Using Sysman to shutdown & power off systems

[Arlene Strauss]

I am trying to use an automated Sysman routine to shutdown a system and do a power off. I see this is an option of Sysman shutdown, but when I try it, it only shuts the system down, but doesn't power it off. We are currently running VMS 8.2 on Alpha ES40's and 45's in a 3 node cluster and we want to be able to automate a shutdown if the room temperature reaches a certain point. Any help you can give me on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Volker Halle · Accepted solution]

Arlene,

whether the POWER_OFF shutdown feature is supported depends on the type of system used and maybe also on the console firmware version.

If you've tested this option and your machine do not power off, there is not much you can do. Just have a look into the release notes, if a more recent firmware may support this option on your class of machines.

Volker.

[Robert Gezelter]

Arlene,

To amplify what Volker mentioned.

Check the processor manuals carefully (as well as the manuals for your storage arrays). The ability to power off MAY be conditioned on some hardware settings and wiring.

For example, the action on HALT/REBOOT action is controlled by a variety of settings. The ability to power off may be similar (and may depend on each model CPU, etc.).

A careful reading of the appropriate hardware manuals is in order.

I would personally be more worried about the storage arrays than the CPUs.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

[Arlene Strauss]

I will find the hardware manuals. Thanks for the tip. I am worried about the storage arrays also. We have 4 HSG80's with 12 shelves of drives attached. Does anyone know if there is a way to remotely power these down or if there is software out there that can do this? Thanks.

[Robert Gezelter]

Arlene,

In the worst case, you can power down the arrays externally from an external power controller (Caution: powering things down this way can be problematical -- I have seen sites belatedly realize that they had bad batteries -- after powering down and losing their cache contents).

Better might be to leave the arrays powered, but spin down the drives themselves. That would require investigation.

Going further, you might be able to do some elegant things, but as usual, the devil is in the details.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com