The APC Battery Backup Manager provided by Clear is quite rudimentary for a system used by many people, businesses and institutions. Most users use one UPS to connect multiple pieces of equipment and it is weird to just shutdown one piece of (Linux) equipment connected via USB. ClearOS uses apcupsd which can allow for network connections to an APC Network Management Card, USB and serial. The APC Network Management Card brand new is quite expensive, IMHO, but used or refurbished it is quite a good deal and can be very helpful in managing a compatible UPS. And using this card and using apcupsd you can do an orderly shutdown on multiple Linux servers when there is a long power outage that might deplete your batteries. For Windows, one can use APC PowerChute Network Shutdown. Free software from APC. No need for fancy hardware to share the UPS' USB or serial port to multiple servers/PCs.
My request is to simply expand the edit and configuration of the app so that one can use SNMP, direct network connectivity, USB or serial. Please don't make it just USB only.
In any event, I thought I'd do a little write-up on how to use the APC Network Management Card with ClearOS and apcupsd. I have learned so much from this community so I hope this will help someone.
1). First and foremost, white space is not universally liked by configuration files. In the UPS management card webgui, login and go to Configuration -> Shutdown and change the default passphrase at the bottom of the page. The default passphrase is "admin user phrase". Eliminate the white space with dashes, i.e., "admin-user-phrase" or enter your own pass phrase of at least 16 characters as I recall.
2). In the UPS management card webgui, go to Configuration -> PowerChute Clients. Add the IP address of your ClearOS box and select the outlet group it is connected to. Selecting the oulet group really does not matter in this application.
3). In ClearOS, goto System -> Backup -> APC Battery Backup Manager. Hopefully you installed the app from the Market Place. Make sure the service is running and go to/click on Edit. Add only an email address for alerts at this time. Not mandatory but it will send emails to root, as I recall, by default. Click Save.
4). Now... STOP the service!
5). Using your favorite method to edit Linux files, putty, winscp, nano, vi, etc. edit, /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf Enter/edit the proper lines with the following:
UPSNAME APC SMT2200 Whatever you want to name your UPS, Mine is an APC SMT2200
UPSCABLE ether.
UPSTYPE pcnet
DEVICE IP 192.168.50.25:apc:admin-user-phrase Don't forget colons between YOUR UPS IP address, User and passphrase.
UPSCLASS standalone
UPSMODE disable
The remainder of the file can remain as-is unless you want to change some of the battery remaining times before your ClearOS box shuts down.
6). Come back to your ClearOS GUI and the APC app. START the service. When the service is running, click on Edit. DO NOTHING in the Edit screen but click on Cancel. You should see the summary come alive and the UPS online with your ClearOS.
Again, I truly hope this helps someone.
John
My request is to simply expand the edit and configuration of the app so that one can use SNMP, direct network connectivity, USB or serial. Please don't make it just USB only.
In any event, I thought I'd do a little write-up on how to use the APC Network Management Card with ClearOS and apcupsd. I have learned so much from this community so I hope this will help someone.
1). First and foremost, white space is not universally liked by configuration files. In the UPS management card webgui, login and go to Configuration -> Shutdown and change the default passphrase at the bottom of the page. The default passphrase is "admin user phrase". Eliminate the white space with dashes, i.e., "admin-user-phrase" or enter your own pass phrase of at least 16 characters as I recall.
2). In the UPS management card webgui, go to Configuration -> PowerChute Clients. Add the IP address of your ClearOS box and select the outlet group it is connected to. Selecting the oulet group really does not matter in this application.
3). In ClearOS, goto System -> Backup -> APC Battery Backup Manager. Hopefully you installed the app from the Market Place. Make sure the service is running and go to/click on Edit. Add only an email address for alerts at this time. Not mandatory but it will send emails to root, as I recall, by default. Click Save.
4). Now... STOP the service!
5). Using your favorite method to edit Linux files, putty, winscp, nano, vi, etc. edit, /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf Enter/edit the proper lines with the following:
UPSNAME APC SMT2200 Whatever you want to name your UPS, Mine is an APC SMT2200
UPSCABLE ether.
UPSTYPE pcnet
DEVICE IP 192.168.50.25:apc:admin-user-phrase Don't forget colons between YOUR UPS IP address, User and passphrase.
UPSCLASS standalone
UPSMODE disable
The remainder of the file can remain as-is unless you want to change some of the battery remaining times before your ClearOS box shuts down.
6). Come back to your ClearOS GUI and the APC app. START the service. When the service is running, click on Edit. DO NOTHING in the Edit screen but click on Cancel. You should see the summary come alive and the UPS online with your ClearOS.
Again, I truly hope this helps someone.
John
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