VMware cluster with Powerchute 3.1

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

We have a DRS cluster (vSphere 5.1) with four hosts that is split into two locations:

- Scenario 1: If there is a power failure on one location I have to migrate the VMs to the other location and shut down the hosts first and the storage server last (the storage servers are fully redundant).

- Scenario 2: If there is a power failure on both locations I have to shut down the VMs, the hosts, the vCenter and the storages at last.

I installed PCNS 3.1 on the vCenter, configured the Host Protection and enabled VM Migration:

I installed PCNS 3.1 on both storage servers, too.

Now I have some questions:

- When does a VM migration appear in scenario 1? Can I somehow configure a point of time for that?

- When does a shutdown of the VMs, the hosts and the vCenter appear in scenario 2 and how can I assure that they shut down before the storage machines?

- Am I able to shut down some VMs later than others?

Many thanks and best regards

Christian

[BillP]

Hi,

The following setup/configuration should cover the requirements:

PCNS A - UPS 204

Install PCNS on Storage 1.

Configure for Managed by vCenter and Advanced UPS Configuration.

Register with UPS 204 and UPS 205.

On VMware Host Protection page - associate Hosts 101/103 with UPS 204. Do not associate Hosts 102/104 with UPS 205. See below.

This is to migrate/shutdown VMs when a Power Outage occurs on UPS 204.

On the Physical Host - UPS Protection page disable both options for UPS 205:

This is to prevent Storage 1 from shutting down if there is a Power Outage on UPS 205 only.

In order to trigger local OS shutdown on Storage 1 configure a command file (Configure Events Page->UPS On Battery->Command File) for the On Battery event with the same delay as the shutdown action for the UPS on battery event.

Since the physical UPS (204) in site 1 does not have "Shutdown PowerChute Server enabled" it is necessary to configure an event command file to trigger the shutdown of the Storage server in Site 1 e.g.: using the native Windows shutdown.exe.

This command file should contain the following:

shutdown /s /f /t %delay% /d UP:6:12 /c "PowerChute Network Shutdown has initiated a system shutdown."

The command above will trigger shutdown on the Storage1 server using a grace period (%delay%).

The value you set for %delay% above would need to be sufficient to allow VM migration/shutdown to complete as well as the ESXi host shutdown commands to be sent.

PCNS B - UPS 205

Install PCNS on vCenter Server Machine.

Configure for Managed by vCenter and Advanced UPS Configuration.

Register with UPS 204 and UPS 205.

On VMware Host Protection page - associate Hosts 102/104 with UPS 205. Do not associate Hosts 101/103 with UPS 204. See below.

This is to migrate/shutdown VMs when a Power Outage occurs on UPS 205.

On the Physical Host - UPS Protection page disable both options for UPS 204:

As with Site 1 configure an Event driven command file to trigger the Local OS shutdown on the vCenter Server when a Power Outage occurs on UPS 205.

PCNS C - UPS 205

Install PCNS on Storage 2 server.

Do not enable VMware support during installation.

Configure PCNS for Single UPS Configuration and register with UPS 205.

Configure a shutdown command file on the Shutdown Settings page and set the Duration to a value long enough to allow the VMs, ESXi Hosts and vCenter Server to shutdown before Storage 2 server is shut down. This .cmd file needs to exist on the file system but does not need to contain any executable content.

With the above setup/configuration:

Power Outage on Site 1 only:

VMs will be migrated to site 2

Hosts 101 and 103 will be shut down.

Storage 1 will be shutdown via the event command file.

Power Outage on Site 2 only:

VMs will be migrated to Site 1.

Hosts 102 and 104 will be shutdown.

vCenter Server will be shutdown  via the event command file.

Storage 2 will be shut down directly by PCNS running on Storage 2.

Power Outage on both Sites:

All hosts will be issued maintenance mode command by PCNS - the prevents VMs from being migrated to those hosts.

VMs will be shut down on all hosts.

All hosts are shut down followed by vCenter and the Storage Servers.

NOTE: It is important to configure an Active Directory account on the vCenter Server and on all of the ESXi hosts. If there is a power outage on Site 2 and everything shuts down, PCNS will need to connect directly to ESXi hosts 101 and 103 to shut down the VMs and Hosts gracefully.

In relation to controlling the order that VMs shut down. This is possible by creating a vApp in the HA/DRS cluster and adding VMs to the vApp - the shutdown/startup order can be configured via the vApp settings. vApps are shut down after other VMs by PCNS. PCNS 3.1 does not provide a method for this directly.

We are working on some design changes for the next release of PCNS that will make Setup/Configuration in a Scenario where there are Hosts spread across multiple geographical sites more straightforward.

[Anonymous user]

Thank you very much for you effort.

Give my some days to look over it. I will answer next week.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi, did you have any success with the setup?