Eaton® Intelligent Power Manager® (IPM)
Quick Start Guide for Dell-EMC® VxRailSolution

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1.

2.

Contents

Eaton Solution for VxRail ................................................................................................................................................ 1

Deploying IPM OVA in VMware vCenter......................................................................................................................... 2

2.1

OVF template .......................................................................................................................................................... 2

2.3

Configuring networking on IPM Debian OVA.......................................................................................................... 5

2.2
3.

IPM configuration for VxRail connector .......................................................................................................................... 7

3.1

Configure VxRail Connector : ................................................................................................................................. 9

3.3

Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card settings : ........................................................................................................... 11

3.2
4.

Cluster Monitoring : .............................................................................................................................................. 10

VxRail Cluster Protection Policy .................................................................................................................................... 13

4.1

Configuration Policy .............................................................................................................................................. 13

4.3

Execution logs for VxRail Cluster shutdown ......................................................................................................... 17

4.2
5.

Configuring a Virtual Appliance .............................................................................................................................. 3

Configure New Action : Cluster shutdown ............................................................................................................ 15

Cluster shutdown scenario for Dell-EMC VxRail ........................................................................................................... 18

5.1

Shutdown workflow with Critical VMs and Management VMs : .......................................................................... 19

Eaton IPM : Dell-EMC VxRail solution quick start guideEaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide1.

Eaton Solution for VxRail

IPM VxRail connector allows to connect to one VxRail unit.

Through this implementation, the scope is to protect the entire cluster from power events.
When Eaton IPM is embedded in the VxRail cluster, it’s now possible to configure a cluster shutdown action based on asolution with Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card.
To create a VxRail connector, the user only needs to provide the :VxRail Manager IP address / or hostname (FQDN)
vCenter IP address / or hostname (FQDN)credentials of vCenter or VxRail Manager
Once the connector is successfully configured, a VxRail Cluster node is created, and monitored in IPM.
Since VxRail Manager 4.7.000 ; cluster shutdown is compatible with IPM 1.67 :"Configuration policies" and "advanced events and actions" features of IPM can be configured to ensure the protectionof VxRail environment, in case of a power or environmental event.
Notes :

Prerequisites for the cluster shutdown feature with IPM :vSphere 6.7 (or above)
IPM version 1.67 (or above) : IPM Virtual Appliance (OVA) package
the “Optimize” license is required to activate the VxRail cluster shutdown feature :Enable infrastructure connectors in modules settings
VxRail cluster protected by an Eaton UPS managed by Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card. (FW version 1.7.0 andabove) : the shutdown script is relayed by the network card
IPM is embedded into the cluster : IPM OVA is deployed on the same vCenter as the one managing the VxRailcluster
VxRail Software manager version 4.7.000 and aboveContainers are not supported by IPM for the cluster shutdown sequence1

Eaton Intelligent
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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

2.

2.1

Deploying IPM OVA in VMware vCenter
OVF templateNotes :The setup of the OVA is the responsibility of the VMware cluster administrator.
At the end of the deployment of the OVA, you must edit the network settings if you want to have a static IP address
assigned to the server. DHCP is configured by default.
To deploy the IPM virtual appliance:
1. Download the virtual appliance from https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us.html
2. Connect to the ESX/ESXi or vCenter from your client computer using vSphere 6.7 (or above)
3. Log in as a user who has permission to create, start, and stop virtual machines.
4. Choose File > Deploy OVF Template
5. Choose either Deploy from URL or Deploy from file, based on the location of OVA file.
6. Select the OVA file. Click Next.
7. Follow the instructions provided on the Deploy OVF Template.

Figure 1. Deploy OVF Template Select OVA file2

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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

Figure 2. Deploy OVF template complete

2.2

Configuring a Virtual Appliance

To log into the virtual appliance you can use:
Standard Console of your hypervisor
SSH Client

With a Standard Console, you will see the following screen.

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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

Figure 3. Standard console

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Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide2.3

Configuring networking on IPM Debian OVA

At the end of the deployment of the OVA, you must edit the network settings if you want to have a static IP address
assigned to the server. DHCP is configured by default.
Here’s command lines to execute in order to modify IP address :1- ip addr
This will show the Ethernet adapter. For my OVA, 2 IP address available- lo --> loopback- lan0 --> this is the one to modify
2- vi /etc/network/interfaces.d/lan0
3- modify dhcp by static
iface lan0 inet dhcp --> iface lan0 inet static
4- add- IP address- Netmask- Gateway- dns-nameservers IP_address_DNS- dns-search domain.com

Example of /etc/network/interfaces.d/lan0
auto lan0
iface lan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.198
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
dns-nameservers 192.168.1.2
dns-search domain.com

5- Restart networking systemctl restart networking

6- You might need to flush the interface ip addr flush dev lan0

Notes :
Caution: after these 2 operations, the IP is changed and as you are remotely connected, you should bedisconnected.
That means that you need to reconnect with the new IP address. If this fails, the only way to retrievea connection is the vSphere web pages that allows you to open the console of the OVA.
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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide
Set FQDN
vi /etc/hostname
IPM-VA64-1-67-243.domain.com

Edit /etc/hosts
Add domain name and address to the server
vi /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
IP_address IPM-VA64-1-67-243.domain.com

eg. hosts file.
127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.198 IPM-VA64-1-67-243.domain.com
Activate hostname
hostname -F /etc/hostname

Restart systemd-resolved daemon
systemctl restart systemd-resolved
VERIFYhostname --shorthostname --domain
hostname --fqdn
hostname --ip-address

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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide3.

IPM configuration for VxRail connector

Figure 4. IPM System Menu Configuration

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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

Figure 5. IPM OVA deployed on VxRail vCenter

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Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

3.1

Configure VxRail Connector :Open Settings menu / infrastructure connector. Then select option “add connector” and select in the picklist : Dell/ EMC
VxRail.
To set the connection with VxRail, following information are required :Hostname or IP address : VxRail Software Manager
Username
Password
vCenter Hostname
Figure 6. Edit Dell/EMC VxRail connector
Once configuration is done and connection established with VxRail, connector is displayed in the infrastructure
connector with a green icon

Figure 7. Dell/EMC VxRail connector configured

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Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

3.2

Cluster Monitoring :Then in the node list, virtual asset managed by the VxRail connector are retrieved and displayed in the node list.
In this case, the VxRail cluster.

Figure 8. Dell/EMC VxRail Cluster monitoring

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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

3.3

Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card settings :Discover the card : settings / auto discovery
If you know the IP address of the card, please use "Address Scan" option

Figure 9. Discovering the Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card
Once Network card is discovered, credential must be set : Please select the card and click on "Set node accessparameters" and set the card credentials.

Figure 10. Set Node access parameters to Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card11

Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide
Then connection with Network card is Ok

Figure 11. Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card access parameters configured
And, the UPS managed by the card is correctly monitored by IPM

Figure 12. Monitoring of the UPS managed by Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card

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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

4.

4.1

VxRail Cluster Protection Policy
Configuration Policy

Define a protection policy by targeting the VxRail cluster and defining the power source of the cluster : the UPS managedby Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card.
On the node list :Select the cluster
Right click and select Create new policy
Figure 13. Create New Policy on the VxRail Cluster
Then configure the parameters :Target nodes = the VxRail Cluster to protect
Class list = Power sourcePower source= the UPS protecting the VxRail Cluster
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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

Figure 14. Edit Policy on the VxRail Cluster
Save the policy : the power source of the cluster is set.

IPM will propose to create a shutdown action : click on "yes" (or create it from Actions/events menu)

Figure 15. Create New Shutdown Action on the VxRail Cluster
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Eaton Intelligent
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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide4.2Configure New Action : Cluster shutdown

The modal opens and is based on the policy previously configured :Define the Action NameDefine in the events list the trigger that will start the action : example "power failure" on the UPSThen select the action type : "Cluster Shutdown".
In action settings, select the VxRail Cluster as Target of the action
Configure timeout values
Save action
Figure 16. Edit Shutdown Action on the VxRail Cluster

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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide
Policy is saved : power source of the VxRail is configured

Figure 17. Policy configured for the VxRail Cluster
Shutdown action is configured : now, select the action and click on "test selected action" to trigger the action. It will
simulate a power event and start the cluster shutdown action.

Figure 18. Action configured for the Vxrail Cluster

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Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

4.3

Execution logs for VxRail Cluster shutdown

After a cluster shutdown, execution logs are available directly from the Eaton Gigabit Network-M2
Card :
Card Menu/System logs/Download System logs/File name : System

Figure 19. Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card user interface

Figure 20. Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 card download System log files

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Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide
From the CSV file downloaded, these logs will track the success of the cluster shutdown action :Date Time(UTC)
Facility Priority
2019-10-17T15:09:31.188468+00:00
local4 info
2019-10-17T15:09:41.335158+00:00
local4 info
2019-10-17T15:10:50.709327+00:00
local4 notice2019-10-17T15:11:54.591317+00:00
local4 notice2019-10-17T15:11:54.640796+00:00
local4 info

5.

Application Message
protection Start execution of script "Custom Shutdown Procedure". (0984d3f3-585f-56ec-abd6-b9c0f39af590)
logmessage VxRail system is Healthylogmessage VxRail is shutting-down with request c5d230cb-421e-4baa-b1bc-e5a0ab63ea1blogmessage VxRail shutdown completed
protection Execution of script "Custom Shutdown Procedure" succeeded. (0984d3f3-585f-56ec-abd6-b9c0f39af590)

Cluster shutdown scenario for Dell-EMC VxRailFigure 21. IPM OVA deployed on VxRail vCenter

18Usersystemsystemsystemsystemsystem

Eaton Intelligent
Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guide

5.1

Shutdown workflow with Critical VMs and Management VMs :Figure 22. VxRail Cluster Monitoring

System VMs are hidden in IPM UI to prevent user to configure unsupported action on them. Only the VxRailCluster is displayed in IPM.
User VMs and management VMs are detected automatically by IPM, no need to add them to the critical VMs inthe configuration Policy.
Shutdown sequence : Trigger event will initiate the shutdown :

Guest Shutdown User and Business VMs : shutdown first non-critical then critical
IPM order to the Eaton Gigabit Network-M2 Card to schedule the cluster shutdown
Shutdown IPM VM
Eaton Gigabit Network M2 Card request the VxRail Cluster shutdown API endpoint.
Shutdown System/management VMs : (managed by VxRail Software manager) :o VMware vCenter Server Applianceo VMware vCenter Server Platform Services Controller
o VxRail Managero VMware vRealize Log Insighto ESRS_VE.x86_64

End of scenarios

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Power® Manager

Dell-EMC VxRail solution Quick Start guideNotes :Cluster shutdown can’t start if VMs are still running on the cluster.
IPM 1.67 do not support Containers.
IPM 1.67 do not support the restart of the VxRail cluster

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