two Power Strategy settings(NMC's Low Battery Duration and PCNS's UPS: On Battery) which you should know to configure the NMC and PCNS shutdown settings.

Difference between NMC's Low Battery Duration and PCNS's UPS: On Battery
{color:#000000}
{color}{color:#0000ff}*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 Power Chute 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.*{color}

{color:#0000ff}*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.*{color}

*{color:#0000ff}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.{color}*

[BillP]

Hi JeoMomma,

It's been a while coz it took sometime to justify why I need to purchase another UPS, but now I have it in my server room, and it has the Network Management Card (AP9619). I've already configured it and set the IP add. I can now view it through Web Browser. But my question is, how do I add all the servers under the card's management so it will trigger the shutdown to the servers? I saw under "PowerChute® Network Shutdown Clients" menu that I could add a client, is that the one I'm looking for? I've attached a screenshot. You've mentioned that I should install the client software on each of the server, is that correct? If, yes, can you give me the exact link on where to D/L it?

Thank you so much,
Elijah

[BillP]

Another question, I'm now trying to configure the shutdown on the servers, but there's a segment askin for the command file; what command file should I run? or can yuo give me one please?

Please see attached.
Thanks.

[BillP]

hi elijah,

I will try to help you out here.

Yes, on all of your servers that you want to gracefully shutdown, you need to install Powerchute Network Shutdown. Upon installing it, the software prompts you for the IP address of your network management card so that it can communicate over the network and maintain communication. It will test the communication by "registering" itself and upon a successful registration, the client will add its IP address to that list that you showed in your screenshot. Then, that screen you showed us, allows you to manually add a client if you needed to.

So basically:*

1.) Install Powerchute network shutdown on all the servers attached to this UPS that you want to shutdown.
2.) Access the powerchute interface on each of the servers by going to each server and typing http://127.0.0.1:3052 or https://127.0.0.1:6547 if you configure it with SSL. (alternatively replace the loopback address with the IP address of the client).
3.) Enter the user name and password created during install and access the powerchute interface. you can configure special settings in here. by default, all the clients shutdown when the UPS hits a low battery signal. if you want them to shutdown earlier, you can configure the settings in this screen.
4.) after doing so, return to the screen in the network management card that you posted and make sure the client IPs are in this list.

[link to powerchute network shutdown software|http://www.apc.com/tools/download/software_comp.cfm?sw_sku=SFPCNS223&id=127&family=&part_num=&swfam=...]

hope that helps!

[BillP]

this should match whatever is in the network management card under UPS tab->PowerChute->Configuration->Authentication Phrase.

the default phrase is admin user phrase this is case sensitive and you need to type the spaces in it as well. this is needed so that powerchute and the management card can authenticate with each other.

keep in mind also that the administrator username on powerchute and the network management card need to be the same as well.

[BillP]

Hi,

I tried as that's what I saw under UPS>Synchronized Control. I also tired the admin user phrase that you gave but to no avail. Can I just define my own Authentication Phrase and change what is in the Sync Control portion? Please see attached.

Thanks,
Elijah

[BillP · Accepted solution]

isnt the actual phrase. it is the same effect as using **** to edit out a password so somebody cant see it.

also, you do not want to be editing the phrase under Sync Control. you need to be editing the one under UPS Tab->Powerchute section. so yes, you could reset it it in the management card to admin user phrase and then when you go back to it, it will say so somebody cant log into and and know the authentication phrase. then go back to powerchute network shutdown and enter the phrase you just added. if you click the Help link at the top right next to log off, it will give you details on how many characters can be used in the phrase you choose, etc

just write it down though. if you forget the phrase for new clients down the line, theres no way to recover it and you'd have to reinstall all of the clients you already have installed.

[BillP]

I think I got the answer, I changed the login name and password to a different one, so I thought of putting back the "apc" username and "apc" password; I supplied the admin user phrase and whoa! success. Thank you so much. But what if I want to change the username and password? Do I still need to change the authentication phrase to match the new login credential?

Thank you!

[BillP]

Hi,

Thanks, now I understand. I am now trying to configure the low-battery duration settings and I set it to 10 minutes, which means the UPS will shutdown if it has been running on battery for 10 minutes, is that correct? Can you take a look on the screen shot that I attached and see if all the parameters are correct? It will be very helpful if you can give me a little knowledge on the use of those parameters under the Configuration>Shutdown like the Basic Signaling Shutdown, Sleep Time, should I change that? and how about this Return Runtime Duration and Return Delay? Sorry if I ask too much, this is my first time to setup so I dont want to mess things up.

Thanks.

[BillP]

first question - no, you don't have to touch the authentication phrase if you want to change the username and password. the username always needs to be the same between the card and PCNS but you can change the password down the line if you want.

second question - a command file is NOT required. its there if a user needs to use it. some people run command files to shutdown certain services on their machine that powerchute cannot shutdown or some people use it to shutdown other remote servers that don't have a supported operating system, etc so if you dont have a need for it, leave it blank. also, APC does not deal with command files and making them, only the functionality is provided.

also - in your screenshot, make sure that box that says "Turn off the UPS after this computer is shutdown" or whatever should only be checked on the last server to shutdown in your configuration. otherwise, a server may command the UPS to shutdown prematurely which will force everything else to shutdown - which may be fine or not, depending on how you configure this.

[BillP]

Oh, you're really of great help, I really won't be able to realize that if you haven't mentioned.
On which portion will I set on which server should shutdown last? where will I set the delay?

Thanks.

also - in your screenshot, make sure that box that says "Turn off the UPS after this computer is shutdown" or whatever should only be checked on the last server to shutdown in your configuration. otherwise, a server may command the UPS to shutdown prematurely which will force everything else to shutdown - which may be fine or not, depending on how you configure this.

[BillP]

you would go to Configure Events in the powerchute network shutdown on each server and perhaps select the UPS on battery event and configure that to shutdown your server after it lasts for say 5 minutes. So after the UPS has been on battery for 5 minutes, that server will begin to shutdown. So if you configure this on all the servers, you may need to kind of figure out how long each OS takes to shutdown so you can plan it.

If you just all want them to shutdown at the same time and they all take the same amount of time to shutdown, just pick one server and leave it selected.

basically, you need to know how long each of your servers requires to do a complete shutdown and then see if you need to stagger the shutdowns or just let them all go when the UPS hits a low battery signal. If they all take say 5 minutes to shutdown, you could set the low battery duration time on the network management card to 8 minutes so that when there is 8 minutes of runtime remaining, the UPS management card will signal all of the clients to shutdown regardless of what they are currently doing and then you have an extra couple minutes incase something happens.

[voidstar_apc]

>
Thanks, now I understand. I am now trying to configure the low-battery duration settings and I set it to 10 minutes, which means the UPS will shutdown if it has been running on battery for 10 minutes, is that correct?
>

APC does shutdowns based on the amount of runtime remaining on the battery. So a low battery duration of 10 minutes means the UPS will initiate a shutdown when it has 10 minutes of runtime remaining. The shutdown delay is the amount of time before the UPS actually turns off, so the UPS will attempt to turn off 20 seconds after the shutdown is initiated. However, because you have PowerChute Network Shutdown clients, they will delay the UPS turning off until they have had time to gracefully shut down (or the UPS runs out of runtime first).

>
It will be very helpful if you can give me a little knowledge on the use of those parameters under the Configuration>Shutdown like the Basic Signaling Shutdown, Sleep Time, should I change that?
>

Basic signaling is a simple mechanism for the UPS to indicate a power failure over the serial port. Since you're using a network management card and PCNS, basic signaling isn't very useful to you. I would leave it disabled.

Sleep time is the amount of time it will sleep when you choose to put the UPS to sleep on the control page.

>
and how about this Return Runtime Duration and Return Delay? Sorry if I ask too much, this is my first time to setup so I dont want to mess things up.
>

The return runtime duration is how much runtime the UPS will charge the battery up to before it turns on. This helps avoid the situation where the AC power comes back briefly, but not long enough to charge the UPS batteries up to the point where it can keep the loads up long enough for a safe shutdown. So if you set the return runtime duration for 10 seconds, the UPS will stay off until it has charged the battery long enough to keep the load up for 10 seconds.

The return delay is a strictly time-based delay before it turns the UPS back on. While it can be used for the same purpose as the return runtime delay, it's intended to help with staggering UPSes so they don't all turn on at the same time.

Hope that helps.

[BillP]

Thanks Voistar, now I've set them properly according to the manner which I think is safe for my equipment. But now that I've set the Return Runtime to 1800 secs, should I just let the Return Delay set to 10 seconds? because in my understanding if it is set to that value, it will turn the servers on 10 seconds after the return runtime has been completed, so it's like 1900 seconds before the servers go back UP? am I right?

Thanks.

[voidstar_apc]

>
But now that I've set the Return Runtime to 1800 secs, should I just let the Return Delay set to 10 seconds? because in my understanding if it is set to that value, it will turn the servers on 10 seconds after the return runtime has been completed, so it's like 1900 seconds before the servers go back UP? am I right?
>

I'm not sure whether the return delay and the return runtime are done in parallel or in series... I would have to check that if you're interested.

I wouldn't assume that a return runtime of 1800 seconds means that you'll be waiting 1800 seconds after the power returns before the servers go back up. When the UPS turns off, if it hasn't drained the batteries, there will still be some runtime left in the batteries when the power returns. After the power returns, the battery begins to charge and when the batteries are charged up enough for 1800 seconds of runtime, the UPS will finally turn on. So how quickly the servers turn back on depends on how much runtime was left when the UPS shuts off and how quickly the battery is charged.

[voidstar_apc]

Today return runtime and return delay are in parallel.

How much charge is retained in the battery after the UPS turns off is not fixed... it depends on how soon the UPS turns off after it goes on battery, and how loaded the UPS is during that time. The low battery duration, turn off delay, and time required by PCNS clients to turn off all affect how quickly the UPS turns off when it's on battery.

I would concentrate on two things: the return runtime duration and the low battery duration. I'd set the return runtime duration to at least the amount of time your computers need to safely shut down. That way you know the UPS will always wait until it can support the load long enough before it turns on. The Low Battery Duration should also be, at minimum, the amount of time the computers need to shut down. Here you can choose to start the shutdown early (turn off when there's still a lot of runtime left) or shutdown later when there's very little runtime left, but still enough time to gracefully shut down the attached computers. The big advantage of shutting down early is you don't have to wait as long for the battery to charge up before the UPS reaches the return runtime duration and turns on. The advantage of shutting down late is that the power outage may be short enough that you can ride through it and avoid shutting down at all.

[BillP]

Hi Voidstart, Angela & JoeMomma,

I think we can now close this issue, all my question on this regard has been answered. I'll just open another thread for my other questions.

Thanks a lot everyone.

Elijah

[BillP]

sounds good! glad ya got it going.

[BillP]

@techie - Thanks for the suggestion on the PCNS but if you read my post you will see that I have this agent installed on all servers ( i guess I should have been more specific when I said agent)

+"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"+

What determines this 3minute wait?
I do not have a need to run a script, I simply want them to shut down.


@JonPro
-I would like to:
+"Shutdown the servers after the UPS has been on battery for X amount of minutes (e.g. the UPS has been on battery for 10 minutes)."+

[BillP]

Softech:

I forgot to ask about this earlier, what version of PowerChute Business Edition do you have? If it is version 8.0, do you have the Deluxe or Basic Edition?

To help you accomplish what you want we need to know what PCBE are you using. Let's say you are using the PowerChute Business Edition Basic, this would provide you a single node PCBE Agent which can be accessed using it's web interface. From the Agent interface you will then go to Events and then Actions and then look for Time On Battery Threshold Exceeded, this is the event that will help you achieve what you want. What you need to do is to specify the number of minutes the UPS would run before it initiate a shutdown, you will need to know how long does the server takes to completely turn off to prevent the load from dropping due to insufficient runtime.

[Techie_apc]

The PCNS will initiate a graceful shutdown if you do not have any script to run as soon as the UPS hit the 10 minutes remaining runtime.

If you would like to shutdown the Servers after the UPS has been on battery for X amount of minutes, then you can configure UPS: On battery event in the PCNS software.
Please see a screen shot of the PCNS UPS: On battery event. I set the “Shutdown the system only when the event lasts this long (seconds)”: 600. In this case, the PCNS software will shutdown your server gracefully after the UPS has been on battery for 10 minutes.

I hope that this helps.

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc]

Have you attempted to brain dead? It seems whichever mode of communication you're using is not 100% active....

1. Power off the load
2. Power off the UPS
3. Unplug the load from the UPS
4. Disconnect any comm. cable
5. Depress the Off button for 4-6 seconds until all the LED's flash and the unit emits a click
6. Plug in either serial or USB (whichever you were using prior)
7. Power everything back up.

Let us know if that works.

Thanks.

[BillP]

Elijah,

I think I figured out what's going on. Each PowerChute Business Edition Agent MUST have it's own physical link back to the UPS via USB or Serial.

My guess is that you have the first Agent that DID get added successfully connected with the USB cable, as you mentioned, but the other 3 servers with Agents installed have no connection back to the UPS.

This is why they will not update and add themselves.

If you would like 4 servers to be managed by the same UPS, additional hardware is necessary. In your case, I would highly recommend going with a [Network Management Card|http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=98], part # [AP9617|http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=AP9617], so that you can do away completely with serial and USB cables and just use your existing Ethernet network.

When you get the network card installed in your Smart-UPS, you won't use PowerChute Business Edition. Uninstall all instances of Business Edition and simply install the free [PowerChute Network Shutdown|http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SFPCNS223&tab=Software] agent on each of those 4 servers you would like to have managed by the UPS. You can directly manage the UPS without any additional software. Rather, you would log into the IP address assigned to your network card via your favorite web browser.

[BillP]

Hi Joe,

I think that makes sense. But I have some questions:


1. Is that a universal Network Management Card? I mean can I use that for any model of Smart-UPS?
2. Is there a limit on the number of servers that the card can manage?
3. Maybe it's a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway since I'm already here; given that the card can shutdown the servers connected right? so when the power comes back, will it also Power ON the servers automagically?

I hope this is the solution to my problem because for sure there's a good cost for the Netwrok Card so if I will tell my boss that I'm gonna purchase it, then it should work and resolve our burdens. Any idea of the price?

Thanks,
Elijah

[BillP]

Hi Elijah, my responses are in bold.

1. Is that a universal Network Management Card? I mean can I use that for any model of Smart-UPS? Yes, that network management card will work in any Smart-UPS except for the Smart-UPS SC family. Essentially, if your Smart-UPS has the SmartSlot bay, you're in business.

2. Is there a limit on the number of servers that the card can manage? The network card itself can remember 50 PCNS Agent IP addresses, but due to the use of broadcast communication, you can address hundreds of agents. It's unlikely you'll ever exceed even 50.

3. Maybe it's a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway since I'm already here; given that the card can shutdown the servers connected right? so when the power comes back, will it also Power ON the servers automagically? Once all the agents have shut down gracefully, you can command the UPS to sleep until power is restored. When power returns, the UPS will begin to output power again. It's up to your computers' BIOS settings to be configured in such a way that they will automatically turn back on when they sense power coming from the UPS again.

The AP9617 looks to be around $275 on buy.apc.com, but you can find it for less at resellers such as PC Connection, who offer it for around $240. It's well worth it for the ease of management and flexibility of configuration.

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

I am also having the same problem for Smart-UPS 2200 model on an agent...

To check, is it confirmed that each UPS protected server has to be connected back to the UPS with a serial communiucation, in order for agent protection to work?

Found an APC event log in the server which has the agent installed which says "Communication Not Established". Is there any link to the problem?

I will try to shutdown and restart the UPS to as suggested in one of the posts...

Thank you.

Daryl

[BillP]

elijah - if you have a network management card in the UPS then yes, your problem should be solved because you can make everything work over the network. let us know if you have any questions with that.

Daryl - to answer your question "*To check, is it confirmed that each UPS protected server has to be connected back to the UPS with a serial communiucation, in order for agent protection to work?"* - yes, if you are using powerchute business edition. if you need to connect multiple servers to one UPS, you will want to look into an interface expander, or even cheaper in price, the network management card that JoeMomma explained above. Te servers need to be physically connected to the UPS so that the UPS can tell the servers when it is low on battery, and thus shutting down so the server can gracefully shutdown. if you get the management card, this is accomplished over the network via APC's powerchute network shutdown software.

let us know if you have any other questions!