Configuring Shutdown and Wakeup Delays

In an extended power failure, PowerChute plus takes actions that shut down the operating system before UPS battery runtime is depleted. The shutdown and restart process, including the configurable delay periods, is as follows:

.
Situation
Response
Configuration
A power failure occurs. PowerChute plus does the following:
  1. Generates the UPS On Battery event.
  2. Pauses for a delay time specified for the UPS On Battery event. The default delay is 300 seconds (5 minutes).The delay allows time for PowerChute plus to notify users about the impending shutdown and to cancel the shutdown if power returns during the delay.
Use the Event Actions... option of the Configuration menu, and select the UPS on Battery event. See How to Configure Actions.

The delay time for the UPS On Battery event expires. PowerChute plus does the following:
  1. Generates the System Shutdown Starting event The system shuts down after this event is generated even if power returns.
  2. Pauses for the delay time specified for the System Shutdown Starting event. (30 seconds by default).
  3. Generates the System Shutdown Complete event and permits no further processing.
Use the Event Actions... option of the Configuration menu; then configure the Shut Down Server action for the System Shutdown Starting event.
The delay time for the System Shutdown Starting event expires.
  1. PowerChute plus generates the System Shutdown Complete event and permits no further processing.
  2. The UPS waits the time configured for the UPS Turn Off Delay parameter1
  3. Any APC UPSs except Back-UPS turns off its outlets and waits in sleep mode for power to return. Back-UPS turns off
No actions can be configured for the System Shutdown Complete event except to log it. Use the UPS Shutdown Parameters... option of the Configuration menu to configure the UPS Turn Off Delay. (See UPS Shutdown Parameters....)
1 PowerChute plus initiates the UPS Turn Off Delay from within the shutdown script. The default time depends on when in the shutdown script it initiates the delay. On UNIX platforms where the delay occurs early in the shutdown script, the default is 180 seconds; on others where it occurs near the end of the script, the default is 20 seconds. A Back-UPS has no UPS Turn Off Delay.

For the UPS to provide continuous power from its battery until the UPS Turn Off Delay time expires, the following formula must be valid. See the preceding table for information on the terms in the formula. To display the Run Time graph, use the Monitoring Preferences... option of the Configuration menu.

UPS on Battery delay time
+
System Shutdown Starting delay time
+
UPS Turn Off Delay time
must be less than or equal to
Run Time
bar graph time

The following table explains how the different UPS types restart after a shutdown, if Automatic Reboot is enabled in the "UPS Shutdown Parameters" dialog box.

.
Model
Process for Restarting
Smart-UPS or Back-UPS Pro The UPS checks its battery capacity.
Matrix-UPS or Symmetra Power Array The UPS waits the time specified as UPS Wakeup Delay (Time), switches on its power outlets, and allows the system to reboot.

UPS Wakeup Delay (Capacity) is not a supported parameter.

Back-UPS Sleep mode is not supported with a Back-UPS. You must turn the UPS back on manually
1 See UPS Shutdown Parameters... for information on Wakeup Delay (Time) and Wakeup Delay (Capacity).