Cisco EnergyWise Configuration Example: Sending IP Phones into Deep-Sleep-Mode via the Switch CLI

Starting from version 8.6 the Cisco Unified Communications Manager has built in functionality to put unused IP Phones into the Deep Sleep Mode (also called Power Save Plus) in order to save energy and money. The process goes like this:

1. The CUCM pushes a fixed time schedule to the IP Phones telling them when to go to sleep.
2. When it's time to go to sleep, the IP Phones will tell the switch that they are attached to, to prepare for Deep Sleep Mode
3. The IP Phones go to sleep.

But there is also the possibility that the switch, the IP Phone is connected to, tells the IP Phone to go to sleep. Or think of an Energy Management Solution like JouleX Energy Manager to tell the IP Phones to go to sleep.

The quickest and easiest way to showcase the Cisco EnergyWise Solution is by putting an IP Phone into Deep Sleep Mode via the Command Line Interface (CLI) of the switch. In this post I am going to show you exactly how to do that.

The following document describes the energy savings you can expect from this technology and additionally gives you advice on how to configure it. In my setup I basically followed that guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/phones/ps10326/solution_overview_c22-589129.html

What I used for this demo:

• A stack of two Cisco 3750X switches running the following IOS image: c3750e-universalk9-mz.150-1.SE2.bin
• Cisco Unified IP Phone 9951 running the following firmware: sip9951.9-2-1
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 8.6.2.20000-2

Configure the switch

A basic EnergyWise configuration involves:

• EnergyWise domain and secret (password)
  
• EnergyWise management secret
• EnergyWise endpoint secret
• EnergyWise keywords (optional)
• EnergyWise role (optional)
• EnergyWise importance (optional)

You can check out what the individual attributes mean under this link: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/energywise/phase2_5/ios/configuration/guide/cli_comm.html

My config looks like this:

energywise domain STULAB2 security ntp-shared-secret 0 EWSECRET
energywise importance 100
energywise role SBR-ACCESS-SWITCH
energywise keywords PHONE,testing
energywise management security shared-secret 0 EWMGMTSECRET
energywise endpoint security shared-secret 0 EWENDPOINTSECRET

Configure the IP Phone in the CUCM

The IP Phone obtains its configuration from the Cisco Unified Communications Manager. That's why you have to set the EnergyWise credentials there. My configuration looks this way:

Here you have to enter the Domain name and the EnergyWise Endpoint Security Secret. In my example this secret is EWENDPOINTSECRET.Also make sure that you check the box "Allow EnergyWise Overrides" as this allows for the switch to tell the IP Phone what to do (otherwise the IP Phone would only accept orders from the CUCM).

Check the EnergyWise relationship between Switch and IP Phone

Before sending the IP Phone into the Deep Sleep Mode, make sure that the Switch and the IP Phone "found" each other and maintain an EnergyWise relationship. In EnergyWise terminology the switch is the "parent" and the enpoints are the "children". You can do this with the command:

show energywise children

As you can see the IP Phone and the Switch have established the EnergyWise relationship

Send the IP Phone into Deep Sleep Mode

Once the relationship is established, you can now go ahead and send the IP Phone into the Deep Sleep Mode. This is done via an EnergyWise query:

energywise query importance 100 name SEP64168DBA7D52 set level 2

This command queries the EnergyWise domain for devices with an importance of 100 or less AND with the EnergyWise name of SEP64168DBA7D52. For the devices affected to this query, the power level of 2 will be set. Since this query is precise regarding the name, it will only hit exactly that IP Phone and tell it to go into the Deep Sleep Mode.

The phone will then display a warning message, telling the user that it is about to go to sleep in 10 minutes. The user still has the possibility to abort the process by simply pressing any button on the phone. If no such action happens, the phone will go into the Deep Sleep Mode after 10 minutes. The CLI of the switch shows:

You can now check the deep sleep power consumption of that phone. The minimal current is required to provide the possibility for the user to wake up the phone:

Waking up the IP Phone out of the Deep Sleep Mode

The user has the possibility to wake up the IP Phone anytime by pressing the illuminated button. As soon as the user presses that button, the IP Phone will cause a port cycle in order to receive full power from the switch again. From the CLI it looks this way:

Conclusion

Here you have it. A step by step instruction on how to showcase the Cisco EnergyWise solution and gain first experience with this technology. In a production you would not use the CLI to send IP Phones into sleep. Instead you would use an Energy Management Software that leverages the EnergyWise Management API to do exactly that. In fact, what I just showed here is the manual process of what the Management API does in an automated fashion: Sending out queries, collecting information, setting energy levels on devices. But the CLI gives you a handy way of trying things out.

I hope you enjoyed reading and found useful information. Don't hesitate to use the contact form to get in touch with me for further information.

Ralf Saettele
CCIE #28760