Powerchute cannot add my devices to the list

[fdc_guy_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 4/4/2013

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Hi there,

I have done lots of searching and cannot find a solution to my problem.

I have 4 UPS's connected to one of my servers via the usb cables connected to a USB hub. The server shows each of them and the proper drivers get installed and show up under HID devices properly....I installed Powerchute business edition for 5 nodes on that server and installed all 3 components. The setup process detects the UPS devices are connected and setup completes. When I go to add the devices I get a listing for 2 instances of my servers name, either one I try fails to add. I have tried adding it other ways but it just will not add them.

I am trying to avoid putting them on a switch as I have limited spots available and the length of cord and organization it would mess with is not ideal.

I was hoping someone could tell me if it is possible to monitor 4 UPS from one machine? I would prefer to have one central point of management for them all.

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 4/5/2013

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hi fdc_guy - you cannot use a USB hub to gracefully shutdown multiple servers via one UPS. I am surprised you got as far as you did with the setup though. We only allow and support this via serial communications and it requires a Share UPS device to provide additional ports (AP9207 or AP9607CB). You also must have a supported Smart UPS model for that to work.

Your other option with majority of Smart UPS models is using a Network Management Card in the UPS (AP9630/AP9631) and using PowerChute Network Shutdown instead on each of the servers. All of the communication will be done via the network rather than USB or serial cables.

Let me know if you have additional questions/concerns on those comments.

[fdc_guy_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 4/5/2013

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Hi Angela,

Thanks for the response, I do not care much about gracefully shutting down the servers at this point, I simply want to be able to have visibility into the UPS's that we have, we have 2 Back-ups 1500G and 2 Back-ups XS 1300.

I do not wish to add them to the network and give them IP's. As I am understanding your response I will need to have each one's data connection connected to a separate sever and setup the agent on each of those servers and then add them all to a powerchute server console that way? Is there no other way to gain visibility of the UPS so I can monitor its health and load from my workstation?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 4/5/2013

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Hi again.

I sort of assumed you were using Smart UPS but you're using Back UPS. As Back UPS are not really designed for supporting more than one computer/server (where as a Smart UPS is and offers those options for them), it only has one data port/USB connection and is intended to provide monitoring/graceful shutdown for one attached client via PowerChute Personal Edition and USB and or native OS support options (i.e. with Windows or Mac OS X).

We don't have a solution for shutting down or monitoring a UPS with more than one server attached.

If you don't care about graceful shutdown, then just connect each UPS to one server via USB directly on the server (with no hub) and then that's all you need to monitor the UPS status. You need to use PowerChute Personal Edition as I mentioned or native OS support to do this. You may want to check the compatibility chart for PowerChute Personal Edition though because it is not intended to install on server OS's even though it may work (it also may not uninstall properly down the line) since it is not technically supported.

Here is the PowerChute Personal Edition compatibility chart for reference -> http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/JNOE-7GSAQJ/JNOE-7GSAQJ_R11_EN.pdf