nut/docs/protocol.txt

Desc: Network protocol info
File: protocol.txt
Date: 18 February 2004
Auth: Russell Kroll <rkroll@exploits.org>

As of May 2002, this protocol now has an official port number from IANA,
which is 3493.  The old number (3305) was a relic of the original code's
ancestry, and conflicted with other services.  Version 0.50.0 and up
use 3493 by default.

This protocol runs over TCP.  UDP support was dropped in July 2003.  It
had been deprecated for some time and was only capable of the simplest
query commands as authentication is impossible over a UDP socket.

A library, named libupsclient, that implement this protocol is provided
in both static and shared version to help the client application development.

Old command removal notice
==========================

Before version 1.5.0, a number of old commands were supported.  These
have been removed from the specification.  For more information, consult
an older version of the software.

Command reference
=================

Multi-word elements are contained within "quotes" for easier parsing.  
Embedded quotes are escaped with backslashes.  Embedded backslashes are
also escaped by representing them as \\.  This protocol is intended to
be interpreted with parseconf or something similar.

GET
===

Retrieve a single response from the server.

Possible sub-commands:

NUMLOGINS
---------

    Form: GET NUMLOGINS <upsname>
          GET NUMLOGINS su700

Response: NUMLOGINS <upsname> <value>
          NUMLOGINS su700 1

<value> is the number of clients which have done LOGIN for this UPS.
This is used by the master upsmon to determine how many clients are
still connected when starting the shutdown process.

This replaces the old "REQ NUMLOGINS" command.

UPSDESC
-------

    Form: GET UPSDESC <upsname>
          GET UPSDESC su700

Response: UPSDESC <upsname> "<description>"
          UPSDESC su700 "Development box"

<description> is the value of "desc=" from ups.conf for this UPS.  If it
is not set, upsd will return "Unavailable".

This can be used to provide human-readable descriptions instead of a
cryptic "upsname@hostname" string.

VAR
---

    Form: GET VAR <upsname> <varname>
          GET VAR su700 ups.status

Response: VAR <upsname> <varname> "<value>"
          VAR su700 ups.status "OL"

This replaces the old "REQ" command.

TYPE
----

    Form: GET TYPE <upsname> <varname>
          GET TYPE su700 input.transfer.low

Response: TYPE <upsname> <varname> <type>...
          TYPE su700 input.transfer.low ENUM

<type> can be several values, and multiple words may be returned:

      RW - this variable may be set to another value with SET
    ENUM - an enumerated type, which supports a few specific values
STRING:n - this is a string of maximum length n

ENUM and STRING are usually associated with RW, but not always.

This replaces the old "VARTYPE" command.

DESC
----

    Form: GET DESC <upsname> <varname>
          GET DESC su700 ups.status

Response: DESC <upsname> <varname> "<description>"
          DESC su700 ups.status "UPS status"

<description> is a string that gives a brief explanation of the named
variable.  upsd may return "Unavailable" if the file which provides this
description is not installed.

Different versions of this file may be used in some situations to
provide for localization and internationalization.

This replaces the old "VARDESC" command.

CMDDESC
-------

    Form: GET CMDDESC <upsname> <cmdname>
          GET CMDDESC su700 load.on

Response: CMDDESC <upsname> <cmdname> "<description>"
          CMDDESC su700 load.on "Turn on the load immediately"

This is like DESC above, but it applies to the instant commands.

This replaces the old "INSTCMDDESC" command.

LIST
====

The LIST functions all share a common container format.  They will
return "BEGIN LIST" and then repeat the initial query.  The list then
follows, with as many lines are necessary to convey it.  "END LIST" with
the initial query attached then follows.

The formatting may seem a bit redundant, but it makes a different form
of client possible.  You can send a LIST query and then go off and wait
for it to get back to you.  When it arrives, you don't need complicated
state machines to remember which list is which.

UPS
---

    Form: LIST UPS

Response: BEGIN LIST UPS
          UPS <upsname> "<description>"
          ...
          END LIST UPS

	  BEGIN LIST UPS
	  UPS su700 "Development box"
	  END LIST UPS

<upsname> is a name from ups.conf, and <description> is the value of
desc= from ups.conf, if available.  It will be set to "Unavailable"
otherwise.

This can be used to determine what values of <upsname> are valid before
calling other functions on the server.  This is also a good way to
handle situations where a single upsd supports multiple drivers.

Clients which perform a UPS discovery process may find this useful.

VAR
---

    Form: LIST VAR <upsname>
          LIST VAR su700

Response: BEGIN LIST VAR <upsname>
 	  VAR <upsname> <varname> "<value>"
	  ...
	  END LIST VAR <upsname>

	  BEGIN LIST VAR su700
	  VAR su700 ups.mfr "APC"
	  VAR su700 ups.mfr.date "10/17/96"
	  ...
	  END LIST VAR su700

This replaces the old "LISTVARS" command.

RW
--

    Form: LIST RW <upsname>
          LIST RW su700

Response: BEGIN LIST RW <upsname>
          RW <upsname> <varname> "<value>"
	  ...
	  END LIST RW <upsname>

	  BEGIN LIST RW su700
	  RW su700 output.voltage.nominal "115"
	  RW su700 ups.delay.shutdown "020"
	  ...
	  END LIST RW su700

This replaces the old "LISTRW" command.

CMD
---

    Form: LIST CMD <upsname>
          LIST CMD su700

Response: BEGIN LIST CMD <upsname>
	  CMD <upsname> <cmdname>
	  ...
	  END LIST CMD <cmdname>

	  BEGIN LIST CMD su700
	  CMD su700 load.on
	  CMD su700 test.panel.start
	  ...
	  END LIST CMD su700

This replaces the old "LISTINSTCMD" command.

ENUM
----

    Form: LIST ENUM <upsname> <varname>
          LIST ENUM su700 input.transfer.low

Response: BEGIN LIST ENUM <upsname> <varname>
	  ENUM <upsname> <varname> "<value>"
	  ...
	  END LIST ENUM <upsname> <varname>

	  BEGIN LIST ENUM su700 input.transfer.low
	  ENUM su700 input.transfer.low "103"
	  ENUM su700 input.transfer.low "100"
	  ...
	  END LIST ENUM su700 input.transfer.low

This replaces the old "ENUM" command.

Note: this does not support the old "SELECTED" notation.  You must
request the current value separately.

SET
---

   Form: SET VAR <upsname> <varname> "<value>"
         SET VAR su700 ups.id "My UPS"

INSTCMD
-------

   Form: INSTCMD <upsname> <cmdname>
         INSTCMD su700 test.panel.start

LOGOUT
======

Form: LOGOUT

Returns: OK Goodbye	(recent versions)

Used to disconnect gracefully from the server.

Older versions just said "Goodbye...".

LOGIN
=====

Form: LOGIN <upsname>

Returns: OK	(upon success)
	 or various errors

Requires: "upsmon slave" or "upsmon master" in upsd.users

Use this to log the fact that a system is drawing power from this UPS.
The upsmon master will wait until the count of attached systems reaches
1 - itself.  This allows the slaves to shut down first.

NOTE: You probably shouldn't send this command unless you are upsmon,
      or a upsmon replacement.

MASTER
======

Form: MASTER <upsname>

Returns: OK	(upon success)
	 or various errors

Requires: "upsmon master" in upsd.users

This function doesn't do much by itself.  It is used by upsmon to make
sure that master-level functions like FSD are available if necessary.

FSD
===

Form: FSD <upsname>

Returns: OK FSD-SET	(success)
	 or various errors

Requires: "upsmon master" in upsd.users
          or "FSD" action granted in upsd.users

upsmon in master mode is the primary user of this function.  It sets this
"forced shutdown" flag on any UPS when it plans to power it off.  This is
done so that slave systems will know about it and shut down before the
power disappears.

Setting this flag makes "FSD" appear in a STATUS request for this UPS.
Finding "FSD" in a status request should be treated just like a "OB LB".

It should be noted that FSD is currently a latch - once set, there is  
no way to clear it short of restarting upsd or dropping then re-adding
it in the ups.conf.  This may cause issues when upsd is running on a
system that is not shut down due to the UPS event.

PASSWORD
========

Form: PASSWORD <password>

Returns: OK	(upon success)
	 or various errors

Sets the password associated with a connection.  Used for later
authentication for commands that require it.

USERNAME
========

Form: USERNAME <username>

Returns: OK	(upon success)
	 or various errors

Sets the username associated with a connection.  This is also used for
authentication, specifically in conjunction with the upsd.users file.

STARTTLS
========

Form: STARTTLS

Returns: OK STARTTLS
	 or various errors

This tells upsd to switch to TLS mode internally, so all future
communications will be encrypted.  You must also change to TLS mode in
the client after receiving the OK, or the connection will be useless.	

Other commands
==============

HELP - lists the commands supported by this server
VER  - shows the version of the server currently in use

These two are not intended to be used directly by programs.  Humans can
make use of this program by using telnet or netcat.  If you use
telnet, make sure you don't have it set to negotiate extra options.
upsd doesn't speak telnet and will probably misunderstand your first
request due to the extra junk in the buffer.

Error responses
===============

ERR <message> [<extra>...]

<message> is always one element; it never contains spaces.  This may
be used to allow additional information (<extra>) in the future.

ACCESS-DENIED

 - The client's host and/or authentication details (username, password)
   are not sufficient to execute the requested command.

UNKNOWN-UPS

 - The UPS specified in the request is not known to upsd.  This usually
   means that it didn't match anything in ups.conf.

VAR-NOT-SUPPORTED

 - The specified UPS doesn't support the variable in the request.

   This is also sent for unrecognized variables which are in a space
   which is handled by upsd, such as server.*.

CMD-NOT-SUPPORTED

 - The specified UPS doesn't support the instant command in the request.

INVALID-ARGUMENT

 - The client sent an argument to a command which is not recognized or
   is otherwise invalid in this context.  This is typically caused by
   sending a valid command like GET with an invalid subcommand.

INSTCMD-FAILED

 - upsd failed to deliver the instant command request to the driver. 
   No further information is available to the client.  This typically
   indicates a dead or broken driver.

SET-FAILED

 - upsd failed to deliver the set request to the driver.  This is 
   just like INSTCMD-FAILED above.

READONLY

 - The requested variable in a SET command is not writable.

TOO-LONG

 - The requested value in a SET command is too long.

FEATURE-NOT-SUPPORTED

 - This instance of upsd does not support the requested feature.  This
   is only used for TLS/SSL mode (STARTTLS) at the moment.

FEATURE-NOT-CONFIGURED

 - This instance of upsd hasn't been configured properly to allow the
   requested feature to operate.  This is also limited to STARTTLS for
   now.

ALREADY-SSL-MODE

 - TLS/SSL mode is already enabled on this connection, so upsd can't
   start it again.

DRIVER-NOT-CONNECTED

 - upsd can't perform the requested command, since the driver for that
   UPS is not connected.  This usually means that the driver is not 
   running, or if it is, the ups.conf is misconfigured.

DATA-STALE

 - upsd is connected to the driver for the UPS, but that driver isn't
   providing regular updates or has specifically marked the data
   as stale.  upsd refuses to provide variables on stale units to avoid
   false readings.

   This generally means that the driver is running, but it has lost
   communications with the hardware.  Check the physical connection
   to the equipment.

ALREADY-LOGGED-IN

 - The client already sent LOGIN for a UPS and can't do it again.
   There is presently a limit of one LOGIN record per connection.

INVALID-PASSWORD

 - The client sent an invalid PASSWORD - perhaps an empty one.

ALREADY-SET-PASSWORD

 - The client already set a PASSWORD and can't set another.  This also
   should never happen with normal NUT clients.

INVALID-USERNAME

 - The client sent an invalid USERNAME.

ALREADY-SET-USERNAME

 - The client has already set a USERNAME, and can't set another.  This
   should never happen with normal NUT clients.

USERNAME-REQUIRED

 - The requested command requires a username for authentication,
   but the client hasn't set one.

PASSWORD-REQUIRED

 - The requested command requires a passname for authentication,
   but the client hasn't set one.

UNKNOWN-COMMAND

 - upsd doesn't recognize the requested command.

   This can be useful for backwards compatibility with older versions
   of upsd.  Some NUT clients will try GET and fall back on REQ after
   receiving this response.

INVALID-VALUE

 - The value specified in the request is not valid.  This usually 
   applies to a SET of an ENUM type which is using a value which is
   not in the list of allowed values.

Future ideas
============

Dense lists
-----------

The LIST commands may be given the ability to handle options some day.
For example, "LIST VARS <ups> +DESC" would return the current value
like now, but it would also append the description of that variable.

Command status
--------------

After sending an INSTCMD or SET, a client will eventually be able to
poll to see whether it was completed successfully by the driver.