Before powering off or rebooting a node for scheduled maintenance, please try to notify all users of the node first by e-mailing the PlanetLab Users mailing list. To power off a node, login to the node as the user site_admin and execute:

sudo /sbin/shutdown -h 5 "Scheduled maintenance, please save your work and logout"


    

To reboot a node, execute:

sudo /sbin/shutdown -r 5 "Scheduled maintenance, please save your work and logout"


    

Wait for the node to power off or reboot by itself. Wait at least 15 minutes before deciding to manually power off or reboot a node.

As a last resort, if you cannot login to the node via SSH or the console, simply power off (or power cycle) the machine. If you do not have physical access to the nodes but have connected them to a remotely accessible power control unit (PCU), follow the instructions that came with your PCU for removing or cycling power to the outlets.