Ubuntu Manpage: apcsmart - Driver for American Power Conversion Smart Protocol UPS equipment

NAME

       apcsmart - Driver for American Power Conversion Smart Protocol UPS equipment

SYNOPSIS

       apcsmart -h

       apcsmart -a UPS_NAME [-x option=value ...]

           Note
           This man page only documents the hardware-specific features of the apcsmart driver.
           For information about the core driver, see nutupsdrv(8).

SUPPORTED HARDWARE

The apcsmart driver should recognize (or at the very least, work with) the majority of
Smart-UPS models - which includes Smart-UPS, Matrix-UPS and Back-UPS lineups, among few
other ones.

Currently, we can roughly divide APC hardware into four groups (note that the division
isn’t strict by any means, and the borders between those are pretty fuzzy):

[very] "old" models
These models usually have old APC logo, white color and no programmable EEPROM; you
won’t find them listed anywhere on APC’s site either. The support for those will be
usually based on driver’s compatibility tables, or if the model (firmware) is not
listed in those - the driver will try to follow the very basic subset of features,
while still trying to remain useful. Despite "smart" tagname, they often tend to
behave in pretty dumb way (see the section below about shutdown behaviour).

Example models:

• Smart-UPS 2000I

• Smart-UPS 900I

"new" models
These models usually come from late 1990s / pre-2009 times. They are often referred as
"3rd. gen". For the most part, they have programmable EEPROM, report supported
commands and capabilities, and should work just fine with the apcsmart driver.

"microlink" models
WARNING: these are not natively supported by apcsmart (or apcupsd, for that matter, if
you’re wondering). Around 2007, APC (now APC Schneider) decided to go back to its
proprietary roots, and all the new models (SMT, SMX, SURTD) use completely different
protocol and cables. If you purchased a new APC UPS - that uses cable with RJ45 on the
one end, and DB-9 on the other - then you have such model. Your only option to support
it through NUT is to purchase a "legacy communications card" - part #AP9620 (google
AP9620 for more details). Or if that’s not an option, rely on official software.

Microsol models
Several Microsol serial models sold in Brazil have been rebranded as APC Back-UPS, and
the model numbers tend to start with "BZ". If you have one of these "Nobreaks", they
will not work with the apcsmart driver - please see the solis(8) driver instead.

Example models:

• Back-UPS BZ1200-BR

• Back-UPS BZ2200BI-BR

Another thing to remember is that Smart protocol is not USB protocol. If you have UPS with
both USB and serial ports, then depending on how you connect it, you will need either
apcsmart or usbhid-ups driver.

CABLING

       This driver expects to see a 940-0024C cable or a clone by default. You can switch to the
       940-0095B dual-mode cable support with the cable= definition described below.

       If your 940-xx24X cable is broken or missing, use this diagram to build a clone:

       http://www.networkupstools.org/cables.html#_940_0024c_clone

           Note
           The "xx" is either "00" for a short cable, or the number of feet of a longer cable.
           The "X" is a letter representing the minor revision of the physical cable and its
           connectors ("C" and "E" are commonly found revisions). All minor revisions should use
           the same pin-outs and wiring.

       You can specify alternate cable in ups.conf(5):

       cable=940-0095B

       Alternatively, you can also provide it on the command line using:

       -x cable=940-0095B

TTY MODES

       By default the driver works in canonical mode, but it proved to be a problem in Windows
       systems. Furthermore there’s a possibility of some obscure serial cards or serial-USB
       converters that could cause problems as well. You can use ttymode= option to force
       non-canonical discipline in ups.conf(5):

       ttymode=raw

       Alternatively, you can also provide it on the command line using:

       -x ttymode=raw

           Note
           Any other value will make the driver work in the canonical mode.

EXPLANATION OF SHUTDOWN METHODS SUPPORTED BY APC UPSES

APC hardware supports a lot of shutdown methods, that themselves can differ in behaviour
quite a bit, depending on the model.

S (soft hibernate)
This is most basic command present in probably all APC models. It will hibernate the
UPS, and subsequently wake it up when the mains supply returns. The command doesn’t
work if the UPS is running on mains.

"old" models:
The behaviour here is unfortunately pretty primitive - when the power returns, the
UPS just wakes up. No grace periods, no min. battery charge condition, etc. This
is probably not what you want.

"new" models:
The behaviour here is as expected - the power is cut off after the EEPROM defined
grace period. The UPS will wake up when the power returns, after the EEPROM
defined delay AND if the EEPROM defined min. battery charge level is met. The
delay is counted from the power’s return.

CS (aka "force OB hack")
This is a trick to make UPS power down even if it’s running on mains. Immediately
before issuing S, "simulate power failure" is issued. The remaining behaviour is as in
S case.

There’s a delay between "simulate power failure" and S - by default set to 3.5s. You
can control it through cshdelay option (allowed values are from 0 to 9.9).

The name came from APC CS models, where such trick was used to power down UPSes in
consistent fashion using only S. It’s better to use @nnn command if your UPS supports
it (and is not too old, see below).

@nnn (hard hibernate)
This is basic command used to hibernate UPS regardless if it’s running on batteries or
on mains. The option takes 3 digits argument which can be used to specify additional
wake-up delay (in 6 minute units).

"old" models:
The behaviour is - unfortunately - similarly primitive to S. The UPS
unconditionally wakes up after nnn*6 minutes - it doesn’t care if the power
returned ! If nnn = 000, then UPS will do precisely nothing. On those models
you’re better specifying nnn > 0, if you can estimate the kind of power problems
that might be happening in your environment. Another thing to consider with "old"
models - you might lose the connection with the UPS, until it wakes up (with S,
the serial connection is kept alive).

"new" models:
All the usual variables defined in EEPROM are respected (see S). Additionally, if
nnn > 0, the nnn*6 minutes are added to EEPROM defined delay. UPS will not power
up if it’s running on batteries, contrary to what "old" models used to do - the
combined delay is counted from the moment of power return.

Supposedly there exist models that take 2 digits instead of 3. Just in case, NUT also
supports such variation. You have to provide exactly 2 digits to trigger it (awd
option, or argument to one of the supported instant commands).

K (delayed poweroff)
This is permanent poweroff - the UPS will not wake up automatically. On newer units,
it will respect applicable EEPROM variables.

Z (instant poweroff)
This is also permanent poweroff - the UPS will not wake up automatically. The poweroff
is executed immediately.

SHUTDOWN CONTROL BY NUT

       There are three options used to control the shutdown behaviour.

       sdtype=[0-5]
           This option takes a single digit (0-5) as an argument. See below for details.

       advorder=no|[0-4]+
           This option takes string of digits as an argument. Methods listed are tried in turn
           until one of them succeeds. Note that the meaning of digits is different from sdtype.
           See below for details.

       awd=[0-9]{1,3}
           This option lets you specify additional wake-up delay used by @. If you provide
           exactly 2 digits, the driver will try 2 digits variation (see previous section for
           more info). Otherwise standard 3 digits variation is used.  Note: the time unit is 6
           minutes !

       Keep in mind that sdtype and advorder are mutually exclusive. If advorder is provided,
       sdtype is ignored. If advorder is set to no, sdtype is used instead.

       If nothing is provided, NUT will assume sdtype=0 - which is generally fine for anything
       not too ancient or not too quirky.

   SDTYPE
       The values permitted are from 0 to 5. Only one can be specified. Anything else will cause
       apcsmart to exit.

       0
           issue soft hibernate (S) if the UPS is running on batteries, otherwise issue hard
           hibernate (@)

       1
           issue soft hibernate (S) (if on batteries), and if it fails (or on mains) - try hard
           hibernate (@)

       2
           issue instant poweroff (Z)

       3
           issue delayed poweroff (K)

       4
           issue "force OB hack" (CS)

       5
           issue hard hibernate (@)

           Note
           Hard hibernate’s additional wake-up delay can be provided by awd.

   ADVORDER
       The argument is either a word no, or a string of 1 - 5 digits in [0 - 4] range. Each digit
       maps to the one of shutdown methods supported by APC UPSes. Methods listed in this way are
       tried in order, until one of them succeeds.

       If advorder is undefined or set to no, sdtype is used instead.

       The mapping is as follows:

       0   soft hibernate (S)

       1   hard hibernate (@)

       2   delayed poweroff (K)

       3   instant poweroff (Z)

       4   "force OB hack" (CS)

           Note
           Hard hibernate’s additional wake-up delay can be provided by awd.

IGNORING LB STATE

APC units - even if they report LB mode - will not go into shutdown automatically. This
gives us even more control with reference to "when to actually shutdown PSU". Since
version 2.6.2, NUT supports ignorelb option in driver’s section of ups.conf(5). When such
option is in effect, the core driver will ignore LB state as reported by specific driver
and start shutdown basing the decision only on two conditions:

battery.charge < battery.charge.low

battery.runtime < battery.runtime.low

Of course - if any of the variables are not available, the appropriate condition is not
checked. If you want to explicitly disable one of the conditions, simply override the
right hand variable causing the condition to always evaluate to false (you can even
provide negative numbers).

APC UPSes don’t have battery.charge.low - you will have to define it if you want to use
such condition (prefix the variable with override. or default.).

"New" units have battery.runtime.low, but depending on battery quality, firmware version,
calibration and UPS load - this variable can be underestimated quite a bit - especially
right after going into OB state. This in turn can cause LB to be asserted, which under
normal conditions will cause NUT to initiate the shutdown. You might want to disable this
condition entirely, when relying on ignorelb option (this was actually the main motivation
behind introduction of such feature).

Simple example:

[apc]
ignorelb
override.battery.charge.low = 15
override.battery.runtime.low = -1

This would cause apcsmart to go into shutdown only if detected battery charge < 15%.
Runtime condition is always false in this example.

You could ask - why bother ? Well, the reason is already hinted above. APC units can be
very picky about the batteries, and their firmware can underestimate the remaining runtime
(especially right after going into OB state). ignorelb option and override.* let you
remain in control of the UPS, not UPS in control of you.

Furthermore, this allows to specify conditions similarly to how it’s done in apcupsd
daemon, so it should be welcome by people used to that software.

SUPPORTED INSTANT COMMANDS

       The apcsmart driver exposes following instant commands:

       shutdown.return
           executes soft hibernate

       shutdown.return cs
           executes "force OB hack"

       shutdown.return at:<nbr>
           executes "hard hibernate" with <nbr>*6 minutes additional wake-up delay (<nbr> format
           is the same as of awd option)

       shutdown.stayoff
           executes "delayed poweroff"

       load.off
           executes "instant poweroff"

       All the above commands must be issued 2nd time to have any effect (no less than 3 seconds,
       and no more than 15 seconds after the initial call). Those commands are mostly useful for
       manual testing, when your machine is not powered by the UPS you’re testing.

       Other supported commands:

       •   load.on

       •   test.panel.start

       •   test.failure.start

       •   test.battery.start

       •   test.battery.stop

       •   bypass.start

       •   bypass.stop

       •   calibrate.start

       •   calibrate.stop

PREVIOUS DRIVER VERSION

       Previous driver is still available as apcsmart-old, should there be any need to use
       earlier version (bugs, incompatibilities with new functionality, etc.). In due time,
       apcsmart-old will be phased out completely, but this won’t happen until the new version
       gets solid exposure with no pending issues.

BUGS

       Some older APC UPS models return bogus data in the status register during a front panel
       test. This is usually detected and discarded, but some other unexpected values have
       occasionally slipped through.

       APC UPS models with both USB and serial ports require a power cycle when switching from
       USB communication to serial, and perhaps vice versa.

AUTHORS AND HISTORY

       Nigel Metheringham <Nigel.Metheringham@Intechnology.co.uk> (drawing heavily on the
       original apcsmart driver by Russell Kroll).

       This driver was called newapc for a time and was renamed in the 1.5 series.

       In 2.6.2 it was renamed to apcsmart-old, being superseded by updated version with new
       features, which is maintained by Michal Soltys <soltys@ziu.info>