NEXTVision PRO

With NEXTVision PRO, NextUPS has a VMware shutdown service for ESX 5.x and 6.x. It comes with a complete insallation guide and offers a quick overview for multiple shutdowns thru NEXTVision PRO WebServer 2.2. Furthermore it is easy to install and configure.

Reality

Such a setup had to be implemented on a few systems supported by CIS Solutions. A NextUPS Logix RT 2U Online 2000 securing, amongst other equipments, two Xeon E5-26xx servers. The Logix RT is an online UPS.

The equipment

• NextUPS Logix RT UPS with an SNMP/WEB Interface card;
• The Xeon servers, both running VMware ESX 6.5;
• A network switch and cables to connect both the servers and the UPS to the network. Don't forget to put the switch also on the UPS;
• A laptop (or desktop) to connect to both the VMware of both servers and to the UPS WEB Interface.

Implementation

VMware part

1. First go to the website of NextUPS and download the Shutdown Service package file.
2. Unpack the file and upload (use an FTP client) the NEXTVision PRO Shutdown Service VIB “ups-nvvmshtdwn.vib” to the /tmp directory of the ESX 6.5 host.
3. Once that is done, SSH into the host. First make sure that SSH is enabled on the host.
4. On the host execute the command to install the VIB :

   esxcli software vib install --no-sig-check -v /tmp/ups-nvvmshtdwn.vib

5. When the installation is done, login to the VMware vSphere Client or vCenter Server and verify if the NEXT UPS Shutdown Service is installed and up and running on both of the hosts (Host > Manage > Packages).

NEXTVision PRO Web Server part

1. Login to the NEXTVision PRO Web Server.
2. In the menu "System configuration > Shutdown" : enter in the panes on the right-hand side the IP addresses of each ESX host that should be shut down.
3. In the menu "System configuration > Event action" : configure the parameters as mentionned below to trigger the shutdown command. When done, click Apply to confirm you changes.
   • select "Shutdown the PC while on battery mode"
   • select "Also power off the UPS after shutting down the PC"
   • select "Shutdown the PC while low battery"
   When filling in a value for the timings, you should figure out how long it takes to shut down a host (including the VMs on it), since you want to avoid that the UPS is out of power when the host or VMs are still shutting down.

Final test

It is time for a final test. Before doing so, make sure you have the system, i.e. it is not actually used for business at the moment of this test.

Pull out the power of the UPS and watch the VMs and hosts powering down. It is good practice to stay logged in into the vCenter to monitor the actions, keep a timer to be sure the actions are happening when the time you've set is reached and your close enough to the UPS to put it back on main power i.o.t. reciver manually.

As you will notice, all is (well, should be if you've setup all correctly) working fine.