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PowerMAN Deployment Guide

Data Synergy PowerMAN Power Manager Manual Downloadable PowerMAN Administrator Guide

Online Guide Contents

Preparation
Microsoft Windows® Group Policy Deployment Method
Alternative XCOPY Deployment Method

Preparation

 Before starting on a PowerMAN deployment there are a few essential steps to prepare:

  1. Obtain a unique product key – There are several different product keys available to enable various features in PowerMan. Currently the software can operate in three modes:
    • Basic Mode – Power usage information is logged and retained for 28 days. This is intended to allow power monitoring to start before a full product key is obtained
    • Reporting Mode – The logged power usage information is reported a logging server for analysis and display
    • Full Mode – All the power management options are enabled. PowerMAN can apply and manage all power policies.
  2. Determine a site for the deployment - This should be a manageable inventory of PCs that you wish to monitor.


    3. An ideal site is a group of similar PC’s within a defined environment such as an office, department or computer room. A typical site can have from 20 to several hundred computers and will be suitable for managing as a single entity. After deployment you should try not to change the size or scope of the site (it is easy to create another one) as this may spoil the quality of the report data gathered.
    You can easily create additional sites to logically divide your estate of managed computers. There is no limit on the number of sites supported.

  3. Create a SiteGUID value – This is a unique identity used to track the site and report data.


    4. A GUID may be generated with the makeguid command. For instance:

    D:\>POWERMAN MAKEGUID

    {f2822500-7128-48ac-89c4-f9a15274afbd}

    The Site GUID value is used to ensure that your chosen site is unique. It is, of course, also possible configure a more friendly description for your site statistics on the management reporting server. This setting is only required by PowerMAN during the initial registration with the reporting server. After this initial registration the computer can be freely moved between sites using the features available on the monitoring website.

  4. Decide on deployment method – PowerMAN may be deployed using a variety of methods. The two most common, using Windows Group Policy and an XCOPY style deployment are described in the following sections


  5. Decide on a deployment strategy – PowerMAN works best if it is used gradually to achieve power savings. The recommended approach for a new site is as follows:
    • Initially deploy to site with monitoring enabled but no active management
    • Wait several weeks for a usage pattern to emerge (two complete weeks is usually sufficient)
    • Activate some modest power settings. Typically these may include turning off PC’s that are not logged on and turning off monitors after a few minutes. Wait another period to observe the effect of these changes before proceeding. Settings such as these should probably not be noticeable to users.
    • Apply some stricter policy settings. There are a number of approaches to this depending on the operation scenario. For example, some organisations hibernate computers that are not being actively used after 30 minutes. In a public access area, where a user should not be left logged on for prolonged period of inactivity it may be appropriate to shutdown the computer (with suitable warning) after 10 minutes.
    • If appropriate consider communicating the strategy and on-going progress to the users. Some sites have reported that user participation may itself contribute significantly to real energy savings. It is even possible to create league table of the most wasteful users or departments!
    • Consider applying other settings that may be beneficial to users such as automatically starting PCs at a certain time in the morning. Please remember, of course, that in some scenarios with irregular usage patterns (such as libraries) this may result in a significant increase in energy consumption
    • Consider supplying the user ‘override’ tool Power Configurator to specific users. This tool may be used to disable power management in situations where the PC is required to remain active for prolonged periods.
    • Continue to monitor the site periodically and ensure that the current settings are working effectively.

Microsoft Windows® Group Policy Deployment Method

 The most common way to deploy PowerMAN is using Windows Group Policy. This feature is available on any network running Windows 2000 Server or later. The example below uses the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) which is available from Microsoft as a free download (this is built into later versions of Windows 2003 Server and later). If GMPC is not available then the older GPEDIT tool (which is built in to Windows) may also be used.

Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)

PowerMAN is supplied with two key files. These are the only files you need to perform an installation:

Data Synergy PowerMAN MSI PowerMan Setup.msi contains the PowerMAN program in a deployable form. This may be installed manually or via Windows GPO. This file also deploys the separate PowerStart application that may be used to launch programs that require the system to remain active.
PowerMan Administrative Template PowerMan5.adm is an Administrative Template that is loaded onto the Windows Server and used to configure the PowerMAN software.

To install PowerMAN using GPO proceed as follows:
  1. Open the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC.MSC):


    2. Group Policy Management Console

  2. Locate the Organizational Unit (OU) that you wish to deploy the software to. The example deploys the software to a OU called Public Access Room


    3. Locate the Organizational Unit


  3. Right click the OU and select Create and Link a GPO here


  4. Enter a name of the new policy and click okay. The example creates a policy called Software – Remote Power Manager



    5. Enter a name of the new policy


  5. Select the newly created policy, right click and select Edit


    6. Enter a name of the new policy


  6. The Group Policy Object Editor should open. This is used configure the deployment. Navigate to the Computer Configuration section and expand Software Installation. Right click and select New/Package:


  7. Select the newly created policy, right click and select Edit


    8. Add new package


    Remember: Most PowerMAN settings are made in the Computer Configuration section of the Group Policy Editor. This is because the software must be deployed to a computer (and not a specific) user. It is possible to assign individual policies to different users but this should only be done in an advanced installation when the basic configuration is well tested.

  8. Locate the PowerMan Setup.msi file and press Open. This should be placed in a share on the server that is accessible to the client computers (see the troubleshooting section for an explanation of this requirement).


  9. Select Assigned as the deployment method. PowerMAN is a system application and therefore it is not appropriate to ‘publish’ it to users:


    10. Assign Policy


  10. Select the Advanced tab and tick Uninstall the applications when they fall of the scope of management. This ensures that PowerMAN is deployed in a predictable way and then click Okay:


    11. Configure policy scope


  11. Right click on the newly created package and select Properties:


    12. Configure policy properties


  12. Open the Deployment tab and ensure that Uninstall this application when it falls out of the scope of management is ticked. Click Okay


    13. Configure policy properties


  13. Navigate to the Computer Configuration / Administered Templates, right click and select Add/Remote Templates:


    14. Adding the PowerMAN ADM file


  14. Click Add and locate the PowerMan5.adm file supplied. When this is completed click Close. It may be helpful to remove the other administrative templates present using the Remove button. These are not required for PowerMan.


  15. The Administrative Templates section should now contain a section for Remote Power Management (other sections may be present depending on server configuration). Select the Remote Power Management section.


    16. PowerMan Remote Power Management


  16. The right hand pane displays a list of the available policy groups:


    17. PowerMan Policy Settings


    Section Meaning
    Product Licensing Product key settings. These are required for Remote Power Management to full function.
    Remote Management and monitoring Site configuration information and report server settings
    Separate DC Settings Allow separate DC (battery) settings. This is only required for portable computers
    Hide Power Management Tools Hide standard Windows tools from users
    Hibernate (Suspend to disk) Configure hibernate (S4) feature
    Keep Awake Server Service Prevent computer from sleeping when Server service is running
    Ignore User Power Settings Ignore user specific power settings and only user Default and No user settings
    Scheduled Wake Configure scheduled wake feature
    Scheduled Shutdown/Sleep Configure scheduled shutdown/sleep feature
    Protected Programs Settings to configure a list of protected programs that, when running, ensure the system remains active.
    Protected Files Settings used to configure a list of protected files that, when present, ensure the system remains active.
    Advanced Debugging settings used to investigate problems
    Policy Enforcement Settings to ensure other programs or Windows cannot prevent the desired policy actions
    Global Power Settings Power settings that apply to all users
    No User Power Settings Power settings that apply to the logon prompt user (when nobody is logged on)
    Default User Power Settings Power settings that apply to all users unless a user specific policy applies

  17. Select Product Licensing, right click and select Properties


  18. Select Enabled, carefully enter the product details supplied with the software, and click Okay


    19. PowerMan license settings


  19. Select Remote Management and Monitoring, right click and select Properties


  20. Select Enabled and configure the basic site and reporting settings.


    21. PowerMan site guid


    A standard installation requires only three settings:
    • Site GUID – You can generate this with the MAKEGUID command
    • Logging server name – The standard server is pmstats.org
    • Logging server port – The standard server port is 8080
    Some installations may also require the following settings:

    • Proxy server name
    • Proxy server port
    • Log Backup File
    These settings may be ignored if they are not required. Please remember to ensure that your site firewall / proxy server will allow http protocol traffic to the logging server.

    To complete the basic configuration click Okay

  21. Close the Group Policy Object Editor and test the policy works by restarting a computer in the relevant Organisation Unit.


  22. As the computer starts you should see the Remote Power Management application install prior to the display of the logon prompt. If this does not happen please consult the troubleshooting section below.


    23. PowerMan Group Policy Deployment


  23. Confirm that the service has fully installed by opening the Computer Management Console (compmgmt.msc) and checking the status of the Remote Power Management service. The service should be already Started as shown below:


    24. PowerMan Group Policy Deployment


  24. If necessary you can always verify the version of the PowerMAN service by locating the program in the \Windows\System32 folder:

    25. Verify PowerMAN software version


Alternative XCOPY Deployment Method

 PowerMAN supports a variety of deployment methods. The so-called XCOPY method describes the most basic, manual, technique for installing the program. This may be adapted for your environment as required. This section explains the key features of such a deployment

  1. Obtain the PowerMAN Setup.msi file and install PowerMAN on the required PC. There are several alternative ways for an Administrator level user to do this:


    2. Data Synergy PowerMAN MSI Double click the MSI file and follow the on-screen prompts
    Command prompt Install silently with the command line: MSIEXEC /I:"PowerMan Setup.msi" /qb
    Data Synergy PowerMan Extract the PowerMan.exe file from the MSI file (this may extracted from the supplied MSI file by double clicking on the file, following the on-screen instructions and locating the installed \Windows\System32\PoweMan.exe file) and copy it to the \Windows\System32 folder on the destination computer
    This last method requires the service to be separately installed. This is only required the first time. Log on with an account that has administrative rights and execute the following command:

    POWERMAN START

    The PowerMan.exe file is the ONLY file required on the client computer.

    You may optionally wish to use the separate PowerStart.exe program. This can be installed by simply copying it to the \Windows\System32 folder.

    Remember: The PowerMAN service must be installed by a user with local administrative rights. It is not possible to install PowerMAN using a logon script (which runs as a user). It is possible to install PowerMAN with a computer start-up script. See the Microsoft article Assign computer startup scripts for an example.

  2. Deploy the required configuration settings using the Windows REG or REGEDIT tools. The appendix at the end of this document explains how this may be done. As noted above the minimal settings are:

    • Site GUID – You can generate this with the MAKEGUID command
    • Logging server name – The standard server is pmstats.org
    • Logging server port – The standard server port is 8080