nut/docs/man/ups.conf.txt

UPS.CONF(5)
===========

NAME
----

ups.conf - UPS definitions for Network UPS Tools

DESCRIPTION
-----------

This file is read by the driver controller linkman:upsdrvctl[8], the UPS drivers
that use the common core (see linkman:nutupsdrv[8], and linkman:upsd[8]).  The
file begins with global directives, and then each UPS has a section which
contains a number of directives that set parameters for that UPS.

A UPS section begins with the name of the UPS in brackets, and continues
until the next UPS name in brackets or until EOF.  The name "default" is
used internally in upsd, so you can't use it in this file.

You must define the 'driver' and 'port' elements for each entry.  Anything
after that in a section is optional.  A simple example might look like this:

	[myups]
		driver = blazer_ser
		port = /dev/ttyS0
		desc = "Web server UPS"

A slightly more complicated version includes some extras for the
hardware-specific part of the driver:

	[bigups]
		driver = apcsmart
		port = /dev/cua00
		cable = 940-0095B
		sdtype = 2
		desc = "Database server UPS"

In this case, the linkman:apcsmart[8] driver will receive variables called
"cable" and "sdtype" which have special meanings.  See the man pages of
your driver(s) to learn which variables are supported and what they do.

GLOBAL DIRECTIVES
-----------------

*chroot*::

Optional.  The driver will chroot(2) to this directory during initialization.
This can be useful when securing systems.

*driverpath*::

Optional.  Path name of the directory in which the UPS driver executables
reside.  If you don't specify this, the programs look in a built-in default
directory, which is often /usr/local/ups/bin.

*maxstartdelay*::

Optional.  Same as the UPS field of the same name, but this is the
default for UPSes that don't have the field.

*maxretry*::
Optional.  Specify the number of attempts to start the driver(s), in case of
failure, before giving up. A delay of 'retrydelay' is inserted between each
attempt. Caution should be taken when using this option, since it can
impact the time taken by your system to start.
+
The default is 1 attempt.

*nowait*::
Optional.  Specify to upsdrvctl to not wait at all for the driver(s) to
execute the request command.
+
The default (omission) is to wait.

*retrydelay*::
Optional.  Specify the delay between each restart attempt of the driver(s),
as specified by 'maxretry'. Caution should be taken when using this option,
since it can impact the time taken by your system to start.
+
The default is 5 seconds.

*pollinterval*::

Optional.  The status of the UPS will be refreshed after a maximum
delay which is controlled by this setting.  This is normally 2 seconds.  This
may be useful if the driver is creating too much of a load on your system or
network.
+
Note that some drivers (such as linkman:usbhid-ups[8], linkman:snmp-ups[8] and
linkman:nutdrv_qx[8]) also have an option called *pollfreq* which controls how
frequently some of the less critical parameters are polled. Details are
provided in the respective driver man pages.

*synchronous*::

Optional.  The drivers work by default in asynchronous mode initially
but can fall back to synchronous mode if writes to server socket failed
(i.e *synchronous=auto*).  This means that all data are pushed by the driver
on the communication socket to upsd (Unix socket on Unix, Named pipe
on Windows) without waiting for these data to be actually consumed.
With some HW, such as ePDUs, that can produce a lot of data,
asynchronous mode may cause some congestion, resulting in the socket to
be full, and the driver to appear as not connected.  In such case, the
driver will provide the following debug message:
+
	write XX bytes to socket Y failed
+
By enabling the 'synchronous' flag (value = 'yes'), the driver will wait
for data to be consumed by upsd, prior to publishing more.  This can be
enabled either globally or per driver.
+
The default of 'auto' acts like 'no' (i.e. asynchronous mode) for backward
compatibility of the driver behavior, until communications fail with a
"Resource temporarily unavailable" condition, which happens when the
driver has many data points to send in a burst, and the server can not
handle that quickly enough so the buffer fills up.

*user*::

Optional.  Overrides the compiled-in default unprivileged username for
all NUT device drivers. See the discussion of the `-u` option in
linkman:nutupsdrv[8] for details.

*group*::

Optional.  Overrides the compiled-in (and/or global-section) default
unprivileged group name for all NUT device drivers, used for the
socket file access. See the discussion of the `-g` option in
linkman:nutupsdrv[8] for details.
This may be specifically useful for ensuring access to dynamic device
filesystem nodes, such as USB (or serial-over-USB) hot-plug support,
or with device filesystems re-generated by an OS for every reboot.

*debug_min* 'INTEGER'::

Optional.  Specify a minimum debug level for all driver daemons, e.g. for
troubleshooting a deployment, without impacting foreground or background
running mode directly. Command-line option `-D` can only increase this
verbosity level.

UPS FIELDS
----------

*driver*::

Required.  This specifies which program will be monitoring this UPS.  You
need to specify the one that is compatible with your hardware.  See
linkman:nutupsdrv[8] for more information on drivers in general and pointers to the
man pages of specific drivers.

*port*::

Required.  This is the serial port where the UPS is connected.  On a Linux
system, the first serial port usually is '/dev/ttyS0'.  On FreeBSD and
similar systems, it probably will be '/dev/cuaa0'.

*user*::

Optional.  Overrides the compiled-in (and/or global-section) default
unprivileged username for a particular NUT device driver. See the
discussion of the `-u` option in linkman:nutupsdrv[8] for details.
This may be specifically useful for ensuring access to dynamic device
filesystem nodes, such as USB (or serial-over-USB) hot-plug support,
or with device filesystems re-generated by an OS for every reboot.

*group*::

Optional.  Overrides the compiled-in (and/or global-section) default
unprivileged group name for a particular NUT device driver, used for
the socket file access. See the discussion of the `-g` option in
linkman:nutupsdrv[8] for details.
This may be specifically useful for ensuring access to dynamic device
filesystem nodes, such as USB (or serial-over-USB) hot-plug support,
or with device filesystems re-generated by an OS for every reboot.

*sdorder*::

Optional.  When you have multiple UPSes on your system, you usually need to
turn them off in a certain order.  upsdrvctl shuts down all the 0s,
then the 1s, 2s, and so on.  To exclude a UPS from the shutdown sequence,
set this to -1.
+
The default value for this parameter is 0.

*desc*::

Optional.  This allows you to set a brief description that upsd will provide
to clients that ask for a list of connected equipment.

*nolock*::

Optional.  When you specify this, the driver skips the port locking routines
every time it starts.  This may allow other processes to seize the port if
you start more than one accidentally.
+
You should only use this if your system won't work without it.
+
This may be needed on Mac OS X systems.

*ignorelb*::

Optional.  When you specify this, the driver ignores a low battery condition
flag that is reported by the UPS (some devices will switch off almost
immediately after setting this flag, or will report this as soon as the
mains fails).  Instead it will use either of the following conditions to
determine when the battery is low:

	battery.charge < battery.charge.low
	battery.runtime < battery.runtime.low
+
The idea is to set the battery.charge.low and/or battery.runtime.low levels
in *ups.conf* to a value that gives enough time to cleanly shutdown your
system:

	override.battery.charge.low = 30
	override.battery.runtime.low = 180
+
In order for this to work, your UPS should be able to (reliably) report
charge and/or runtime remaining on battery.  Use with caution!

*maxstartdelay*::

Optional.  This can be set as a global variable above your first UPS
definition and it can also be set in a UPS section.  This value controls how
long upsdrvctl will wait for the driver to finish starting.  This keeps your
system from getting stuck due to a broken driver or UPS.
+
The default is 45 seconds.

*synchronous*::

Optional.  Same as the global directive of the same name, but this is
for a specific device.

*usb_set_altinterface*[='altinterface']::

Optional.  Force the USB code to call `usb_set_altinterface(0)`, as was done in
NUT 2.7.2 and earlier.  This should not be necessary, since the default for
`bAlternateSetting` (as shown in lsusb) is zero on all USB devices seen to
date.  However, this redundant call to `usb_set_altinterface()` prevents
certain UPSes from working on Mac OS X. If your UPS requires explicitly setting
the alternate interface, include this flag, and email the nut-upsdev list with
details about your UPS and operating system.

*default.<variable>*::

Optional.  Set a default value for <variable> which is used in case the UPS
doesn't provide a value, but will be overwritten if a value is available
from the UPS:

	default.input.voltage.nominal = 230
+
The above will report the nominal input voltage to be 230, unless the UPS
tells us differently.

*override.<variable>*::

Optional.  Set a value for <value> that overrides any value that may be read
from the UPS.  Used for overriding values from the UPS that are clearly wrong
(some devices report wrong values for battery voltage for instance):

	override.battery.voltage.nominal = 12
+
Use with caution!  This will only change the appearance of the variable to
the outside world, internally in the UPS the original value is used.

All other fields are passed through to the hardware-specific part of the
driver.  See those manuals for the list of what is allowed.

*debug_min* 'INTEGER'::

Optional.  Specify a minimum debug level for this driver daemon, e.g. for
troubleshooting a deployment, without impacting foreground or background
running mode directly.  If the global `debug_min` is also set, this
driver-level setting overrides it.  Command-line option `-D` can only
increase this verbosity level.

INTEGRATION
-----------

linkman:upsdrvctl[8] uses this file to start and stop the drivers.

The drivers themselves also obtain configuration data from this file.
Each driver looks up its section and uses that to configure itself.

linkman:upsd[8] learns about which UPSes are installed on this system by
reading this file.  If this system is called "doghouse" and you have
defined a UPS in your *ups.conf* called "snoopy", then you can monitor it
from linkman:upsc[8] or similar as "snoopy@doghouse".

SEE ALSO
--------

linkman:upsd[8], linkman:nutupsdrv[8], linkman:upsdrvctl[8],
linkman:upsdrvsvcctl[8]

Internet resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The NUT (Network UPS Tools) home page: http://www.networkupstools.org/