How to setup power monitoring virtual machine for VMware

Norris avatar Norris
04 Apr 2025

Monitoring power consumption is essential for making smarter decisions, reducing costs, and promoting sustainability—whether you’re managing a data center, a smart home, or a renewable energy project. A power monitoring virtual machine (VM) simplifies this process by offering a centralized platform to collect, analyze, and visualize energy data.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through setting up a power monitoring VM, covering essential tools, software, and configurations to streamline your energy management. Let’s get started and optimize your setup!

Prerequisites

  • Virtual Machine Host You’ll need either VMware ESXi or Proxmox Virtual Environment installed on your server.

  • UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) Your UPS should have either a USB or Ethernet port for communication.

UPS
  • Virtual Machine Image Typically downloadable from the manufacturer’s website, usually in .VMDK format.

System Overview

System Overview

In this example setup:

  • We have a physical server connected to the UPS using both power and data via USB.

  • A hypervisor (ESXi or Proxmox) is already installed.

  • We’ll use the manufacturer’s utility image to deploy the power monitoring VM.

    ⚠️ Note: The monitoring system used in this guide supports VMware ESXi only.

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

ESXI
  1. Verify UPS Detection via SSH
    - Login to your VMware host through SSH.
    We logged in as root
  2. At the prompt, type lsusb. This command will list all USB devices connected to your physical server.
    Success, VMware is able to detect the UPS
  3. Download the VMDK image from the manufacturer’s website
    For this example, the UPS manufacturer is Cyber Power Systems.
    - If your UPS is connected via USB, download the first option.
    - If your UPS is connected via the network, download the second (remote) option.
    Power Panel
  4. After downloading
    Unzip the file to extract the necessary image files.
  5. Login to the VMware web GUI and create a virtual machine.
    Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file, then click Next.
    Select Creation Type
  6. Enter the name of the virtual machine (e.g., MonitorVM).
    - Drag and drop the .ovf and .vmdk files into the box.
    - Click Next once they are loaded.
  7. Choose the storage location.
    For this example, we only have one option. Click Next.
  8. Select Thin Provisioning.
    - Untick Power on automatically.
    - Click Next.
  9. Review the configuration and click Finish.
  10. Wait for the virtual machine to finish creating.
  11. Configure the power monitoring VM.
    - Add a USB device to the VM.
    - Choose your UPS from the list.
    - Click Save.
  12. Turn on the virtual machine.
    Take note of the IP address automatically assigned by ESXi.
  13. Access the web GUI.
    Open a browser and enter the IP address with the correct port (e.g., http://10.11.0.124:3052).
    Refer to the manufacturer’s manual to determine the correct port.
  14. Change the default password (mandatory).
    After clicking Save, you will be logged out and must log in again with your new password.
  15. After logging in, you'll see complete UPS information on the left-hand side.
  16. Configure shutdown settings.
    Navigate to Settings > Shutdown Events.
    - Verify connectivity to your ESXi server.
    - Set your preferred shutdown duration and delay.
  17. Click Apply to save your shutdown configurations.