Ubuntu Manpage: belkinunv - Driver for Belkin "Universal UPS" and compatible

Provided by: nut-server_2.8.1-3.1ubuntu2_amd64

NAME

       belkinunv - Driver for Belkin "Universal UPS" and compatible

NOTE

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

       This driver only supports serial connections. If your UPS has a USB port, please consult
       the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to see which of the USB drivers you should use.

SUPPORTED HARDWARE

       The belkinunv driver is known to work with the Belkin Universal UPS models F6C800-UNV and
       F6C120-UNV, and is expected to work with other Belkin Universal UPS models. The driver
       only supports serial communication, not USB.

       The Trust UPS and older Belkin units are not supported by this driver, and neither are the
       Belkin Home Office models (F6H500-SER and so forth). However, some Belkin models, such as
       the Regulator Pro, are supported by the belkin(8) driver, and the Home Office models are
       supported using the genericups(8) driver with upstype=7.

SOFT SHUTDOWN WORKAROUND

One problem with the Belkin Universal UPS is that it cannot enter a soft shutdown (shut
down the load until AC power returns) unless the batteries are completely depleted. Thus,
one cannot just shut off the UPS after operating system shutdown; it will not come back on
when the power comes back on. Therefore, the belkinunv driver should never be used with
the -k option. Instead, the -x wait option is provided as a workaround.

When called with the -x wait option, belkinunv behaves as a standalone program (i.e., it
does not fork into the background). It performs one simple task: it connects to the UPS,
waits for AC power to return, and then exits with status 0.

This is meant to be used in a shutdown script as follows: during a shutdown, after all
filesystems have been remounted read-only, and just before the system would normally be
halted: check /etc/killpower (or similar) to see if this shutdown was caused by upsmon(8),
and if yes, call belkinunv -x wait. If AC power comes back on, belkinunv exits, and things
should be arranged so that the system reboots in this case. If AC power does not come back
on, the UPS will eventually run out of batteries, kill the computer’s power supply, and go
into soft shutdown mode, which means everything will reboot properly when the power
returns. In either case, a deadlock is avoided.

In addition, if an optional integer argument is given to the -x wait option, this causes
belkinunv to wait not only for AC power to be present, but also for the battery charge to
reach the given level. I use this as part of my startup scripts, to ensure that the
batteries are sufficiently charged before the computer continues booting. This should be
put very early in the startup script, before any filesystems are mounted read/write, and
before any filesystem checks are performed.

Several other -x options are provided to fine-tune this behavior. See the options below
for detailed descriptions. See the examples below for examples of how to use belkinunv in
shutdown and startup scripts.

OPTIONS

See also nutupsdrv(8) for generic options. Never use the -k option with this driver; it
does not work properly.

-x wait[=level]
When this option is used, belkinunv does not fork into the background, but behaves as
a standalone program. It connects to the UPS and waits until AC power is present. If
level is specified, it also waits until the battery charge reaches at least the given
level in percent. Then, and only then, belkinunv exits. In addition, while belkinunv
runs in this mode, it displays a status line with information on the UPS status and
battery level. This is intended for use in the computer’s shutdown and startup
scripts, as described under Soft Shutdown Workaround above.

-x nohang
This option only has an effect when used in conjunction with the -x wait option. It
causes belkinunv to exit if a connection with the UPS cannot be established or is
lost, instead of retrying forever, which is the default behavior. The -x nohang option
should be used in a startup script, to ensure the computer remains bootable even if
the UPS has been disconnected during the power failure (for instance, you attached
your computer to a generator, carried it to a neighbor’s house, or whatever).

-x flash
This option only has an effect when used in conjunction with the -x wait option. It
causes the UPS load to be shut off for a short time ("flashed") just after the AC
power has returned and the requested battery level (if any) has been attained. This is
useful if slaves are attached to this UPS; the flash will cause all of them to reboot.
Note that, due to the design of the Belkin UPS hardware, the load shutdown lasts ca.
1—2 minutes; a shorter flash cannot be performed reliably. Also, the computers will
reboot at the scheduled time, on battery power if necessary, even if AC power fails
again in the meantime. This should not be a problem, as your startup scripts can catch
this situation.

-x silent
This option only has an effect when used in conjunction with the -x wait option. It
suppresses the status line which belkinunv would normally print.

-x dumbterm
This option only has an effect when used in conjunction with the -x wait option. It
changes the way in which belkinunv prints its status line. Normally, terminal control
sequences are used to overwrite the same line with new status information, each time
the status is updated. This may not work on all terminals. If the -x dumbterm option
is given, each status update is written on a new line.

VARIABLES

battery.charge, battery.runtime
not supported by all hardware.

battery.voltage, battery.voltage.nominal, input.frequency, input.frequency.nominal
e.g. 60 for 60Hz

input.sensitivity
writable: normal/medium/low

input.transfer.high
writable: high transfer voltage point in V

input.transfer.low
writable: low transfer voltage point in V

input.voltage, input.voltage.maximum, input.voltage.minimum, input.voltage.nominal,
output.frequency, output.voltage, ups.beeper.status
writable. Values: enabled/disabled/muted. This variable controls the state of the
panel beeper. Enabled means sound when the alarm is present, disabled means never
sound, and muted means the sound is temporarily disabled until the alarm would
normally stop sounding. In the muted state, the beeper is automatically turned back on
at the next event (AC failure, battery test, etc). Also, the beeper can’t be turned
off during a critical event (low battery). Note that not all UPS models support the
"disabled" state.

ups.firmware, ups.load, ups.model, ups.power.nominal
e.g. 800 for an 800VA system

ups.status
a list of flags; see the status flags below.

ups.temperature
not supported by all hardware.

ups.test.result, ups.delay.restart
time to restart (read only)

ups.delay.shutdown
time to shutdown (read only). This is always a multiple of 60 seconds.

ups.type
ONLINE/OFFLINE/LINEINT. This describes the basic layout of this UPS (for GUI clients
which want to draw an animated picture of power flow). An offline UPS has a direct
connection from AC input to AC output, and also a connection from AC input to the
battery, and from the battery to AC output. An online UPS lacks the direct connection
from AC input to AC output, whereas a line interactive UPS lacks the connection from
AC input to the battery.

COMMANDS

       beeper.enable, beeper.disable, beeper.mute
           Enable, disable or mute the panel beeper. Note that if the beeper is muted, it is
           automatically turned back on at the next event (AC failure, battery test, etc). Also,
           the beeper can’t be turned muted during a critical event (low battery).

       reset.input.minmax
           Reset the variables input.voltage.minimum and input.voltage.maximum.

       shutdown.reboot
           Shut down load immediately for about 1—2 minutes.

       shutdown.reboot.graceful
           After 40 second delay, shut down load for about 1—2 minutes.

       shutdown.stayoff
           Shut down load immediately and stay off. The only way it can be turned back on is by
           manually pressing the front panel button.

       test.battery.start, test.battery.stop
           Start/stop 10 second battery test.

       test.failure.start, test.failure.stop
           Start/stop "deep" battery test.

STATUS FLAGS

       OB
           load is on battery, including during tests

       OFF
           load is off

       OL
           load is online

       ACFAIL
           AC failure. Note that this refers to the AC input, and thus it is not the same as
           "OB". An AC failure can occur at any time, for instance, during a battery test, or
           when the UPS load is off.

       OVER
           overload

       OVERHEAT
           overheat

       COMMFAULT
           UPS fault

       LB
           low battery

       CHRG
           charging

       DEPLETED
           the battery is depleted. When the UPS raises this flag, it simultaneously switches off
           the load.

       RB
           replace battery

EXAMPLES

Here is an example for how belkinunv should be used in a computer’s shutdown script. These
commands should go in the very last part of the shutdown script, after all file systems
have been mounted read-only, and just before the computer halts. Note that belkinunv must
be installed in a directory which is still readable at that point.

# NEAR END OF SHUTDOWN SCRIPT:
# if shutdown was caused by UPS, perform Belkin UPS workaround.
if [ -f /etc/killpower ] || /usr/sbin/upsmon -K ; then
echo "Waiting for AC power, or for UPS batteries to run out..."
/usr/bin/belkinunv -x wait /dev/ttyS1

# we get here if the power came back on. Reboot.
echo "Power is back. Rebooting..."
reboot
fi

And here is an example of how to use belkinunv in the startup script. These commands
should go near the beginning of the startup script, before any file systems are mounted
read/write, and before any file system integrity checks are done.

# NEAR BEGINNING OF STARTUP SCRIPT:
# if we are recovering from a power failure, wait for the UPS to
# charge to a comfortable level before writing anything to disk
if [ -f /etc/killpower ] || /usr/sbin/upsmon -K ; then
echo "Waiting for UPS battery charge to reach 60%..."
/usr/bin/belkinunv -x wait=60 -x nohang /dev/ttyS1
fi

EXIT STATUS

       When used normally, belkinunv forks into the background and its diagnostics are the same
       as for all NUT drivers, see nutupsdrv(8).

       When used with the -x wait option, the exit status is normally 0. If the -x nohang option
       has also been specified, an exit status of 1 indicates that communication with the UPS was
       lost. If the -x flash option has been specified, an exit status of 2 indicates that the
       timed shutdown has failed.

EXTRA ARGUMENTS

       This driver does not support any extra settings in ups.conf(5).

AUTHOR

       Peter Selinger <selinger@users.sourceforge.net>