Shutdown scenario for PowerChute and 2 ESXi hosts with vCenter & PCNS on VM

[Anonymous user]

Configuration is:

1) 2 ESXi 6.0 hosts (host1 & host2)

2) APC Smart-UPS 1500 with Network Management Card 2 (firmware 6.4.0)

3) ESXi hosts and NMC2 are connected through switch

4) PowerChute Network Shutdown Appliance (ver. 4.1) is located on host1 (srv.pcns)

5) vCenter Server Appliance is located on host1 (srv.vc)

6) Plenty of VMs on host1 & host2 (srv.N-... & srv2.N-...)

7) No cluster

😎 BIOS power management is set to "Power On".

The task is:

1) Gracefully shutdown all VMs and 2 hosts on power loss.

2) Power on 2 hosts and all VMs when power restores.

Questions:

1) What settings do I need to put to the PCNS->Virtualization Settings->Virtual Machine Shutdown/Startup?

2) Do I need to create vApps on both hosts to make a controlled and delayed startup/shutdown? And what settings do I need to put in previous menu and to the PCNS->Virtualization Settings->vApp Shutdown/Startup?

3) Are vApps managed only by the vCenter, so that they can be started only after the vCenter boots up and before it is powered off?

4) How do these settings correlate with the vSphere->Configuration->Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown->Properties->"Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system"? Because VMs on host2 can't autopower on while host2 in the maintenance mode.

5) I have some VMs that are powered off always (in reserve). Will the PCNS power them on or it will power on only VMs that it powers off on UPS power loss?

6) What settings I must leave in NMC2 for outlets and in Configuration->Shutdown?

Thoughts:

I tried plenty of different scenarios and nothing works as needed... I created vApps but when they started to shutdown VMs, they powered off only first VM (last in the list) and that's all...

And I tried to make the scenario without vApps. I set the VM shutdown duration to the time needed for power off all the VMs on both hosts. PCNS powered them all off in random (I think so) order. And then, after UPS restored power, it powered them on in again random order and without any delay that caused HDDs to feel crazy load...

So please, help... I tired to search the correct scenario.... Thank you.

[Anonymous user]

I came to the decision that I need to use the delayed power on for VMs on both hosts. So it seems that vApps are the thing I need to use. But what settings I have to put to the PCNS? What timings there would be?

[BillP]

Hi,

The task would be easier if you create a cluster for the two host then you could utilize VM prioritization through PCNS web interface. See page 85 of the User's Guide for how to configure VM prioritization with single UPS. 

If you are not using PCNS VM prioritization you must create vApps to prioritize the shutdown and start up of the VMs. Information on PCNS and vApps can be found on page 36 of the User's Guide. 

[Anonymous user]

Thank you, I've already read that information. For now I have some questions:

Is it necessary for this situation to have the external datastorage for cluster organisation because I have only internal HDDs in every host?.. Because I created cluster, but can't create vApps...

I'll try to describe:

So when without cluster and with vApps.

Disable  in  the  vSphere  menu  startup/shutdown  VMs  with  the  host  on  host2,  enable  this  option  on  host1  to  power  on  PCNS  VM  and  vCenter  VM.

Create vApp on host1 and vApp on host2. Set up both sequences.

In PCNS disable VM shutdown duration.

In PCNS enable vApp shutdown duration.

Do I need to check "Force vApp Shutdown" and "vApp Startup"?

And manual says that vApps start in alphabetical order, but when I created vApp on host1 and vApp on host2, they started both in the sane time. And when the UPS tried to shutdown both hosts, it initiated these vApps, but only 1 (last in the list) VM in each vApp went off and that's all.

Correct me please if I'm wrong.

Thank you very much!

[BillP]

Hi,

On 5/23/2016 9:58 AM, Stanislav said:

Is it necessary for this situation to have the external datastorage for cluster organisation because I have only internal HDDs in every host?.. Because I created cluster, but can't create vApps...

You should post this question to VMware communities for an official answer but according to VMware vSphere 6.0 Documentation Center you need to have DRS enable before a vApp can be created and to enable DRS you must use shared storage. 

On 5/23/2016 9:58 AM, Stanislav said:

Do I need to check "Force vApp Shutdown" and "vApp Startup"?

Yes. The default is Force vApp Shutdown and this should be left as is. You should also enable vApp Startup to have the vApp start once the host is on line. 

On 5/23/2016 9:58 AM, Stanislav said:

And manual says that vApps start in alphabetical order, but when I created vApp on host1 and vApp on host2, they started both in the sane time. And when the UPS tried to shutdown both hosts, it initiated these vApps, but only 1 (last in the list) VM in each vApp went off and that's all.

Information on vApp start up and shutdown is in VMware vSphere 6.0 Documentation Center. 

Again, I recommend creating a cluster with the 2 host and use PCNS prioritization. PCNS prioritization does not require VMware DRS or vApps. 

[Anonymous user]

Thank you very much for your information and help.

I'll give a try towards cluster without HA and DRS because I have no external storage. I need delayed startup/shutdown for the list of about 30 VMs with equal rights to startup/shutdown. And Prioritization can only split the amount of VMs in groups and in every group VMs start and stop simultaneously.

Using the host's startup/shutdown lists isn't good because PCNS puts host2 into the maintenance mode (in this mode autostart of VMs doesn't happen) and only vCenter VM after being booted exits host2 from maintenance mode.

So now I'm testing the next configuration: In PCNS I turned off VM shutdoun and Turned on vApp Shutdown and Startup. I've created 1 vapp on host1 and 1 vApp on host2. When the UPS lost power PCNS started to shutdown vApps on both hosts at the same time. But! after some time it ran through an error - Task: stop vApp - Error: operation timed out. So it powered off only 1 VM in each list...

After power was restored to UPS it started PCNS VM and vCenter VM (the settings to them are: Start with the host), host2 exits the maintenance mode. But!! PCNS didn't start vApps... Checkbox "vApp Startup" is set.

Why did this happen?

[BillP]

Hi,

As I pointed out from the VMware documentation vApps required DRS and shared storage so the vApps may or may not work properly.  If you want to prioritize the VMs shutdown and start up create a cluster and utilize PCNS prioritization. By using PCNS you do not need to create vApps. 

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thank you very much for your help. I've made the exact shutdown scenario you advised me. It works. But... For prioritization there are only 3 groups. I divided all VMs (~30 on each host) into 3 groups. It's much better to start VMs like 10->10->10 than all 30 simultaneously. But it still puts a heavy load on hard drives (this may sometimes cause different problems), though less than starting all 30 VMs. That's why I wanted to use startup/shutdown lists to start and stop every VM with needed delay. vApp is suitable for this, but I couldn't make it work. And startup/shutdown list on hosts don't suit because vCenter puts host2 to maintenance mode and when host2 starts it is still in maintenance mode until vCenter VM on host1 starts up, so VMs on host2 can't start with the host...

So if there isn't any other chance to make a delayed startup of VMs, I'll use the scenario you've suggested.