VMs not starting up after startup

[Bartolo]

I have PCNS 4.3 with VMware and I've set the shutdown duration to 0 for high priority VMs and I shut those down manually. This works when shutting down, but when starting back up the high priority VMs are not started up. In the debug log I see that the "filterVMsByPriority" method runs but it doesn't find my high priority VMs. It lists VMs it is considering but not the high priority ones.

What could be the issue?

[BillP]

Hi,

The VMs will not be started up because they are in an off state when PCNS shuts down the host/s. The VMs either need to be powered off by PCNS to be included in the startup or powered on when the host/s are powered off. If the VMs are still powered on when the host/s are powered off the host/s should return them to their last state when they start up. 

[Bartolo]

Ok, but since I have set the shutdown duration as 0 seconds for those VMs to be able to run a script on them before shutdown, is there a way to have it both ways? If the 0 second duration prevents PCNS shutting down the VMs, they can't be powered on when PCNS progresses and so they aren't on the list of VMs to start up either? So it's a chicken and the egg situation.

Perhaps I could use the Linux halt command to leave them on waiting for power off, but would PCNS see them then as turned on during shutdown since they have 0 second duration and PCNS seems to ignore them?

I also can't use VMware autostart because it doesn't work due to maintenance mode.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

On 9/30/2019 2:05 PM, Bartolo said:

Ok, but since I have set the shutdown duration as 0 seconds for those VMs to be able to run a script on them before shutdown, is there a way to have it both ways?

It may be possible for PCNS to restart the VMs via SSH action depending on the configuration. You would configure tha SSH to run on Start-up. Please see the info below from PCNS help. There are restriction as to when an SSH action is run on Start-up. 

1. Execute SSH Action:
   • On Startup: Execute the SSH command file during host startup. The behavior is different depending on the configuration:

     ESX Managed
     In an advanced configuration, SSH actions will get executed when all hosts in a group have exited maintenance mode before VMs and vApps are started.
     In a non-advanced configuration, SSH actions will get executed when all hosts have exited maintenance mode before VMs and vApps are started.
     
     NOTE: If Fault Tolerance Threshold (FTT) is enabled, SSH actions will not get executed when all hosts in a group have exited maintenance mode if FTT is exceeded. If FTT is enabled and All Hosts online prior to startup is enabled (in Virtualization Settings), SSH actions will not get executed if there is still a critical event active on a group.
     
     NOTE: In a non-advanced configuration with a Witness Host Appliance, SSH actions will get executed after VM/vApp startup, as the Witness Host is the last host to be taken out of maintenance mode once it has been restarted.

[Bartolo]

Thanks, that will probably work for me, I'll create a script to start up the VMs with SSH action.