If maintenance is not started on a host, check the Event log and powerShellDebug.log for troubleshooting information.
The following messages may appear in the EventLog:
Host [hostname] is already in Maintenance Mode.
PowerChute has attempted to start a Maintenance Mode task on a Host that is already in Maintenance mode.
Start Maintenance Mode unsuccessful on host [hostname]
PowerChute was unable to start a Maintenance Mode task on a host. There will be an individual message for each host that PowerChute could not start maintenance mode on.
PowerChute attempts to start Maintenance Mode on the host with MoveWithinCluster option.
SCVMM will attempt to migrate powered-on VMs to other Hosts in the cluster when this option is enabled.
The following messages may appear in the powerShellDebug.log:
Error Starting Maintenance Mode on host [hostname] with MoveWithinCluster: [error message]
Start Maintenance Mode with MoveWithinCluster option unsuccessful, see error message for more information.
Exception in Start Maintenance Mode with MoveWithinCluster:
[exception message]
Start Maintenance Mode with MoveWithinCluster option unsuccessful, see the exception message for more information.
If Starting Maintenance Mode with MoveWithinCluster is unsuccessful, PowerChute attempts to Start Maintenance Mode without MoveWithinCluster
Re-attempting Start Maintenance Mode without MoveWithinCluster
If Maintenance Mode task is unsuccessful using MoveWithinCluster, PowerChute will then start the Maintenance mode task again without this option - this will place powered-on VMs into a saved state.
Error Starting Maintenance Mode on Host [hostname] : [error message]
Start Maintenance Mode unsuccessful, see error message for more information.
Timer elapsed before Job Completed
The Start Maintenance Mode task did not complete within the given time period. The Start Maintenance Mode duration may need to be increased to give enough time for this to complete.
If maintenance is not stopped on a host, check the Event log and powerShellDebug.log for troubleshooting information.
The following messages may appear in the EventLog:
Host [hostname] is not in Maintenance Mode.
A Host is not in Maintenance Mode and PowerChute
has attempted to Stop Maintenance Mode on the host.
Stop Maintenance Mode unsuccessful on
Host [hostname]
PowerChute could not Stop Maintenance Mode on a host.
The following messages may appear in the powerShellDebug.log:
Error Stopping Maintenance Mode on Host [hostname] : [error message]
Stop Maintenance Mode unsuccessful, see error
message for more information.
Host [hostname] is not in Maintenance
Mode
Host
is already in Maintenance Mode.
This section covers general error messages that appear in the powerShellDebug.log as a result of Start/Stop Maintenance Mode.
Host not in valid state CommunicationState: [host communication state]
Host is in invalid state NotResponding
PowerChute will not be able to Start/Stop Maintenance Mode on a Host if its CommunicationState is NotResponding
Failed to retrieve information for Host [hostname] using Get-VMHost cmdlet.
PowerChute was unable to retrieve Host information.
Unable to connect to server: [SCVMM Server]
PowerChute was unable to connect to the SCVMM Server.
Error with Maintenance Mode: [exception message]
A general exception has occurred while trying to Start/Stop Maintenance
Mode on the Host
Maintenance Mode failed for Host [hostname]
The Start/Stop Maintenance Mode task was unsuccessful for Host.
Maintenance Mode Job Timed Out
The Start/Stop Maintenance Mode task timed out.
If PowerChute cannot stop a host(s), check the Event log and powerShellDebug.log for troubleshooting information.
The following messages may appear in the EventLog:
Shutdown Host unsuccessful for host: [hostname]
PowerChute could not shut down the host.
The following messages may appear in the powerShellDebug.log:
Host is in invalid State: [host_state]
If the Host state is not “OK” or Host state is not “MaintenanceMode”. The Host is not in a valid state, PowerChute will not attempt to shut it down.
Already running a job on Host [hostname]
If a job is currently running on the Host, PowerChute will not attempt to shut it down.
Error Stopping Host : [exception message]
A general exception has occurred while trying to Stop the Host.
IsConfiguredForOutOfBandManagement is not supported, cannot shut down Host
[hostname]
The Host is not configured for OutOfBandManagement. PowerChute will not attempt to shut down the host. To support Host Shutdown via SCVMM, BMC Settings need to be enabled on each Host, see SCVMM Host Shutdown.
Unable to connect to server: [SCVMM Server]
PowerChute was unable to connect to the SCVMM Server.
If PowerChute is having issues connecting to SCVMM, check the messages provided in the GUI and powerShellDebug.log file for troubleshooting information:
The following messages may appear in the GUI:
Could not connect to SCVMM Server. Please verify that the machine is accessible over the network and that the SCVMM Service is running.
PowerChute is unable to connect to the SCVMM Server.
Could not connect to SCVMM Server – access
denied. Please check that this machine has permission to connect to SCVMM
Server.
Server is inaccessible. Please verify that SCVMM Server IP/Hostname is
correct.
The following messages may appear in the powerShellDebug.log:
Error: failed to connect to SCVMM server: [SCVMM Server]
PowerChute is unable to connect to the SCVMM Server
Exception with Get-VMMServer: [exception message]
The most common exceptions types are as follows:
Error ID: 1602 – Unable to connect to the VMM Management Server [VMM Server].
The Virtual Machine Manager service on that server did not respond.
The SCVMM Service was not found on the SCVMM Server. The IP/Hostname of the SCVMM Server is accessible over the network.
Error ID: 1603 – Unable to connect to the VMM Management Server [VMM Server].
The attempt to connect timed out. (Note: IP/Host is not accessible)
The IP/Host of the SCVMM Server is not accessible over the network.
Error ID: 20414 – Permission problem while trying to execute the cmdlet
on the server.
The SCVMM Service was found on the SCVMM Server and is accessible over the network. This machine does not have permission to connect to and execute powershell commands on the SCVMM Server.
On a Windows server running SCVMM 2019, the PowerChute service does not automatically restart after the SCVMM server is shut down following a critical event. This is a known Microsoft issue. To resolve the issue, follow the steps outlined in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 922918 to modify the registry to increase the default service control manager timeout value.