Eaton's IPM software helps ensure system uptime and data integrity by allowing you to remotely monitor, manage and control UPSs and other devices on your network. Read through some common questions below.
The IPM Graphite connector enables you to easily stream IPM metric and alarm data to a Graphite database (https://graphiteapp.org/) in order to create custom dashboards in your own instance of the open source Grafana observability platform (https://grafana.com/).
Is a maintenance license required with a perpetual license?
Yes, for customers ordering a perpetual license, it is necessary to purchase a maintenance license. The maintenance license gives IPM users full access to Eaton’s support team for any questions or assistance with installation issues and troubleshooting. Customers also receive a free software upgrade when new software releases are available. Maintenance licenses are available as one- and five-year packages.
What is the maximum number of devices/racks IPM can support?
600
What is the OVA’s Operating System?
Debian Linux
What counts as a node? Are VMs also counted as a node?
Power quality and power distribution devices such as UPSs, PDUs and ATSs, as well as rack-mounted IT servers, hypervisors, and storage devices.
If the software needs to be deployed again, can the license be transferred to a new instance?
Yes, you will need to contact technical support to return the original license, but it may be redeployed on another instance.
Can we create a virtual power source to trigger an automation?
IPM doesn’t have a specific object like a virtual power source. It relies on introspection of the power chain to identify composite power sources. These can be used in automations.
Can we stop at any step of the automation if there are no reasons to proceed further with the shutdown (to check initial trigger)?
Yes, at every step in the automation, you may check the initial trigger status and decide to proceed, exit, or start a new automation, which could be to rollback the current automation.
Can the software be upgraded without losing the configurations?
You can upgrade the OVA from one version to the next with the save and restore function. Downgrades are not yet supported.
Does Eaton offer software professional services?
Yes. Please visit this page to learn more and reach out.
IPM TECHNICAL QUESTIONS:
What is the SHA256 file contained in the IPM downloaded zip folder?
It is a checksum hash that enables you to check to see if a file has been corrupted during download. You can run a command from your OS to check to see that you get the same checksum as the one generated prior to download. This will ensure you know it hasn't been corrupted.
Is IPM an HTML5-based platform?
IPM has a fully HTML5 web interface.
How can I access the system console?
On the IPM OVA, you can access the vCenter remote console or connect via SSH using the OVA’s IP address.
If you can access the network, you can start an SSH connection. Try to connect on the port 22 (standard SSH port).
You can log into the system using your credentials.
Will a factory reset of IPM fix unresolved issues?
When you can’t identify the root cause of an issue, a factory reset may fix most problems, but the customer will lose all of their data (including all the commissioned data such as the data center topology, devices, etc.).
Before performing a factory reset, try to run the diagnostic tools. If it works, you should be able to save the CSV file containing the asset configuration.
You can run the diagnostic tool with:
sudo diagnostic-information -m -t [your mail address] to send the data to your mailbox.
In order to reset the OVA, launch the remote console via vCenter then log in with the customer credentials. Once in the system, launch the “exit” command and you should access the blue console menu screen. Select “Factory Reset and Reboot.”
If a customer forgets their ADMIN passwords, how can they recover?
In the case where a customer has forgotten all user passwords associated with users that have ADMIN rights, the only possible resolution is to perform a factory reset due to cyber security requirements. This will reset the password to the default setting.
What do I do if my IP address is not set properly?
When you configure the network using DHCP, the software may not display the IP address obtained even though it is correctly configured. If the DNS settings appear correctly, the IP address has also been configured.
After the initial wizard network configuration, you need to restart the software in order for the new settings to be applied.
When configuring the proxy settings through the initial wizard, please note that it must follow the syntax “http://myProxy@myDomain.com:portNumber”If DHCP is not available, you may configure the network settings from the vCenter console.
How can I configure IPM if the date shown is incorrect using NTP?
If the system’s date seems to not be correctly updated despite a seemingly correct NTP configuration, check to see if the NTP server in question is a Windows server. We have observed some incompatibility issues with some versions of Windows NTP servers. Try changing to another NTP server.
Local time is synchronized to the physical host on which it is running.
What is the best practice to save my configurations?
When you have finished the commissioning, it is highly recommended to export the configuration so you may re-import it in case of a data loss due to a factory reset.
What is the best practice to edit assets in IPM?
All the assets are editable in the asset management page.
Alternatively, you may also use the CSV export/import feature.
Export the CSV file using the Export button in the asset management page. Open the file, find your asset line, apply your change(s), delete all unnecessary lines and re-import the file.
Should I create or update the CSV file for asset set up?
When exporting a CSV file, it is created with an ‘id’ column. This column is used for enabling assets to be edited. If you import a line with an id, the system will look for the corresponding asset and update it with all the column values.
If you want to import a CSV file in order to create new assets (for instance, when you recover from a factory reset) you need to simply remove the ‘id’ column prior to the import.
Keep in mind that this CSV file only contains asset configuration data. Other settings, e.g. credentials, need to be configured manually.
Why do I receive errors when I import a CSV file?
There are two main reasons you may receive error messages when importing a CSV file:
You try to create an asset that already exists.
You try to modify an asset which is not commissioned yet.
Keep in mind that the CSV import is a step by step process. The system will read the file line by line and, if in the line ‘n’ you use an asset defined in the line ‘n + x’, the import will fail.
If a line produces an error during import, it is skipped and the CSV import continues.
If you encounter an unexpected error during the CSV import, try to create or update the asset using the Create Asset feature from the Asset Management page.
How can I fix IPM if it is not acquiring data from the power devices?
If you don’t have the calculated data center power metric on your dashboard, you may have a power device (UPS or ePDU) which is not acquiring data. Check your alarms and correct the issue with the device or devices that are not acquiring data correctly.
How can I resolve an issue where I get no data from an rack PDU?
If you are not seeing any data from an rack PDU, please check:
That SNMP is enabled on the ePDU.
The community name is correct with respect to the SNMP configuration selected in the security wallet.
Can I have IPM display information in any language besides English?
The application currently only supports English. Additional languages will be enabled in a future release.
How can I configure an SMS notification?
The standard alarm notification method is email. SMS support requires that your provider supports a specific format for the email to SMS gateway, e.g. 0XXXXXXXXX@sms.provider.com. You may configure this in the Notifications tab.
Can I reset to Data Center Layout to the Device Centric mode?
During the initial setup, you can choose to skip the data center layout configuration in order to use the device centric mode. If you have chosen to configure the data center centric mode, you will not be able to return to device centric mode without a factory reset.
How does IPM store credentials for connected devices?
All credentials (monitoring, mass management & user scripts) are stored in an encrypted repository. You associate credentials with a device from the asset management page by selecting one or more devices, clicking on Configure and then selecting the appropriate credentials from Security Wallet.
Basic credentials are used for mass management while SNMP credentials are used for monitoring.
How can I get a secure email configuration?
Secure email configurations are possible using STARTTLS and TLS. Refer to the release note for any known limitations in the current release.
What functions do I get with IPM Automation?
The Max Duration Timeout enables you to set a timeout which applies to the entire automation sequence. It can be adjusted from its default setting.
Automations are executed in a sequential manner. It is recommended to test your automation and verify its execution history in order to ensure that it is functioning as expected.
Custom user defined scripts may be used as an action in an automation. Python, BASH and PERL scripts are supported.
By default, new automations are inactive, don’t forget to activate the automation after creation.
How do I make the VM migration action work?
When creating a VM migration action, you must define the target host before selecting the VMs to migrate. You can do this on the Individual Action Selection found to the right of the Migrate check box.
Can I use IPM to provide Mass Management of Network cards?
The new version of IPM will have the same IT server and cluster shutdowns as the current version but with a new and greatly improved user interface, LDAP/Active Directory compatibility. With the new platform, users can now monitor and manage more nodes.
Send email
