Ubuntu Manpage: apcupsd — a daemon for controlling most APC UPSes

NAME

     apcupsd — a daemon for controlling most APC UPSes

SYNOPSIS

     apcupsd [-b] [-d level | --debug level] [-f file | --config-file file]
             [-P file | --pid-file file] [-p | --kill-on-powerfail | -t | --term-on-powerfail]
             [-R]

     apcupsd [-k | --killpower | --hibernate | -o | --power-off]

     apcupsd [-h | --help]

     apcupsd [-V | --version]

DESCRIPTION

The apcupsd daemon controls the operation of most American Power Conversion Corp (APC)
UPSes. During a power failure, apcupsd informs users about the loss of utility power and
that a shutdown may occur. If utility power is not restored, a system shutdown will follow
when the battery is exhausted, a specified timeout expires, a specified battery charge
percentage is reached, or a specified battery runtime (based on internal UPS calculations
and determined by power consumption rates) expires. If the utility power is restored before
one of the these shutdown conditions is met, apcupsd will inform users of this and the
shutdown will generally be cancelled. Refer to the Implementation Notes section below for
situations in which the shutdown may not be cancelled.

The meaning of the command line options is as follows:

-b Run in the foreground, do not detach and become a daemon.

-d level --debug level
Set debugging output level where level is a number greater than zero.

-f file --config-file file
Load the specified configuration file. The default configuration file is
/etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf. It must be changed when running more than one copy
of apcupsd on the same computer to control multiple UPSes.

-k | --killpower | --hibernate
Power down the UPS in hibernate mode after a 10 second delay. This option is
normally only used by apcupsd itself to power down the UPS after a system
shutdown has almost completed. In hibernate mode, the UPS will again supply
power to the system when the utility power returns.

-o | --power-off
Power down UPS completely. The UPS will not supply power to the system when the
utility power returns.

-P file --pid-file file
Create the specified process ID file. The default is /var/run/apcupsd.pid. It
must be changed when running more than one copy of apcupsd on the same computer
to control multiple UPSes.

-p --kill-on-powerfail
apcupsd commands the UPS to power down in hibernate mode just before apcupsd
starts the system shutdown. This relies on the grace shutdown delay of a Smart-
UPS being long enough to allow the system to shutdown completely before the UPS
shuts off the power to the system and goes into hibernate mode. This shutdown
grace delay is a programmable value stored in a Smart-UPS EEPROM which can be
changed using apctest(8). In hibernate mode, the UPS will again supply power to
the system when the utility power returns. Refer to apcupsd.conf(5) for an
alternative method using the KILLDELAY configuration directive and the only
method available when using a Back-UPS or other UPS operating in simple
signalling mode.

-t --term-on-powerfail
apcupsd exits immediately when it issues the system shutdown command. This
behaviour is useful for those systems where it is not possible to insert apcupsd
commands in a halt script to issue the killpower command. Without this option,
apcupsd will wait for the SIGTERM signal from the system shutdown process before
exiting.

-R Put a UPS which runs in smart signalling mode by default (eg a Smart-UPS) into
simple signalling mode.

-v --version
Prints the apcupsd version number and the program help.

-h --help Prints the program help.

The apcupsd daemon supports a networking mode called Network Information Server (NIS) --
not related to Sun's NIS/YP -- in which the daemon serves status and event information to
clients over a network. See the "Running The Network Information Server" section of the
apcupsd manual for more information and configuration details on this mode.

The apcupsd daemon also supports a Smart-UPS in SNMP mode provided an APC Web/SNMP or APC
PowerNet SNMP card is installed in the UPS's SmartSlot. For more information and
configuration details on this mode, refer to the "Support for SNMP UPSes" section of the
apcupsd manual.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

     The shutdown is made by calls to the script /etc/apcupsd/apccontrol by the apcupsd daemon.
     Consequently, no changes to /etc/inittab are necessary on Linux as there is no communication
     between the daemon and the init(1) process.  Installation of the daemon modifies the halt
     script so that at the end of the shutdown process, the daemon will be re-executed to power
     off the UPS in hibernate mode.

     On some operating systems (eg FreeBSD) there is no halt script so apccontrol must be
     modified to cause the daemon to power off the UPS after a delay.  Alternatives are to use
     the --kill-on-powerfail command on the apcupsd command line or refer to apcupsd.conf(5) for
     details of the KILLDELAY configuration directive.

CONFIGURATION

     It will almost certainly be necessary to customise the configuration information in the
     /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf configuration file to suit your configuration and desired UPS
     behaviour.

     For information on the configuration directives and the format of the configuration file,
     refer to apcupsd.conf(5).

EVENTS

     apcupsd generates events when certain conditions occur.  These events are sent to the system
     log and, optionally, to the temporary events file (/var/log/apcupsd.events).  They also
     generate a call to  the /etc/apcupsd/apccontrol script which in turn will call any custom
     scripts placed in the /etc/apcupsd directory which may override apccontrol's default
     behaviour. For details of the events and customising apccontrol's behaviour, refer to
     apccontrol(8).

DATA FILE FORMAT

     If the DATATIME configuration directive is set to non-zero, apcupsd will log a data record
     at the interval defined by the DATATIME directive. This data record is in a format similar
     to the APC PowerChute software data file format.

STATUS REPORT FORMAT

     The status report output format is simple ASCII. Generally there is a single piece of
     information on each line of output. The content varies based on the model of UPS being used
     and, in some cases, the firmware version. This status report is also optionally written the
     the /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.status file. Refer to apcaccess(8) for full details of the status
     report output.

FILES

     /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf default configuration file

     /var/run/apcupsd.pid default process ID file

     /var/log/apcupsd.status optional status file

     /var/log/apcupsd.events default events file

AUTHORS

   This page
     Trevor Roydhouse (current)
     Andre M. Hedrick
     Christopher J. Reimer

   Software
     Adam Kropelin (current Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Kern Sibbald (former Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Riccardo Facchetti (former Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Andre M. Hedrick (Project Founder and former Code Maintainer)

   Contributors
     An enormous number of users who have devoted their time and energy to this project --
     thanks.