CenterScape: Configure Virtual Tags in CenterScape

How To Add Virtual Tags When Upgrading From CenterScape 1.3.5 to 1.5.1

A new concept called virtual tags for RPDU power sensors has been introduced to CenterScape 1.5.1. A RPDU power sensor supports reporting of power metrics for daisy chained PDUs through a single sensor. Depending upon the RPDU model, up to four (4) daisy chained PDUs are supported.  A PDU virtual tag appears as an independent tag that can be assigned to a given rack and reports Phase, Line, Outlet and Branch power metrics depending on the PDU model. Thus, it must be imported and configured separately from the Master Asset Tag.

Before the RPDU power sensors can start collecting and storing rack PDU metrics, some CenterScape configuration must be completed. Initially the RPDU power sensors will send supplemental messages that identifies and instruments all rack PDUs, Master and Link configurations attached through the sensor. These supplemental messages and may take up to four (4) hours to collect, depending on rack PDU models and number of daisy-chained units.

To improve the device discovery, it is important to follow these steps to ensure virtual tags are imported properly into CenterScape.

1. Upgrade to CenterScape 1.5.1 using the normal upgrade process.
2. Ensure all power tag groups of interests have been added and configured in the “Admin Console”
3. Allow up to 5 hours for the supplemental messages from the RPDU power sensors to be received and processed by CenterScape.
4. Next, import the virtual tags in the “User Console”. From the “User Console” in the “Tasks” pane (left side) click on “Tag Management”.
5. In the main “Import Tags” window, select the “Import Detected Tags” option from the pull-down menu for “Add/Import Method:”
6. Under “Tag Group” select the power sensor tag group of interest, “STIRCK”, “STIPRO” or “PDUPWR”; then click “Load”. All assets using that group code will appear in the “Import Tags” window.
7. Select the virtual power sensors by their associated Tag ID and the suffix “_pdux”, where x is 2, 3 or 4; then click on “Add Selected Tags”. Tags selected will appear in the “Unassigned Tags” pane.
8. Leave these virtual tags “Unassigned”, as they will be imported using a spreadsheet. Details to follow.

Create An Export View

1. Create an “Export View” for the RPDU; Click on the “Admin Console”, then in the left hand pane click “Customization” and select “Views”.
2. In the center pane click on “New” and in “Basic Information” add “Name” – RPDU Export View
3. Select the following attributes:
   • Name
   • Asset Tag
   • Assigned To
   • Assigned Location
   • Input PDU Power Cord
   • Monitor Phase Balance (3-phase-only)
   • Monitor Available Line Capacity
   • Circuit Feed (Input Power Cord 1)
   • Redundancy Group (Input Power Cord 1)
   • User Specified Input Current Per Phase (Input Power Cord 1)
   • Branch Circuit (input Power Cord 1)
   • PDU Model
4. Click “Save Changes”.

Export Master RPDU Asset Tags

1. In the “User Console, in the left hand pane click on “Assets” then select “Manage Assets”.
2. In the main window select the drop down menu under “Type”, choose RPDU and click on “Go”. All the master RPDU asset tags should display.
3. In the upper right hand corner in the main CenterScape window, use the drop down menu to choose the newly created “RPDU Export View”.
4. Next in the main window, click on “Export” and a pop up window will appear to export the configuration.
5. In the pop up window under “Attributes to Export” select the radio dial button “Export attributes in view”.     
6. Next click on “Export CSV”.

Spreadsheet Manipulation To Add Virtual Tags

1. Open the spreadsheet. The columns are the minimum required attributes that provide configuration information for the RPDU asset type. The rows are the individual master RPDUs that have been assigned to racks and are actively monitored. The master RPDU is identified by the attribute $aAssetTag. It is the Tag ID printed on the RPDU power sensor label.

   $aName	$aAssetTag	$aAssignedToSummaryLocation	$aLocation
   CDC SHOREVIEW-1BF09-CDUSensor	STIRCK00010047	DATA_CENTER_RACK_45adbb8bd2bd32a6	CDC_SHOREVIEW_ZONE_1_ROW_1BF04_1BF09_RACK_1BF09

2. Copy the row CTL+c, and paste it on the following row using “Insert copied cells”. This will add a row just below the master RPDU row and shift the other contents down.
3. Manipulate the copied row as follows:

a. Clear the contents in the “guid” field

b. Add a “_pdu2” suffix to the value in the $aAssetTag column as follows: 

$aName	$aAssetTag	$aAssignedToSummaryLocation	$aLocation
CDC SHOREVIEW-1BF09-CDUSensor	STIRCK00010047_pdu2	DATA_CENTER_RACK_45adbb8bd2bd32a6	CDC_SHOREVIEW_ZONE_1_ROW_1BF04_1BF09_RACK_1BF09

c. Modify the following attribute values in the columns for both master and link PDUs. Ensure that the master and link PDUs use independent circuit feeds when configured for 1+1 redundancy by modifying the $aCircuitCord1 as shown below. Set the $aPDUPowerAllownceCord1 to the derated power allowance for that circuit or derated value of the PDU input power capacity. Specify in watts.

$aInputPDUPowerCord	$aMonitorAvailableLineCapacity	$aMonitorPhaseBalance	$aCircuitFeedCord1	$aCircuitCord1	$aPDUUserSpecifiedInputCurrentPerPhaseCord1	$aPDUModel
$tInputPDUPowerCordSingle	$tMonitorAvailableLineCapacityYes	$tMonitorPhaseBalanceYes	RACK_POWER_CIRCUIT_FEED_A	RACK_POWER_CIRCUIT_A	32	CS39CA-DQME2506/Z1
$tInputPDUPowerCordSingle	$tMonitorAvailableLineCapacityYes	$tMonitorPhaseBalanceYes	RACK_POWER_CIRCUIT_FEED_B	RACK_POWER_CIRCUIT_B	32

d. Repeat steps a through c for the each master PDU in the spreadsheet.

Note: Before the spreadsheet is imported to CenterScape delete the $aPDUModel column. CenterScape will automatically fill the value for this field.

Import Virtual Tags To CenterScape

1. In the “User Console” in the left hand pane click on “Assets” then select “Import Assets”.
2. In the main window upload the new import file. Click “Browse” and locate the import file; then click “Upload”. 
3. When it is completed the status on the “Import Jobs” will provide the details on the progress.
4. The racks and RPDUs should now be configured to be actively monitored.