This was an old article from June 23, 2009 that was somehow lost.
Installing APC (American Power Conversion) UPS (Un-interruptible Power Source) Support for Ubuntu Linux
(debunking the half truths)
Information garnered from: apcupsd.org
first step
sudo apt-get install apcupsd
1. HALF-TRUTH: Problem
2.6 kernels use udev and some distributions to not configure it to automatically create /dev/usb/hiddev?? as they should, causing apcupsd to fail to locate the UPS.
Workaround
Edit the file /etc/udev/rules.d/50-udev.rules, and add the following:
KERNEL=”hiddev*”, NAME=”usb/hiddev%n”
This results in a boot time error in Ubuntu, and doesn’t work.
TRUTH: This doesn’t work, don’t use it.
——–
2. HALF-TRUTH: Problem
On some systems such as Slackware 10.0, no USB devices will show up (see the next section).
Workaround
Add the following to rc.local
mount -t usbdevfs none /proc/bus/usb
TRUTH: mount requires root access:
nwayno@H:/$ sudo mount -t usbdevfs none /proc/bus/usb
[sudo] password for nwayno:
mount: unknown filesystem type ‘usbdevfs’
And that didn’t work, but here’s why:
From man mount (output)
Earlier, usbfs was known as usbdevfs.
So the mount really should look like this:
sudo mount -t usbfs none /proc/bus/usb
3. Verifying Device Detection and Driver
To make sure that your USB subsystem can see the UPS, just do this from a shell prompt:
cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
and sure enough, this is what I got:
T: Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=1.5 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 1.10 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=051d ProdID=0002 Rev= 1.06
S: Manufacturer=American Power Conversion
S: Product=Back-UPS BR 800 FW:9.o2 .D USB FW:o2
S: SerialNumber=QB0351236370
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=a0 MxPwr= 24mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=usbhid
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 6 Ivl=10ms
This is what my apcupsd.conf file looks like:
Important things to change in the following:
UPSNAME WaynoUps # name for ups
UPSCABLE usb # type of cable
UPSTYPE usb # yes it’s usb
NISIP 0.0.0.0 # this is what made networking work chg from localhost
DEVICE
nwayno@Homer:/etc/apcupsd$ cat apcupsd.conf
#—– BEGIN /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf —–
## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##
#
# for apcupsd release 3.14.4 (18 May 2008) – debian
#
# “apcupsd” POSIX config file
#
# ========= General configuration parameters ============
#
# UPSNAME xxx
# Use this to give your UPS a name in log files and such. This
# is particulary useful if you have multiple UPSes. This does not
# set the EEPROM. It should be 8 characters or less.
UPSNAME WaynoUps
# UPSCABLE
# Defines the type of cable connecting the UPS to your computer.
#
# Possible generic choices for
# simple, smart, ether, usb
#
# Or a specific cable model number may be used:
# 940-0119A, 940-0127A, 940-0128A, 940-0020B,
# 940-0020C, 940-0023A, 940-0024B, 940-0024C,
# 940-1524C, 940-0024G, 940-0095A, 940-0095B,
# 940-0095C, M-04-02-2000
#
UPSCABLE usb
# To get apcupsd to work, in addition to defining the cable
# above, you must also define a UPSTYPE, which corresponds to
# the type of UPS you have (see the Description for more details).
# You must also specify a DEVICE, sometimes referred to as a port.
# For USB UPSes, please leave the DEVICE directive blank. For
# other UPS types, you must specify an appropriate port or address.
#
# UPSTYPE DEVICE Description
# apcsmart /dev/tty** Newer serial character device,
# appropriate for SmartUPS models using
# a serial cable (not USB).
#
# usb
# setting enables autodetection, which is
# the best choice for most installations.
#
# net hostname:port Network link to a master apcupsd
# through apcupsd’s Network Information
# Server. This is used if you don’t have
# a UPS directly connected to your computer.
#
# snmp hostname:port:vendor:community
# SNMP Network link to an SNMP-enabled
# UPS device. Vendor is the MIB used by
# the UPS device: can be “APC”, “APC_NOTRAP”
# or “RFC” where APC is the powernet MIB,
# “APC_NOTRAP” is powernet with SNMP trap
# catching disabled, and RFC is the IETF’s
# rfc1628 UPS-MIB. You usually want “APC”.
# Port is usually 161. Community is usually
# “private”.
#
# dumb /dev/tty** Old serial character device for use
# with simple-signaling UPSes.
#
# pcnet ipaddr:username:passphrase
# PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol
# which can be used as an alternative to SNMP
# with AP9617 family of smart slot cards.
# ipaddr is the IP address of the UPS mgmt
# card. username and passphrase are the
# credentials for which the card has been
# configured.
#
UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE
# POLLTIME
# Interval (in seconds) at which apcupsd polls the UPS for status. This
# setting applies both to directly-attached UPSes (UPSTYPE apcsmart, usb,
# dumb) and networked UPSes (UPSTYPE net, snmp). Lowering this setting
# will improve apcupsd’s responsiveness to certain events at the cost of
# higher CPU utilization. The default of 60 is appropriate for most
# situations.
#POLLTIME 60
# LOCKFILE
LOCKFILE /var/lock
# SCRIPTDIR
SCRIPTDIR /etc/apcupsd
# PWRFAILDIR
# is created when apcupsd initiates a system shutdown and is
# checked in the OS halt scripts to determine if a killpower
# (turning off UPS output power) is required.
PWRFAILDIR /etc/apcupsd
# NOLOGINDIR
# of this flag file tells the OS to disallow new logins.
NOLOGINDIR /etc
#
# ======== Configuration parameters used during power failures ==========
#
# The ONBATTERYDELAY is the time in seconds from when a power failure
# is detected until we react to it with an onbattery event.
#
# This means that, apccontrol will be called with the powerout argument
# immediately when a power failure is detected. However, the
# onbattery argument is passed to apccontrol only after the
# ONBATTERYDELAY time. If you don’t want to be annoyed by short
# powerfailures, make sure that apccontrol powerout does nothing
# i.e. comment out the wall.
ONBATTERYDELAY 6
#
# Note: BATTERYLEVEL, MINUTES, and TIMEOUT work in conjunction, so
# the first that occurs will cause the initation of a shutdown.
#
# If during a power failure, the remaining battery percentage
# (as reported by the UPS) is below or equal to BATTERYLEVEL,
# apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
BATTERYLEVEL 5
# If during a power failure, the remaining runtime in minutes
# (as calculated internally by the UPS) is below or equal to MINUTES,
# apcupsd, will initiate a system shutdown.
MINUTES 3
# If during a power failure, the UPS has run on batteries for TIMEOUT
# many seconds or longer, apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
# A value of 0 disables this timer.
#
# Note, if you have a Smart UPS, you will most likely want to disable
# this timer by setting it to zero. That way, you UPS will continue
# on batteries until either the % charge remaing drops to or below BATTERYLEVEL,
# or the remaining battery runtime drops to or below MINUTES. Of course,
# if you are testing, setting this to 60 causes a quick system shutdown
# if you pull the power plug.
# If you have an older dumb UPS, you will want to set this to less than
# the time you know you can run on batteries.
TIMEOUT 0
# Time in seconds between annoying users to signoff prior to
# system shutdown. 0 disables.
ANNOY 300
# Initial delay after power failure before warning users to get
# off the system.
ANNOYDELAY 60
# The condition which determines when users are prevented from
# logging in during a power failure.
# NOLOGON
NOLOGON disable
# If KILLDELAY is non-zero, apcupsd will continue running after a
# shutdown has been requested, and after the specified time in
# seconds attempt to kill the power. This is for use on systems
# where apcupsd cannot regain control after a shutdown.
# KILLDELAY
KILLDELAY 0
#
# ==== Configuration statements for Network Information Server ====
#
# NETSERVER [ on | off ] on enables, off disables the network
# information server. If netstatus is on, a network information
# server process will be started for serving the STATUS and
# EVENT data over the network (used by CGI programs).
NETSERVER on
# NISIP
# IP address on which NIS server will listen for incoming connections.
# This is useful if your server is multi-homed (has more than one
# network interface and IP address). Default value is 0.0.0.0 which
# means any incoming request will be serviced. Alternatively, you can
# configure this setting to any specific IP address of your server and
# NIS will listen for connections only on that interface. Use the
# loopback address (127.0.0.1) to accept connections only from the
# local machine.
#NISIP 127.0.0.1
#
# change ip from local host to any interface GU 07/07/2009
#
NISIP 0.0.0.0
# NISPORT
# port to use for sending STATUS and EVENTS data over the network.
# It is not used unless NETSERVER is on. If you change this port,
# you will need to change the corresponding value in the cgi directory
# and rebuild the cgi programs.
NISPORT 3551
# If you want the last few EVENTS to be available over the network
# by the network information server, you must define an EVENTSFILE.
EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events
# EVENTSFILEMAX
# By default, the size of the EVENTSFILE will be not be allowed to exceed
# 10 kilobytes. When the file grows beyond this limit, older EVENTS will
# be removed from the beginning of the file (first in first out). The
# parameter EVENTSFILEMAX can be set to a different kilobyte value, or set
# to zero to allow the EVENTSFILE to grow without limit.
EVENTSFILEMAX 10
#
# ========== Configuration statements used if sharing =============
# a UPS with more than one machine
#
# Remaining items are for ShareUPS (APC expansion card) ONLY
#
# UPSCLASS [ standalone | shareslave | sharemaster ]
# Normally standalone unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS
# card.
UPSCLASS standalone
# UPSMODE [ disable | share ]
# Normally disable unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS card.
UPSMODE disable
#
# ===== Configuration statements to control apcupsd system logging ========
#
# Time interval in seconds between writing the STATUS file; 0 disables
STATTIME 0
# Location of STATUS file (written to only if STATTIME is non-zero)
STATFILE /var/log/apcupsd.status
# LOGSTATS [ on | off ] on enables, off disables
# Note! This generates a lot of output, so if
# you turn this on, be sure that the
# file defined in syslog.conf for LOG_NOTICE is a named pipe.
# You probably do not want this on.
LOGSTATS off
# Time interval in seconds between writing the DATA records to
# the log file. 0 disables.
DATATIME 0
# FACILITY defines the logging facility (class) for logging to syslog.
# If not specified, it defaults to “daemon”. This is useful
# if you want to separate the data logged by apcupsd from other
# programs.
#FACILITY DAEMON
#
# ========== Configuration statements used in updating the UPS EPROM =========
#
#
# These statements are used only by apctest when choosing “Set EEPROM with conf
# file values” from the EEPROM menu. THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NO EFFECT ON APCUPSD.
#
# UPS name, max 8 characters
#UPSNAME UPS_IDEN
# Battery date – 8 characters
#BATTDATE mm/dd/yy
# Sensitivity to line voltage quality (H cause faster transfer to batteries)
# SENSITIVITY H M L (default = H)
#SENSITIVITY H
# UPS delay after power return (seconds)
# WAKEUP 000 060 180 300 (default = 0)
#WAKEUP 60
# UPS Grace period after request to power off (seconds)
# SLEEP 020 180 300 600 (default = 20)
#SLEEP 180
# Low line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter
# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
# D 106 103 100 097
# M 177 172 168 182
# A 092 090 088 086
# I 208 204 200 196 (default = 0 => not valid)
#LOTRANSFER 208
# High line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter
# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
# D 127 130 133 136
# M 229 234 239 224
# A 108 110 112 114
# I 253 257 261 265 (default = 0 => not valid)
#HITRANSFER 253
# Battery charge needed to restore power
# RETURNCHARGE 00 15 50 90 (default = 15)
#RETURNCHARGE 15
# Alarm delay
# 0 = zero delay after pwr fail, T = power fail + 30 sec, L = low battery, N = never
# BEEPSTATE 0 T L N (default = 0)
#BEEPSTATE T
# Low battery warning delay in minutes
# LOWBATT 02 05 07 10 (default = 02)
#LOWBATT 2
# UPS Output voltage when running on batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter
# of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
# D 115
# M 208
# A 100
# I 230 240 220 225 (default = 0 => not valid)
#OUTPUTVOLTS 230
# Self test interval in hours 336=2 weeks, 168=1 week, ON=at power on
# SELFTEST 336 168 ON OFF (default = 336)
#SELFTEST 336
#—– END /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf —–
————-
4. Testing
HALF-TRUTH: Run apctest by invoking it with no arguments.
It will read your installed apcupsd.conf configuration (so it knows where to find the UPS) and then it will present you with the following output:
nwayno@H:/etc/apcupsd$ apctest
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
2009-06-22 18:18:59 Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
apctest 3.14.4 (18 May 2008) debian
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
Checking configuration …
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
Attached to driver: usb
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
sharenet.type = DISABLE
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
cable.type = USB_CABLE
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
You are using a USB cable type, so I’m entering USB test mode
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
mode.type = USB_UPS
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
Setting up the port …
Could not create apctest.output: Permission denied
TRUTH: apctest requires ROOT access
nwayno@H:/etc/apcupsd$ sudo apctest
2009-06-22 18:16:59 apctest 3.14.4 (18 May 2008) debian
Checking configuration …
Attached to driver: usb
sharenet.type = DISABLE
cable.type = USB_CABLE
You are using a USB cable type, so I’m entering USB test mode
mode.type = USB_UPS
Setting up the port …
Hello, this is the apcupsd Cable Test program.
This part of apctest is for testing USB UPSes.
Getting UPS capabilities…SUCCESS
Please select the function you want to perform.
1) Test kill UPS power
2) Perform self-test
3) Read last self-test result
4) Change battery date
5) View battery date
6) View manufacturing date
7) Set alarm behavior
8 ) Set sensitivity
9) Set low transfer voltage
10) Set high transfer voltage
11) Quit
Select function number: 11
2009-06-22 18:17:14 End apctest.
nwayno@H:/etc/apcupsd$
5. HALF Truth:
and the client machine side: (SuSE)
## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##
UPSCABLE ether
UPSTYPE net
LOCKFILE /var/lock
DEVICE server-network-address:3551
UPSCLASS standalone
UPSMODE disable
POLLTIME 10
infact it won’t work as is:
Change POLLTIME to NETTIME
so the file on the CLIENT looks like:
## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##
UPSCABLE ether
UPSTYPE net
LOCKFILE /var/lock
DEVICE 192.168.0.102:3551
UPSCLASS standalone
UPSMODE disable
NETTIME 10
NOTE: You may need to bring down the firewall on the server side:
sudo ufw disable
6. and if we did our home work right — pulling the plug:
Broadcast Message from root@H (somewhere) at 17:09 (SERVER/UBUNTU)
Power failure on UPS WaynoUps. Running on batteries. (SERVER/UBUNTU)
Broadcast Message from root@P (somewhere) at 17:09 (CLIENT/SuSE)
Power failure on UPS WaynoUps. Running on batteries. (CLIENT/SuSE)
Broadcast Message from root@H (somewhere) at 17:10 (SERVER/UBUNTU)
Power has returned on UPS WaynoUps… (SERVER/UBUNTU)
Broadcast Message from root@P (somewhere) at 17:10 (CLIENT/SuSE)
Power has returned on UPS WaynoUps… (CLIENT/SuSE)
(thanks to Loni/lornix.com) for her assistance in figuring out why the client side wouldn’t work.
ADDENDUM: thanks Loni