nut/docs/man/nutupsdrv.txt

NUTUPSDRV(8)
============

NAME
----

nutupsdrv - generic manual for unified NUT drivers

SYNOPSIS
--------

*nutupsdrv* '-h'

*nutupsdrv* [OPTIONS]

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

*nutupsdrv* is not actually a driver.  This is a combined man page for the
shared code that is the core of many drivers within the Network UPS Tools
package.

For information on the specific drivers, see their individual man pages.

UPS drivers provide a communication channel between the physical UPS
hardware and the linkman:upsd[8] server.  The driver is responsible for
translating the native protocol of the UPS to the common format used by
the rest of this package.

The core has three modes of operation which are determined by the
command line switches.  In the normal mode, the driver will periodically
poll the UPS for its state and parameters, as per the *pollinterval* parameter
in linkman:ups.conf[5].  The results of this command are presented to upsd.
The driver will also handle setting variables and instant commands if available.

In the second mode, using *-k*, the driver can instruct the UPS to shut down
the load, possibly after some delay.  This mode of operation is intended for
cases when it is known that the UPS is running out of battery power and the
systems attached must be turned off to ensure a proper reboot when power
returns.

In the third mode, using *-d*, the driver will exit after some update loops,
dumping the data tree (in upsc-like format) to stdout.  This can be useful to
complement the nut-scanner to discover devices, along with in-depth data.

NOTE: You probably don't want to use any of these options directly.  You
should use linkman:upsdrvctl[8] to control your drivers, and
linkman:ups.conf[5] to configure them.  The rest of this manual describes
options and parameters that generally are not needed by normal users.

OPTIONS
-------

*-h*::
Display a help message without doing anything else.  This will also list
possible values for '-x' in that driver, and other help text that the
driver's author may have provided.

*-a* 'id'::
Autoconfigure this driver using the 'id' section of linkman:ups.conf[5].
*This argument is mandatory when calling the driver directly.*

*-s* 'id'::
Configure this driver only with command line arguments instead of reading
linkman:ups.conf[5]. To be used instead of *-a* option when need to run
a driver not present in driver configuration file. Instead, driver
configuration have to be set with *-x* options directly in the command line.
As the driver instance cannot be controlled by linkman:upsdrvctl[8],
this option should be used for specific needs only.

*-D*::
Raise the debugging level.  Use this multiple times to see more details.
Running a driver in debug mode will (by default) prevent it from backgrounding
after startup.  It will keep on logging information to the console until it
receives a SIGINT (usually Ctrl-C) or SIGTERM signal.
+
The level of debugging needed depends both on the driver and the
problem you're trying to diagnose.  Therefore, first explain the problem you
have with a driver to a developer/maintainer, before sending them debugging
output.  More often than not, if you just pick a level, the output may be
either too limited or too verbose to be of any use.

*-d* 'update_count'::
Dump the data tree (in upsc-like format) to stdout after running the driver
update loop for 'update_count' times and exit.
By default this prevents the driver process from backgrounding after startup.
Note that the driver banner will be printed too, so when using this option in
scripts, don't forget to trim the first line.

*-q*::
Raise log level threshold.  Use this multiple times to log more details.
+
The debugging comment above also applies here.

*-F*::
Enforce running the driver as a foreground process, regardless of debugging
or data-dumping settings.

*-B*::
Enforce running the driver as a background process, regardless of debugging
or data-dumping settings.

*-i* 'interval'::
Set the poll interval for the device.  The default value is 2 (in seconds).

*-V*::
Print only version information, then exit.

*-L*::
Print a parsable list of driver variables. Mostly useful for configuration
wizard programs.

*-k*::
("Kill" power) Forced shutdown mode.  The UPS will power off the
attached load, if possible.
+
You should use +upsdrvctl shutdown+ whenever possible instead of
calling this directly.

*-r* 'directory'::
The driver will chroot(2) to 'directory' during initialization.
This can be useful when securing systems.
+
In addition to the state path, many systems will require /dev/null to
exist within 'directory' for this to work.  The serial ports are
opened before the chroot call, so you do not need to create them inside
the jail.  In fact, it is somewhat safer if you do not.

*-u* 'username'::
Override the unprivileged username that the driver may use after startup.  If
started as root, after opening configuration files (and optionally calling
chroot(2), as described in the previous option), the driver will look up
'username' in the `passwd` database, then change to the user and group
identities associated with 'username'. (If started with a nonzero UID or
effective UID, the driver will silently ignore this option.)
+
When compiling NUT from source, the default username is typically `nobody`, and
this may cause permission errors when the driver opens the UPS device node. You
can use this option to temporarily override the defaults. For testing purposes,
you can set this option to `root` to bypass permission errors, especially with
USB-based drivers. However, you will want to remove this option later in order
to avoid permission conflicts between the driver and the unprivileged copy of
linkman:upsd[8].

*-g* 'groupname'::
Override the unprivileged group name that the driver may use after startup
to set permissions for the filesystem socket so `upsd` may still access it
if the run-time `user` of the driver normally would deny that access.

*-x* 'var'='val'::
Define a variable called 'var' with the value of 'var' in the
driver.  This varies from driver to driver - see the specific man pages
for more information.
+
This is like setting 'var'='val' in linkman:ups.conf[5], but
*-x* overrides any settings from that file.

DIAGNOSTICS
-----------

Information about the startup process is printed to stdout.  Additional
messages after that point are available in the syslog.  After linkman:upsd[8]
starts, the UPS clients such as linkman:upsc[8] can be used to query the status
of an UPS.

PROGRAM CONTROL
---------------

You should always use linkman:upsdrvctl[8] to control the drivers.  While
drivers can be started by hand for testing purposes, it is not recommended for
production use.

FILES
-----

ups.conf::
Required configuration file.  This contains all details on which drivers
to start and where the hardware is attached.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
---------------------

*NUT_CONFPATH* is the path name of the directory that contains
`upsd.conf` and other configuration files.  If this variable is not set,
*upsd* uses a built-in default, which is often `/usr/local/ups/etc`.

*NUT_STATEPATH* is the path name of the directory in which
*upsd* keeps state information.  If this variable is not set,
*upsd* uses a built-in default, which is often `/var/state/ups`.
The *STATEPATH* directive in linkman:upsd.conf[5] overrides this variable.

*NUT_ALTPIDPATH* is the path name of the directory in which
*upsd* and drivers store .pid files.  If this variable is not set,
*upsd* and drivers use either *NUT_STATEPATH* if set, or ALTPIDPATH if set,
or otherwise the built-in default *STATEPATH*.

BUGS
----

Some of the drivers may have bugs.  See their manuals for more
information.

SEE ALSO
--------

Server:
~~~~~~~

- linkman:upsd[8]

Clients:
~~~~~~~~

- linkman:upsc[8]
- linkman:upscmd[8]
- linkman:upsrw[8]
- linkman:upslog[8]
- linkman:upsmon[8]

CGI programs:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- linkman:upsset.cgi[8]
- linkman:upsstats.cgi[8]
- linkman:upsimage.cgi[8]

Driver control:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

include::{builddir}/linkman-drivertool-names.txt[]

Drivers:
~~~~~~~~

include::{builddir}/linkman-driver-names.txt[]

Internet resources:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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