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Schaedle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

vSphere ESXi and APC PowerChute Network Shut Down HowTo

Hi !

We have here in the USA the following environment:

one Smart-UPS RT 6000 XL

two vSphere ESXi Standard 5.5 hosts

both ESXi hosts are connected via VPN to a vCenter which is located in Germany

Now we'd like to setup a shutdown software for the two ESXi hosts in USA managend by the APC UPS.

For that I already tried two things. I installed the vMA from VMware and setup the PCNS 3.0.1. I got it connected to the UPS.

I also installed your preinstalled appliance with PCNS 3.1 but it came up with the same options like the version on the vMA.

On setting up the PCNS I do not want to choose vCenter as an option, because I don't want to be dependant of the vCenter which is outside the building (it's in Germany). So I'd like that PCNS connects directly to both ESXi servers.

But I'm only able to setup one ESXi host in the PCNS software. Or should I setup the IP of the vMA as host in the PCNS software - probably not ?!

At the moment I don't know what would be the right setup.....

Do I need to setup two appliances, each for one ESXi host, because I don't want to connect to the vCenter. Is it then possible to connect both PCNS to one UPS ?

What is the better solution ? The VMware vMA with PCNS 3.0.1 or the appliance with PCNS 3.1.

Many thanks for your help in advance.

Wolfgang

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schepp
Leadership
Leadership

Hi Wolfgang,

I use this script from lamw:ghettoUPSHostShutdown.pl

In case of power down, the script is triggered on the vMA. All VMs except the vMA will be shut down gracefully or suspended and the hosts will shut down after.

Greetings from Germany Smiley Wink

Tim

stgepopp
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Hi Wolfgang,

APC/Schneider do provide (since 12.2013) a special vApp (downloadable from APC download page) with all necessary pieces of software. This is IMHO the best way to do this. This Appliance supports different architectures (single, redundant and multiple) and provides all from configutation until operations.

Erich

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JarryG
Expert
Expert

Apart from PowerChute, there are a few other "non-APC" options, i.e. NUT (network ups tool). It has one advantage: there is a native NUT-client for ESXi (no login/password or ssh-keyfile for ESXi saved on VMa is necessary)...

_____________________________________________ If you found my answer useful please do *not* mark it as "correct" or "helpful". It is hard to pretend being noob with all those points! 😉
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Schaedle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi Tim,

thanks for your suggestion. I already used a ghetto script in the past for backup. They are usually great ones.

Unfortunately I didn't find yet any compatibilaty regarding ESXi / vMA 5.5 but I already posted this in the corresponding forum.

Thanks again,

Wolfgang

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Schaedle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi JarryG,

good to know about that tool. But at the moment it'll be not my first choice because I'm not happy to install a third party client on a production ESXi server.

Thanks for your support !

Wolfgang

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Schaedle
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi stgepopp,

yes I know (see my first posting) but my problem is how to setup it correctly.

One vMA Appliance for each host ?

Am I able to connect one UPS to two vMA Appliances ?

I guess single mode is the correct one ?

In the vMA just connect via addserver the only one ESXi on which the vMA is running ?

If you say 4 times yes I guess this will be my preffered solution Smiley Wink

Regards Wolfgang

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dgrehan
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

For PCNS 3.1:

If you have VMware SSO/Active Directory you can configure an Active Directory user account on vCenter Server and both ESXi hosts. If VMware SSO/Active Diretory is not an option you can create a Local user account on the vCenter Server and also create a local user account on each ESXi host (using same username/password). If PowerChute cannot connect to vCenter Server it will connect directly to each ESXi host to perform the shutdown actions.

So, if you configure a shared user account as above, you can deploy the PCNS virtual appliance on one of the ESXi hosts and choose the Managed by vCenter Server option. If PCNS cannot connect to vCenter Server during the shutdown sequence it will connect to each ESXi host directly using the shared account.

For PCNS 3.0.1:

You can install PCNS on one instance of the vMA and then add both ESXi hosts as vi-fastpass targets using the command:

vifp addserver

When PCNS is running its shutdown script it will connect to both of the ESXi hosts and shut them down. With this option you need to ensure that the ESXi host that has PCNS vMA on it is added to the vi-fastpass target host list last.

Hope this helps.

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