Question : Problem: Graceful shutdown on power failure with VMWare ESXi 3.5 Update 2

With ESX 3.X it was possible to use APC's PowerChute to shutdown the hypervisor when there is a power failure. However, because there is no service console in ESXi 3.5, I'm wondering how to do this. Certainly VMWare and all its OEM partners didn't forget about this important part of server management, but all my searches on this topic turn up nothing so far.

So, the question is: how do you shut down an ESXi 3.5 Update 2 hypervisor when the power is out?

Answer : Problem: Graceful shutdown on power failure with VMWare ESXi 3.5 Update 2

Okay, that could work, with a few improvements.  I think the solution should go as follows:

1. Install an SNMP network card in the UPS
2. Create a small VM (Linux) to monitor the UPS with PowerChute
3. Have the small VM issue a shutdown request to the ESXi host.
4. Configure the ESXi host to gracefully shut down the guest operating systems when the host is shut down, ensuring that the small VM goes down last and comes up first.

Alternatively:
1. Install an SNMP network card in the UPS
2. Configure each guest operating system to run PowerChute and shut itself down when the power fails.

Thanks for helping.