We recently purchased an Avocent ACS6016 and six Avocent PM3009H PDUs to be used in a new server rack at our data center.
In comparison to the 'old' ACS16, the new ACS6016 has a quite different user
interface. Instead of being able to just edit /etc/portslave/pslave.conf and
using the pmCommand utility to manage powering on or off outlets, only a new
webGUI and a horrible cli are available to fulfill these tasks.
Imagine you have a single device with dual PSU connected to two different PDUs. Imagine you're at your data center location, and you're in need of a enable or disable both of them, on different PDUs.
Using the new ACS6016 cli you have to navigate through a multi-level cli issuing really too much commands to reach the right place where you can actually turn on or turn off an outlet, which is just too cumbersome to deal with.
Say hello to pmCommand.py, a replacement for the pmCommand utility that was available on the former ACS devices of Avocent.
pmCommand.py leverages the XML web interface of the ACS or PM to provide the same level of usability that the pmCommand utility on the old ACS deviced provided.
~/s/pmCommand.py/src (master) 0-$ ./pmCommand.py https://10.140.32.15
Enter password for admin:
INFO - Cyclades ACS6000 - console-zork - Welcome admin!
pmCommand# help
Available commands:
login Provide password to get a new session at the appliance.
logout Logout from the appliance.
sort Toggle sorted output for pdu and outlet list
exit Exits from the application.
help Displays the list of commands.
listipdus Lists the IPDUs connected to the appliance.
on Turns on outlets defined in <outlet list>.
off Turns off outlets defined in <outlet list>.
cycle Power cycles outlets defined in <outlet list>.
lock Locks outlets defined in <outlet list> in current state.
unlock Unlocks outlets define in <outlet list>.
status Displays status of outlets defined in <outlet list>.
save Saves configuration to flash.
Hint: use tab autocompletion for commands!
pmCommand# listipdus
PDU ID Vendor Model Position Status Outlets (On/Total) Current (A) Power (W) Alarm
============ ======= ============= ======== ======= ================== =========== ========= ======
power1 Avocent PM3010/10/16A ttyS2/3 On Line 10/10 1.5 313.0 Normal
power2 Avocent PM3010/10/16A ttyS2/1 On Line 0/10 0.0 0.0 Normal
power3 Avocent PM3010/10/16A ttyS1/1 On Line 5/10 1.4 300.0 Normal
power4 Avocent PM3010/10/16A ttyS2/2 On Line 5/10 1.5 302.0 Normal
power5 Avocent PM3010/10/16A ttyS1/2 On Line 3/10 1.5 307.0 Normal
pmCommand# status all
Outlet Name Status Bank Current (A) Power (W)
============== =============== =========== ==== =========== =========
power1[1] foo-L ON(locked) N/A 0.4 105.0
power1[2] bar-L ON(locked) N/A 0.5 121.0
power1[3] baz-L ON(locked) N/A 0.0 0.0
power1[4] quux-L ON(locked) N/A 0.5 127.0
power1[5] lorem-L ON(locked) N/A 0.4 112.0
power1[6] ipsum-L ON(locked) N/A 0.5 119.0
power1[7] quia-L ON(locked) N/A 0.3 83.0
power1[8] dolor-L ON(locked) N/A 0.0 0.0
power1[9] sit-L ON(locked) N/A 0.3 76.0
power1[10] power1-10 OFF(locked) N/A 0.0 0.0
power2[1] foo-R ON(locked) N/A 0.5 131.0
power2[2] bar-R ON(locked) N/A 0.5 124.0
[...]
pmCommand# off power1[7]
INFO: power1[7]: status of outlet quia-L is now: OFF
pmCommand# lock power1[7]
INFO: power1[7]: status of outlet quia-L is now: OFF(locked)
pmCommand# off power1[8],power1[9]
INFO: power1[8]: status of outlet dolor-L is now: OFF
INFO: power1[9]: status of outlet sit-L is now: OFF
pmCommand# unlock power1[7],power1[8],power1[9]
INFO: power1[7]: status of outlet quia-L is now: OFF
INFO: power1[8]: status of outlet dolor-L is now: OFF
INFO: power1[9]: status of outlet sit-L is now: OFF
pmCommand# on power1[7],power1[8],power1[9]
INFO: power1[7]: status of outlet quia-L is now: ON
INFO: power1[8]: status of outlet dolor-L is now: ON
INFO: power1[9]: status of outlet sit-L is now: ON
pmCommand.py tries to implement the most commonly used commands from the old pmCommand program.