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56507
April 2nd, 2013 08:00
Communication problem with APC Smart UPS
Hi,
I'm, having a big problem with my APC SMT1500RMI2U.
It is connected to my ESXi host via the provided Rj45->serial cable.
I installed powerchute business agent on vMA following this guide: http://www.apc.com/support/index?page=content&id=FA165747&actp=search&viewlocale=en_US&searchid=1363174714323&locale=en_US
I'm using latest versions of both ESXi and vMA
My ESXi 5.1 is running on a Dell PE2950:
Processor: 2 x 1.86GHz QUAD CORE INTEL XEON L5320
Memory : 16GB (8x2GB)ECC DDR2 FB-DIMM 667Mhz
Raid Controller : PERC 5i Raid controller
Graphics : embedded ATI ES1000 WITH 16MB OF SRAM
Networking : embedded Dual Gigabit Ethernet
I shutted down all the VM except for vMA.
What happens is that after shutting down the ESXi host, the UPS seems to freeze.
-The load percentage on the UPS does not go down to 0%, even disconnecting host's power cables.
-The UPS lcd menu doesn't let me make any changes (can't shut down ups, can't start a test, can't reset to factory defaults).
The only way to reset it is to disconnect the power cable and the battery.
Also, on the PCBEAgent Web-Ui I just get the "UPS Communication Lost" message.
There is no way to access it.
The issue seems to come up in the startup phase. In fact, if I connect the serial cable after everything is powered on, everything works well.
I had the UPS replaced by APC tech guys, so I don't think the issue is due to it.
I also tried to unistall the pcbe agent and I get the same freezing problem.
I really don't know what to do!
Let me know if I can provide some logs to help identify the issue.
Many Thanks
Matteo
Dev Mgr
6 Operator
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9.3K Posts
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April 2nd, 2013 15:00
You can test the serial port on the server by passing it through to a VM and letting the VM connect to something serial (e.g. a switch).
If the serial port itself works, it sounds like a configuration issue with the APC software and you'd want to ask them about it probably.
Maybe someone else will chime in here, but APC UPS questions like this don't come up very often.
mrteo
16 Posts
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April 2nd, 2013 16:00
Thanks for the hint. I thought that too, but the problem is I have nothing else serial to connect to it...
By the way, I think the serial port itself it's working, because if I connect it after the startup phase, everything works fine and it can communicate with the UPS.
I already asked on apc forum and to the tech assistance, but they are still trying to find a solution, so I thought to ask here too.
In any case, is there a way to "debug" the startup phase and see what's happening on the serial port and to the pcbe agent?