nut/man/nutupsdrv.8

.TH NUTUPSDRV 8 "Wed Dec 31 2008" "" "Network UPS Tools (NUT)" 
.SH NAME  
nutupsdrv \- generic manual for unified NUT drivers
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B nutupsdrv \-h
.br
.B nutupsdrv [OPTIONS]

.SH DESCRIPTION
.B 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 \fBupsd\fR(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 two 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.  The results of this command
is presented to upsd.  The driver will also handle setting variables and
instant commands if available.

The driver can also 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.

.SH NOTE
You probably don't want to use any of these options directly.  You
should use \fBupsdrvctl\fR(8) to control your drivers, and
\fBups.conf\fR(5) to configure them.  The rest of this manual describes
options and parameters that generally are not needed by normal users.

.SH OPTIONS
.IP \-h
display an help message without doing anything else.  This will also list
possible values for \fB\-x\fR in that driver, and other help text that the
driver's author may have provided.

.IP "\-a \fIid"
autoconfigure this driver using the \fIid\fR section of \fBups.conf\fR(5).
.B This argument is mandatory when calling the driver directly.

.IP \-D
Raise the debugging level.  Use this multiple times to see more details.
Running a driver in debug mode will 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.

.IP "\-i \fIinterval\fR"
Set the poll interval for the device

.IP \-V
print only version information, then exit

.IP \-L
print parseable list of driver variables. Mostly useful for configuration
wizard programs.

.IP \-k
("kill" power) Force shutdown mode.  The UPS will power off the
attached load, if possible.

You should use \fBupsdrvctl shutdown\fR whenever possible instead of
calling this directly.

.IP "\-r \fIdirectory\fR"
The driver will \fBchroot\fR(2) to \fIdirectory\fR during initialization.
This can be useful when securing systems.

In addition to the state path, many systems will require /dev/null to
exist within \fIdirectory\fR 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.

.IP "\-u \fIusername\fR"
If started as root, the driver will \fBsetuid\fR(2) to the user id
associated with \fIusername\fR.  

If you do not specify this value and start it as root, the driver will
switch to the default value that was compiled into the code.  This is
typically 'nobody', and is far from ideal.

.IP "\-x \fIvar\fR=\fIval\fR"
define a variable called \fIvar\fR with the value of \fIvar\fR in the
driver.  This varies from driver to driver \(hy see the specific man pages
for more information.  

This is like setting \fIvar\fR=\fIval\fR in the \fBups.conf\fR(5), but
\-x overrides any settings from that file.

.SH DIAGNOSTICS
Information about the startup process is printed to stdout.  Additional
messages after that point are available in the syslog.  The ups clients
such as \fBupsc\fR(8) can be used to query the status of a UPS.

.SH PROGRAM CONTROL
You should always use \fBupsdrvctl\fR(8) to control the drivers.  While
drivers can be started by hand for testing purposes, it is not
recommended for production use.

.SH FILES
.IP \fBups.conf\fR(5)
Required configuration file.  This contains all details on which drivers
to start and where the hardware is attached.

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

.SH SEE ALSO

.SS Server:
\fBupsd\fR(8)

.SS Clients:
\fBupsc\fR(8), \fBupscmd\fR(8),
\fBupsrw\fR(8), \fBupslog\fR(8), \fBupsmon\fR(8)

.SS CGI programs:
\fBupsset.cgi\fR(8), \fBupsstats.cgi\fR(8), \fBupsimage.cgi\fR(8)

.SS Driver control:
\fBupsdrvctl\fR(8)

.SS Drivers:
\fBapcsmart\fR(8),
\fBbcmxcp\fR(8),
\fBbcmxcp_usb\fR(8),
\fBbelkin\fR(8),
\fBbelkinunv\fR(8),
\fBbestfcom\fR(8),
\fBbestuferrups\fR(8),
\fBbestups\fR(8),
\fBblazer\fR(8),
\fBcyberpower\fR(8),
\fBdummy\(hyups\fR(8),
\fBetapro\fR(8),
\fBeverups\fR(8),
\fBgamatronic\fR(8),
\fBgenericups\fR(8),
\fBisbmex\fR(8),
\fBliebert\fR(8),
\fBmasterguard\fR(8),
\fBmegatec\fR(8),
\fBmegatec_usb\fR(8),
\fBmetasys\fR(8),
\fBmge\(hyshut\fR(8),
\fBmge\(hyutalk\fR(8),
\fBmge\(hyxml\fR(8),
\fBnewmge\(hyshut\fR(8),
\fBnitram\fR(8),
\fBoneac\fR(8),
\fBoptiups\fR(8),
\fBpowercom\fR(8),
\fBpowerman\(hypdu\fR(8),
\fBpowerpanel\fR(8),
\fBrhino\fR(8),
\fBrichcomm_usb\fR(8),
\fBsafenet\fR(8),
\fBsnmp\(hyups\fR(8),
\fBsolis\fR(8),
\fBtripplite\fR(8),
\fBtripplitesu\fR(8),
\fBtripplite_usb\fR(8),
\fBusbhid\(hyups\fR(8),
\fBupscode2\fR(8),
\fBvictronups\fR(8)

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