Trying to config PCNS to work with management cards located in UPS units

[Anonymous user]

My setup is as follows, I figured I would get this out of the way first so then I can get into the problem, what settings I should be looking at, etc.

3 UPS units each with a Network Management card
RM 3000VA - AP9631
RM 2200VA - AP9630
RM 1400XL - AP9630

Each card has had its static IP setup and DNS, email, etc. I have it set to email me about a input power issue after 60 seconds of the power being out. I have been working with the 3000VA unit for my testing purposes. I installed PCNS 2.2.4 yesterday on 14 of my servers, The settings I used during the install were "Custom" > "Single Installation" > "Install for Multiple Smart-UPS..." > (Entered 3 IP addresses one at a time) > (registered sucessfully), clicked "Next" then finish the install. Since then I have rebooted the servers and have been using one in particular to test this with.

I can go into the servers PCNS console and I did a "Configure Events" for "UPS: On Battery" which has the following settings: Yes I want to shut down the system and then the time is set to 60 seconds.

On the UPS

Under UPS > PowerChute > Configuration the settings are: Maximum Required Delay = 2 minutes and on battery shutdown is set to restart when power restored. The server shows up fine in the client list and the PowerChute (Group 1) service is running on that server. On the UPS > Configuration > Shutdown the settings are: Low Battery duration = 2 mins, Shutdown delay = 000, Basic Signaling Shutdown (checked), Sleep time = 0.0, Minimum batt capacity is 15% and the return delay is set to 60 seconds...


So my simulated power outage tests that I have been doing are like the following... I go in and pull one of the UPS cables (the 3000VA 30amp plug) leave it out for 5-7 minutes and nothign happens, no events in the event log nothing. I do however get my normal emails from the UPS telling me its on battery power and it will repeat after 5 minutes due to my configuration settings for that alert. I have been looking at the process charts and think I'm doing everything right, but it still isnt working for me.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous user]

Attached is the screenshot of PCNS from the server I am testing with. Now I dont see where the "Advanced" section is located or else I'd attach that as well.

[Anonymous user]

Yea I have nothing like that now. I'm going to reinstall PCNS (could it be that the latest version changed?) and post a screenshot of all I see.

Will that shut down the actual UPS unit tho? I dont want to UPS to go down, just the server for now, eventually yes for the UPS once all servers are down, but I couldnt even imagine how much crap I would here if the SQLServer (attached to that same UPS) would just shutdown as I'm testing this on a dev server my dept. uses.

During the install of PCNS what should my options be? Maybe it's because I have been choosing "Single Installtion" and not Double or Triple....

[BillP]

There are options to shutdown the UPS after a server shuts down, which is something you can configure per server. So just make sure that check box isn't selected and you're fine testing the server without affecting the UPS.

[Erasmus_apc]

The setup I used was Single Instance/Install, custom install, pointed to two Smart-UPS systems with their respective IPs, authentication, info, etc. Re-check that the PCNS clients can comm to all the NMC's and that the UPS' you chose are all of the same product type (model # doesn't have to be identical but they must be Smart-UPS only, or Symmetras only, and preferrably be of the same model type suffix). There is no way to shut down a single client in a Multi-UPS install without shutting down that UPS or all the UPS', since with this install type ALL of the UPS' are seen as one except in very specific circumstances. There is more info on this concept in the install file that comes with the software, specifically referenced here:

+"Note: The operating system does not shut down with Multiple-UPS configuration functionality. For background information, see Multiple-UPS configuration in the Installation help."+

You can use a command file to shut down your computer if you want. Have the command file run on an event you feel is best and have the command file include a command like "shutdown /t " or whatever is specific to your need. This will shut down only the server running that client. One UPS reporting the event is all it should take to log an event and initiate an event action. In my setup I can unplug one of the two UPS' and the event is logged immediately in both the PCNS and NMC event logs, even if no other action "bubbles" are selected.

[Anonymous user]

OK so now I have installed PCNS the same way you mentioned besides syncing it with 3 Smart-UPS systems rather than 2. I can now see the advanced area on the PCNS installed server. Also to mention I reset all the settings minus TCPIP for the 3000VA UPS unit I've been testing with and went through and redid a couple settings like the email stuff so I could recieve notifications. I also see something on the side that says Control which I went into and it says this...

All servers running PowerChute®, which are in communication with this UPS, will be signaled to shutdown. The UPS will wait approximately 22 (Maximum Shutdown Time + 2) minutes for PowerChute® to complete its shutdown, then turn off approximately 000 (Shutdown Delay) seconds later. Once off, the UPS will turn on in 060 (Return Delay) seconds.

I clicked APPLY +(what worries me is that it says it will turn off... does that mean the UPS will turn off?)+


Then I got this email... +(like a dozen times)+

Name : NetworkMgr 3000VA ENV
Location :
Contact :
http://192.168.0.xxx

Serial #: JAxxxxxxx
Device Ser #: JSxxxxxx
Date: 02/08/2010
Time: 14:08:12
Code: 0x0125

Critical - UPS: A graceful shutdown process is being used to shut down the load equipment before the UPS turns off. Initiated by Web user 'apc' from 192.168.0.xx

[Anonymous user]

Well I guess those emails meant something, my UPS unit just turned off and along with it several servers including SQL, print, and a backup NAS.

So as to avoid this in the future i just reset all my management card settings minus TCP/IP and I'm going to leave it all well enough along until I hear something back from you guys on here 🙂

[Erasmus_apc]

Yes, that was a bad idea. The control option can be used to test shutdown functionality with the UPS/PCNS combination. If you want to test your setup I would wait until after hours and maybe do something like set a shutdown event for "communication lost", and then just force the NMC and PCNS client to lose network communication any way you find easiest.

[Anonymous user]

Yep, I figured as much.. Anyway now that it looks like they are setup correctly (at least the menu's are showing) I have 1 server with PCNS installed and it's registered on all 3 UPS units. Can you outline all the configuration options I should have set to allow that one server to shutdown and avoid the UPS from turning off? I'll provide screenshots wherever necessary.


Thanks,

ShuckyD

[Erasmus_apc]

As I said before there is no way to shut down an individual server without shutting down its UPS. The UPS' all act as one, which is the point of a redundant setup. If you want to shut down a single server without touching the UPS you would need to execute a command file based on a particular event listed in the PCNS configurable events page.

[Anonymous user]

Got it, I'll be able to do that and see if I get a desired result. For now since it looks like our area is supposed to get hit with another winter storm, I'll just re-setup the alert to notify me if battery connectivity has been lost.

[Anonymous user]

My setup is as follows, I figured I would get this out of the way first so then I can get into the problem, what settings I should be looking at, etc.

3 UPS units each with a Network Management card
RM 3000VA - AP9631
RM 2200VA - AP9630
RM 1400XL - AP9630

Each card has had its static IP setup and DNS, email, etc. I have it set to email me about a input power issue after 60 seconds of the power being out. I have been working with the 3000VA unit for my testing purposes. I installed PCNS 2.2.4 yesterday on 14 of my servers, The settings I used during the install were "Custom" > "Single Installation" > "Install for Multiple Smart-UPS..." > (Entered 3 IP addresses one at a time) > (registered sucessfully), clicked "Next" then finish the install. Since then I have rebooted the servers and have been using one in particular to test this with.

I can go into the servers PCNS console and I did a "Configure Events" for "UPS: On Battery" which has the following settings: Yes I want to shut down the system and then the time is set to 60 seconds.

On the UPS

Under UPS > PowerChute > Configuration the settings are: Maximum Required Delay = 2 minutes and on battery shutdown is set to restart when power restored. The server shows up fine in the client list and the PowerChute (Group 1) service is running on that server. On the UPS > Configuration > Shutdown the settings are: Low Battery duration = 2 mins, Shutdown delay = 000, Basic Signaling Shutdown (checked), Sleep time = 0.0, Minimum batt capacity is 15% and the return delay is set to 60 seconds...


So my simulated power outage tests that I have been doing are like the following... I go in and pull one of the UPS cables (the 3000VA 30amp plug) leave it out for 5-7 minutes and nothign happens, no events in the event log nothing. I do however get my normal emails from the UPS telling me its on battery power and it will repeat after 5 minutes due to my configuration settings for that alert. I have been looking at the process charts and think I'm doing everything right, but it still isnt working for me.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous user]

Got it, I was naming the batch file shutdown. I googled and this is the problem that people had posted about, so I called it powerdown.bat and called it from PCNS on one of my servers in the event of On Battery. I'll test this after work tonight and if it works this who thing has been resolved and my hard headed'ness' or just lack of comprehension will all be a thing of the past 😉


Thanks all for the help, expecially you Erasmus

[Anonymous user]

So no I'm just looking at doing the simple batch file shutdown below is the contents of my batch file, althought it does not run and just continues to loop until I cancel the window. Once I get this working I will do a shutdown -a on the server in question and then set up addtional lines for the other servers.

shutdown -s -f -m \\serv -t 15 -c "TEST: Power Out; scripted shutdown in progress!!!"


Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

[Erasmus_apc · Accepted solution]

Not a problem, thread closed. Glad it worked out!