Powering Down a Juniper System: Scheduled and Controlled -

Powering Down a Juniper System: Scheduled and Controlled

Managing network equipment often involves planned downtime for maintenance, upgrades, or reconfigurations. For Juniper network devices, the Command Line Interface (CLI) provides a straightforward way to schedule a system shutdown, including the ability to do so at a specific time. This article will guide you through the process of scheduling a power-off and how to check the current system time, which is essential for accurate planning.

Checking the Current System Time on Juniper

Before you schedule any power-off, it’s crucial to know your Juniper device’s current time. This ensures your planned shutdown occurs precisely when you intend.

You can easily check the current date and time of your Juniper system using the following command:

show system uptime

This command will show you, among other details, the system’s current time. The output will look something like this:

root@juniper-router> show system uptime
Current time: 2025-05-28 16:09:14 CEST
System booted: 2025-05-01 10:00:00 CEST (3w0d 6:09 ago)
Protocols started: 2025-05-01 10:01:00 CEST (3w0d 6:08 ago)
Last configured: 2025-05-27 14:30:00 CEST (1d 1:39 ago) by user
16:09PM  up 3 weeks, 0 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes

Pay close attention to the “Current time” line. This is the time the system will use for your scheduled actions.

Initiating a Scheduled System Power-Off

Once you’ve confirmed the system time, you can schedule the power-off. The command for this is request system power-off at.

The syntax is as follows:

request system power-off at YYMMDDHHMM

Here’s what each part means:

YY: The year (e.g., 25 for 2025).
MM: The month (e.g., 05 for May).
DD: The day of the month (e.g., 28 for the 28th).
HH: The hour in 24-hour format (e.g., 17 for 5:00 PM).
MM: The minute (e.g., 30 for 30 minutes).

Example:

Suppose you want to power off your Juniper system on May 28, 2025, at 5:30 PM. You would enter the following command:

request system power-off at 2505281730

After entering this command, the system will provide a message confirming the scheduled power-off.

Important Considerations

Complete Shutdown: The request system power-off command initiates a full shutdown of the system. The device will need to be manually powered on to restart. If you intend to restart the device instead of completely shutting it down, use request system reboot at with the same time syntax.
Canceling a Scheduled Power-Off: If you change your mind or make an error in the scheduled time, you can cancel the pending power-off with the command: clear system power-off
Time Zone: Be mindful of your Juniper device’s time zone. The time you enter will be based on the system’s internal time zone.
Network Impact: Always schedule power-offs during periods of low network traffic to minimize disruption. Communicate planned downtime promptly to all relevant stakeholders.

By following these steps, you can efficiently and controllably power down your Juniper devices, which is essential for well-managed network operations.