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Configure virtual machine shutdown on standalone VMware ESX and ESXi hosts protected by PowerChute.

Issue:
How to configure Virtual Machines to shut down when a standalone ESXi host is commanded to shut down by PowerChute.

Product Line:
PowerChute Network Shutdown
PowerChute Business Edition

Environment:
VMware ESX and ESXi

Cause:
Informational

Solution:
You can use the "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown" feature of ESXi and ESX to gracefully shut down VMs when the host is commanded to shut down. VMware tools must be installed on each VM.

To configure VMs to shut down with the host:

For VMware ESXi host 5.x:

Log in to the ESXi host via the vSphere client. On the Configuration tab and under Software, select "Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown."
Click on Properties
Enable the option "Allow Virtual Machines to start and stop automatically with the system."
Change the Shutdown Action to "Guest Shutdown"
Use Startup Order to specify the order in which the VMs are shut down and started
Click OK to accept the changes.

Note: The Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown feature is deliberately disabled for hosts in a High Availability (HA) Cluster.

For VMware ESXi hosts 6.5, 6.7, 7.0.x, 8.0.x
1 - Log in to the ESXi host web interface
2 - Select Manage, Autostart
auto-start screenshot

3 - Select Edit settings

In Autostart configuration, click Yes to enable, set the required start and stop delays, set the stop action to Shut down, and click Save.

4 - Select a VM and click Actions
VM auto-start actions

5 - Select Autostart, Enable to enable Autostart for the VM
enable auto-start for VM

6 - Once all required VMs have been enabled, you will see the Autostart order. The shutdown order is the reverse of the start order. The first VM started will be the last VM shut down.
auto-start order

7 - To arrange the VMs in a specific order select the VM, click Actions, Autostart, and choose Start earlier or Start later.
change auto-start order

Please review VMware knowledge base document for assistance with ESXi 6.5 and above. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-5FE08AC7-4486-438E-AF88-80D6C7928810.html

PowerChute Business Edition is unsupported in a HA environment or VMware ESXi 6.7 or 7.0.x
PowerChute Network Shutdown version 3.1 and above supports HA environments. For help configuring PowerChute Network Shutdown in an HA environment, please review Application Note 180 or the VMware User Guide.

For assistance installing and configuring PowerChute Network Shutdown on VMware, see Schneider Electric FAQ Video: How to install, deploy, and configure PowerChute Network Shutdown virtual appliance onto VMware.