PowerPanel® Business Edition software provides for power management and unattended/automatic shutdown of PCs and servers connected to the UPS. When one computer is supplied power by the UPS and communicates with the UPS through the USB or serial connection, installing PowerPanel® Business Edition Agent on this single computer can initiate a shutdown in the event of a power outage to prevent the hosted computer from data loss. Other computers which are also supplied power by the UPS can be protected by installing PowerPanel® Business Edition Client.The PowerPanel® Business Edition Agent establishes the communication with the PowerPanel® Business Edition Client via the network and relays UPS state to the PowerPanel® Business Edition Client. Before the UPS stops supplying power to the Client computer, the PowerPanel® Business Edition Client will be requested an early, graceful shutdown by the Agent.
Hardware Installation
Connect Computer's Power with UPS Correctly
UPS outlets may have different functions: Surge + Battery protected outlets provide the protection for the equipment free from the surge and supply battery power once power outage occurs. Surge protected outlets provides the equipment free from surge only but does not provide the battery power once power outage occurs. Surge + Battery protected outlets ensure the Agent computer should be connected to UPS with these outlets labeled with Surge + Battery protected outlets instead of Surge outlets.
On specific modes, NCL(Non-critical load) outlets are designed to turn off early to save battery power in order to maximize the battery runtime for the remaining outlets. Agent computer also should be not plugged into these NCL outlets.
In order to plug the Agent computer into correct outlet, determine which outlet to be plugged according the following series:
Smart App Online series:
- Outlets numbered 1 or 2 are NCL. The Agent computer should be plugged into other outlets instead of numbered ones.
Smart App Sinewave series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of outlets labeled CRITICAL LOAD.
Smart App Intelligent LCD series and Smart App AVR series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of outlets labeled SURGE + BATTERY.
Paragon Tower series:
- The Agent computer can be plugged into any of outlets.
Professional Rack Mount LCD series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of outlets labeled CRITICAL LOAD.
Professional Rack Mount series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of black outlets.
Professional Tower series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of outlets CRITICAL LOAD OUTLET BANK.
Office Rack Mount series and Office Tower series:
- The Agent computer should be plugged into one of outlets labeled both SURGE and BATTERY.
Ensure USB or Serial Cable between Agent Computer and UPS is Connected
Make sure the connection between the Agent computer and the UPS is securely connected. The Agent will not monitor the UPS status and configure the UPS attributes on the condition of the communication loss.
Install PowerPanel Business Edition Software
If the single computer has a USB or serial connection to UPS, the PowerPanel Business Edition Agent should be installed on this computer. The Agent installation is only compatible with Windows systems. If multiple computers are supplied power by UPS, these computers without the USB or serial connections to USB should be installed the PowerPanel Business Edition Client. The Client installation is compatible with Windows, Linux and VMWare ESX/ESXi systems.
Installation on Windows
A popup page will be displayed automatically when inserting the PowerPanel® Business Edition installation CD. Users can click the Install PowerPanel Business Edition shortcut on the popup page to initiate the installation procedure. If the popup page is not displayed when inserting the CD, browse to the CD drive and open the folder named software, and then double click the file named setup.exe to start the installation procedure.
To install follow these steps:- Click the Next button to start an installation.
- Accept the license agreement.
- Choose the component. If the target computer can communicate with UPS directly via a USB or serial connection, Agent should be installed. If the computer does not have a USB or serial connection to the UPS, or the computer which is powered by the UPS with a remote management card or a PDU, Client should be installed.
Note: The Agent and Client can't be selected to install at the same time.
- Choose the destination location.
- Choose the start menu folder.
- Click the Finish button to complete the installation.
Installation On Linux
On Linux, users may mount CD by using the mount command. Run mount –t iso9660 /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom as a root user. /dev/scd0 is the CD drive and /mnt/cdrom will be the mount point.
Browse to the CD drive and find the installer named setup.sh in the /software/linux folder. The installer is used to install the Client and requires root permission. The installation wizard will guide users to complete the installation. Double click setup.sh or run the ./setup.sh command to initiate an installation wizard on desktop.
To install follow these steps:
- Click the Next button to start an installation.
- Accept the license agreement.
- Click Next button to the next step. On Linux, only Client can be installed.
- Choose the destination location.
- The daemon ppbed will start during installation. Click Next button to continue.
- Click the Finish button to complete the installation.
Note: The Linux installation will be also initiated by using the ./setup -c command.in text mode. The detailed installation steps are described in Installation on VMWare ESX/ESXi 4 section.
Installation on VMWare ESX/ESXi 4
On VMWare ESX/ESXi, users may mount CD by using the mount command. Run mount /dev/scd0 /mnt/cdrom as a root user. /dev/scd0 is the CD drive and /mnt/cdrom will be the mount point.
Browse to the CD drive and find the installer named setup.sh in the /software/linux folder. The installer is used to install the Client and requires root permission. The installation wizard will guide users to complete the installation. Double click setup.sh or run the ./setup.sh command to initiate an installation procedure.
Note: Installation for ESX server must be launched on the Service Console (aka Console Operation System); installation for ESXi server must be launched on the vMA (vSphere Management Assistant) installed on the VMWare ESXi host computer.
The installation procedure will be initiated as following steps:
- Press Enter to start an installation.
- Accept the license agreement.
- Choose the component. Click Enter for the default selection to install the Client.
- Choose the destination location.
- Installation procedure starts to process until the installation is complete.
Note: In order to allow the interactions between physical and virtual machines, VMware tools have to be installed on each virtual machine. Refer to VMware ESX/ESXi Server documentation for further information about VMware Tools.
Verify Firewall Settings
The installer will automatically setup in order to ensure the PowerPanel Business Edition can pass through the firewall during installation. Users can verify the firewall settings or setup again according to following steps.
The firewall settings could be verified on Windows such as Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall > Allow programs to communicate through Windows Firewall on Windows 7, Control Panels > Security > Windows Firewall > All programs to communicate through Windows Firewall > Exceptions tab on Windows Vista or Control Panel > Network and Internet Connections > Windows Firewall > Exceptions tab on Windows XP.
Most Linux distributions and VMWare ESX 4 have the firewall installed and startup. Once installation is complete, verify the below ports are open: UDP 161 (out), UDP 162 (in), TCP 3052 (in/out), UDP 3052 (in/out), TCP 8443 (in/out), UDP 53566 (in/out).
Use “iptables” command, which is supported by most Linux distributions, to list the open communication ports using in connection.
On Linux, use following command to open communication ports
iptables -I OUTPUT -p udp --dport 161 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 162 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 3052 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 3052 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 3052 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I OUTPUT -p udp --dport 3052 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 8443 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 8443 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 53566 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I OUTPUT -p udp --dport 53566 -j ACCEPT
service iptables save
On VMWare ESX 4 server, use following command to open communication ports:
esxcfg-firewall -o 161,udp,out,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 162,udp,in,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,udp,out,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,udp,in,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,tcp,out,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,tcp,in,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 53566,udp,out,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 8443,tcp,out,ppbed
esxcfg-firewall -o 8443,tcp,in,ppbed
Access PowerPanel® Business Edition Software Interface
To access the Agent or Client web interface in Windows, go to Start > All Programs > PowerPanel Business Edition > PowerPanel Business Edition Agent or PowerPanel Business Edition Client, which will take you to the login page. Users can also enter the URL, http://127.0.0.1:3052 in local computer or http://hosted_computer_ip_address:3052 in remote computer, to the address field of the web browser to access the Agent or Client web interface. hosted_computer_ip_address is the IP address of the computer which has the PowerPanel® Business Edition software installed.
The default username is admin and default password is admin. For security consideration, it is recommended to change the login username and password in the Agent and the Client after login.
Establish Communication between Agent and Client
Ensure Secret Phrase is Matched Each Other
The secret phrase is used to create secure network communications between the Agent and Client. For security consideration, it is recommended to change the secret phrase. The default secret phrase is powerpanel.encryption.key and users can setup the secret phrase at the Secret Phrase field on Security/Authentication page both in the Agent and Client. When the secret phrase in the Agent is changed, the secret phrase in the Client is also changed to match each other. If multiple Clients attempt to establish the communication with the Agent, the secret phrases used by Clients must be also matched with the Agent's secret phrase.
Assign Client Computer's IP Address to Agent
In order to let Client be aware of the UPS status from the Agent, users must assign the Client computer's IP address to the Agent to establish the communication. Users can do this task on the UPS/Load page in the Agent.
Assign Connected Outlet of Client
If the Client computer connects to the NCL outlet, users must assign the correct outlet to the Client computer on the UPS/Load page. In event of power outage, the Client computer must perform a complete shutdown prior to a NCL outlet turn off avoding the data loss or system crash.
Setup Necessary Shutdown Time
Each computer running the Agent or the Client requires the sufficient time to be shut down completely before the UPS stops supplying power. Therefore users could set up this sufficient time at the Necessary shutdown time option on the Event Action/Settings page in the Agent and the Client.
Configure Startup and Shutdown of Virtual Machines on VMWare ESX/ESXi 4
In order to assure that all virtual machines could be shut down gracefully, use vShpere Client to configure the shutdown delay time for each virtual machine. Following procedures will guide you to configure the automatic startup and shutdown properties of each virtual machine.
- Select the topmost ESX/ESXi server host from the tree hierarchy on the right side. Go to Configuration > Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown menu > Properties.
- Set Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system option enabled. The Shutdown Action option of the Default Shutdown Delay block should be changed to Suspend to ensure all virtual machine can restore from previous state at next boot of host machine.
Configure Command Execution for VMWare ESXi 4
(Note: Settings described in this section are not required on VMWare ESX 4)
In order to assure the ESXi host and all virtual machines can be shut down correctly in case of power events, users have to edit the shutdown script files for specific event to remote shutdown ESXi host in the Client web interface from vMA. Refer to the examples of shutdown.sh in the extcmd directory of installation folder. Then configure the command file fields to have shutdown.sh selected on events which are configured with shutdown action in the Event Action/Events page. These events include Battery capacity is critically low, The output power is going to stop soon and Utility power failure events that ensure the command able to be executed when these events occur.
Fill in the $host_username and $host_password with actually username and password for the ESXi host in the shutdownHostViaSOAPAPICall.pl of the /extcmd/etc directory.
....(snippet)....
my $host_username = 'your_username';
my $host_password = 'your_password' ;
....(snippet)....
And add a line of the VMWare ESXi 4 installed computer (ESXi host) address in the hostlist file of the /extcmd/etc directory:
192.168.1.2