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    NUT package (2.8.0 and below)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved UPS Tools
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    • dennypageD
      dennypage
      last edited by

      @Maxburn:

      Is this the right package to monitor a UPS and shut down pfsense if I get a low battery?

      I'm poking around and tried to add a remote snmp UPS but there doesn't seem to be a field to specify a community string. I don't run public for obvious reasons.

      Yes, this is the right package.

      As to the community string, if you are using the default ("public"), then you don't need to specify a community string. If you are using something other than the default, you would specify the community in the Extra Arguments to driver section. See the snmp-ups man page for more information on snmp driver arguments.

      As an aside, a unique community name can be marginally effective at preventing accidents, but it offers nothing in the way of actual security because the name is sent across the network in clear text. While it used to be considered an important best practice to change the community name with v1/v2, many people don't bother any more. For actual security you need to use v3, at which point it doesn't matter if the community name is public. Even when using a unique community name for read/write with v1/v2/v3, it is common to leave public in place as an read only v1 community for monitoring things such as UPSs.

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      • P
        pablo_deskObar
        last edited by

        Hello,

        I have connected my apc ups to netgate pfsense and setup nut.

        I have it as server, and connected my synology NAS to it.

        These devices shutdown after the limit imposed.

        Here,

        i have battery low warning - 90
        low battery - 80

        (i like to preserve battery XD)

        The ISSUE is my APC is not shutting down after pfsense and synology shuts off. It keeps running till battery  becomes 0.

        Tried changing offdelay (ups.shutdown.delay from 20 to 30) no success.

        Can i use shutdown timer to make the ups shut down after say like 5 mins? (all my devices shutdown before that), and when power returns will ups turn back on automatically?

        Any help appreciated. :)

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        • dennypageD
          dennypage
          last edited by

          @pablo_deskObar:

          The ISSUE is my APC is not shutting down after pfsense and synology shuts off. It keeps running till battery  becomes 0.

          See post #1, version 2.7.4_6 which addresses this issue.

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          • P
            pablo_deskObar
            last edited by

            @dennypage:

            @pablo_deskObar:

            The ISSUE is my APC is not shutting down after pfsense and synology shuts off. It keeps running till battery  becomes 0.

            See post #1, version 2.7.4_6 which addresses this issue.

            Didnt see that :) Also, will the ups power back on automatically after mains is restored after a power kill?

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            • dennypageD
              dennypage
              last edited by

              @pablo_deskObar:

              Also, will the ups power back on automatically after mains is restored after a power kill?

              It should. Most all UPSs are designed to.

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              • Q
                q54e3w
                last edited by

                My pfsense server is running NUT package and I also have a separate ESXi host with NUT installed. I want to shut down the VMs and the ESXI host before pfsense shutdowns to ensure network services remain up to prevent problems closing down the VMs cleanly. How can I delay pfsense powering down until esxi has completed shutting down?
                I have a APC SMX UPS attached via AP9631 network card.

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                • dennypageD
                  dennypage
                  last edited by

                  @q54e3w:

                  How can I delay pfsense powering down until esxi has completed shutting down?

                  The HOSTSYNC variable controls how long the master will wait for slaves to initiate their shutdown. You can find information on this in the ups.conf man page.

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                  • Q
                    q54e3w
                    last edited by

                    Thank you - I'll give it a try.

                    I've noticed the following errors appearing in my logs, any idea why this would be?

                    
                    ...
                    Feb 18 11:01:52	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                    Feb 18 11:01:20	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                    Feb 18 11:00:48	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                    ...
                    
                    

                    I have the following code

                    extra arguments

                    
                    ignorelb
                    override.battery.charge.warning = 50
                    override.battery.charge.low = 30
                    override.battery.runtime.low = 1200
                    
                    

                    upsmon.conf

                    
                    HOSTSYNC 600
                    
                    

                    upsd.conf

                    
                    LISTEN 192.168.10.1
                    
                    

                    upsd.users

                    
                    [remoteuser]
                    password = mypassword
                    upsmon slave
                    
                    

                    the settings appear to be being applied correctly….

                    
                    upsc ups@localhost
                    ambient.1.humidity.alarm.high: 60.00
                    ambient.1.humidity.alarm.low: 30.00
                    ambient.1.temperature.alarm.high: 40.00
                    ambient.1.temperature.alarm.low: 10.00
                    ambient.humidity: 39.00
                    ambient.temperature: 15.0
                    battery.charge: 100.00
                    battery.charge.low: 30
                    battery.charge.warning: 50
                    battery.date: 11/15/2017
                    battery.packs: 1.00
                    battery.runtime: 4428.00
                    battery.runtime.low: 1200
                    battery.voltage: 54.20
                    device.mfr: APC
                    device.model: Smart-UPS X 1500
                    device.type: ups
                    driver.flag.ignorelb: enabled
                    driver.name: snmp-ups
                    driver.parameter.pollinterval: 2
                    driver.parameter.port: 192.168.10.50
                    driver.parameter.synchronous: no
                    driver.version: 2.7.4
                    driver.version.data: apcc MIB 1.2
                    driver.version.internal: 0.97
                    input.frequency: 60.00
                    input.sensitivity: high
                    input.transfer.high: 127
                    input.transfer.low: 106
                    input.transfer.reason: selfTest
                    input.voltage: 122.20
                    input.voltage.maximum: 123.20
                    input.voltage.minimum: 121.30
                    output.current: 4.80
                    output.frequency: 60.00
                    output.voltage: 122.20
                    output.voltage.nominal: 120
                    ups.delay.shutdown: 20
                    ups.delay.start: 10
                    ups.firmware: UPS 09.1 (ID20)
                    ups.id: UPS
                    ups.load: 48.30
                    ups.mfr: APC
                    ups.mfr.date: 06/30/2012
                    ups.model: Smart-UPS X 1500
                    ups.status: OL
                    ups.temperature: 18.60
                    ups.test.date: 02/14/2018
                    ups.test.result: Ok
                    
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                    • dennypageD
                      dennypage
                      last edited by

                      @q54e3w:

                      Thank you - I'll give it a try.

                      I've noticed the following errors appearing in my logs, any idea why this would be?

                      
                      ...
                      Feb 18 11:01:52	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                      Feb 18 11:01:20	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                      Feb 18 11:00:48	snmp-ups	44002	dstate_setflags: base variable (battery.runtime.low) is immutable
                      ...
                      
                      

                      I believe it means that the variable is marked read-only in the SNMP MIB. For more information on this, I would suggest checking the nut users list.

                      FWIW, if it were me I would just remove the setting of runtime and use charge %. You don’t need both.

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                      • S
                        spambait
                        last edited by

                        pfsense 2.4.2-RELEASE-p1 (amd64)
                        nut 2.7.4_5

                        Polling an APC AP9631 on the LAN via SNMP.

                        When I reboot the appliance, UPS status shows as down. Log has a bunch of these:

                        Feb 19 21:40:27 upsmon 66529 Poll UPS [office-UPS] failed - Driver not connected
                        Feb 19 21:42:22 upsmon 67668 Startup successful
                        Feb 19 21:42:23 upsd 68233 listening on ::1 port 3493
                        Feb 19 21:42:23 upsd 68233 listening on 127.0.0.1 port 3493
                        Feb 19 21:42:23 upsd 68233 Can't connect to UPS [office-UPS] (snmp-ups-office-UPS): No such file or directory
                        Feb 19 21:42:23 upsd 68498 Startup successful
                        Feb 19 21:42:24 snmp-ups 68710 Startup successful

                        Now when I go to restart the service via the GUI In Services -> UPS, it starts up perfectly right away.

                        apcupsd was installed but I removed it when switching to NUT.

                        I tried using snmp v1 instead of v3 thinking I screwed up my v3 credentials but that doesn't seem to be the issue. Even with snmpv1 it wont come up after a reboot until I manually intervene.

                        I tried some of the retry and delay parameters in the additional parameters for ups.conf but they also didn't help with this

                        
                        maxretry=3
                        retrydelay=10
                        pollinterval=5
                        snmp_retries=10
                        snmp_timeout=2
                        pollfreq=10
                        
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                        • dennypageD
                          dennypage
                          last edited by

                          Please give the following a try:

                          Get rid of pollfreq and pollinterval.

                          Set these variables in the Extra Arguments to driver section:

                          
                          snmp_timeout=2
                          snmp_retries=10
                          
                          

                          Set these variables in the Advanced section for ups.conf:

                          
                          retrydelay=30
                          maxretry=20
                          
                          

                          Now reboot the box. When the box comes up, go to the UPS status page. [Do not attempt to start the service manually] If the UPS shows as needing attention, wait for the page to refresh automatically. If it doesn't auto refresh, after a couple minutes refresh the page manually. Does the UPS show as running? Or is it still down?

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                          • S
                            spambait
                            last edited by

                            @dennypage:

                            Please give the following a try:

                            Get rid of pollfreq and pollinterval.

                            Set these variables in the Extra Arguments to driver section:

                            
                            snmp_timeout=2
                            snmp_retries=10
                            
                            

                            Set these variables in the Advanced section for ups.conf:

                            
                            retrydelay=30
                            maxretry=20
                            
                            

                            Now reboot the box. When the box comes up, go to the UPS status page. [Do not attempt to start the service manually] If the UPS shows as needing attention, wait for the page to refresh automatically. If it doesn't auto refresh, after a couple minutes refresh the page manually. Does the UPS show as running? Or is it still down?

                            These settings work perfectly!

                            I am now back on SNMPv3 and NUT is performing as expected, across reboots and all. Thank you!

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                            • dennypageD
                              dennypage
                              last edited by

                              That's good news. Now that it's working, you can probably tune the variables down quite a bit. In particular, the settings in Extra Arguments can likely be returned to their default values of 1 & 5. Or simply deleted.

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                              • S
                                spambait
                                last edited by

                                @dennypage:

                                That's good news. Now that it's working, you can probably tune the variables down quite a bit. In particular, the settings in Extra Arguments can likely be returned to their default values of 1 & 5. Or simply deleted.

                                I think actually found a bug (with the AP9631, fw 6.5.0).

                                I just deployed a second AP9631 out of the box. Factory reset, flashed 6.5.0, factory reset again, set up SNMPv3 and had the same issues I described before where NUT cannot communicate.

                                I have now noticed that if I have SNMPv1 DISABLED, NUT will fail to connect via SNMPv3 no matter what extra settings I provide. Simply turning on SNMPv1 in the AP9631 (fw 6.5.0) immediately lets them communicate. Very strange. Further testing is needed.

                                I have replicated this on the previous installation where I can break the SNMPv3 communication between NUT and the AP9631 by disabling SNMPv1, don't even need to reboot.

                                this_fixes_it.JPG
                                this_fixes_it.JPG_thumb
                                this_breaks_it.JPG
                                this_breaks_it.JPG_thumb

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                                • dennypageD
                                  dennypage
                                  last edited by

                                  @spambait:

                                  I just deployed a second AP9631 out of the box. Factory reset, flashed 6.5.0, factory reset again, set up SNMPv3 and had the same issues I described before where NUT cannot communicate.

                                  I have now noticed that if I have SNMPv1 DISABLED, NUT will fail to connect via SNMPv3 no matter what extra settings I provide. Simply turning on SNMPv1 in the AP9631 (fw 6.5.0) immediately lets them communicate. Very strange. Further testing is needed.

                                  I have replicated this on the previous installation where I can break the SNMPv3 communication between NUT and the AP9631 by disabling SNMPv1, don't even need to reboot.

                                  It sounds like SNMPv3 may not be properly configured/functioning in NUT. Can you post the contents of /usr/local/etc/nut/ups.conf please?

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                                  • S
                                    spambait
                                    last edited by

                                    @dennypage:

                                    It sounds like SNMPv3 may not be properly configured/functioning in NUT. Can you post the contents of /usr/local/etc/nut/ups.conf please?

                                    I am going to find an SNMPv3 client and try replicate this in a moment. If a different v3 client fails in the same way the issue is with AP9631.

                                    If it doesn't then there may indeed be a NUT issue. Maybe it has some routine to check SNMPv1 availability before anything else, even if only SNMPv3 is needed.

                                    I realize the credentials are in there but it's a sandbox setup so this is not really a concern. My full, unedited /usr/local/etc/nut/ups.conf:

                                    retrydelay=30
                                    maxretry=20
                                    snmp_version=v3
                                    privProtocol=AES
                                    authProtocol=SHA
                                    secName=pfSense
                                    authPassword=VtwHzSj6XQlmp9OFFa28NJcUL93qq5zZ4
                                    privPassword=TpWsICXWm4CeKtwUehtvcBpDnBW0KZCC
                                    
                                    [S10-AP9631]
                                    driver=snmp-ups
                                    port=172.16.10.5
                                    snmp_timeout=2
                                    snmp_retries=10
                                    
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                                    • dennypageD
                                      dennypage
                                      last edited by

                                      SNMP parameters are part of the UPS specification. As such, they go in the "Extra Arguments to driver" rather than in the "Additional configuration lines for ups.conf" section. The advanced section is only for Global Directives (see ups.conf), and anything that is not recognized as a global directive is ignored by NUT. I know it's confusing, but it's how NUT's configuration works. Anything that comes from the driver man page (snmp-ups in your case) goes into Extra Arguments to driver.

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                                      • S
                                        spambait
                                        last edited by

                                        @dennypage:

                                        SNMP parameters are part of the UPS specification. As such, they go in the "Extra Arguments to driver" rather than in the "Additional configuration lines for ups.conf" section. The advanced section is only for Global Directives (see ups.conf), and anything that is not recognized as a global directive is ignored by NUT. I know it's confusing, but it's how NUT's configuration works. Anything that comes from the driver man page (snmp-ups in your case) goes into Extra Arguments to driver.

                                        That results in

                                        
                                        [S10-AP9631]
                                        driver=snmp-ups
                                        port=172.16.10.5
                                        snmp_timeout=2
                                        snmp_retries=10
                                        snmp_version=v3
                                        privProtocol=AES
                                        authProtocol=SHA
                                        secLevel=authPriv
                                        secName=pfSense
                                        authPassword=VtwHzSj6XQlmp9OFFa28NJcUL93qq5zZ4
                                        privPassword=TpWsICXWm4CeKtwUehtvcBpDnBW0KZCC
                                        

                                        Edit: So it seems it was using SNMPv1 all along due to my mis-configuration resulting in the SNMPv3 stuff being ignored. There is no bug. Now that I have the correct structure in ups.conf it is indeed trying to connect SNMPv3 but it is not authenticating. The AP9631's built in baby IDS keeps sending me notifications now that there are failed SNMPv3 authentications from the pfSense IP.

                                        I will switch her back to SNMPv1 for now and troubleshoot my SNMPv3 setup with qtmib

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                                        • dennypageD
                                          dennypage
                                          last edited by

                                          That makes sense. For what it's worth, most people use a read-only SNMPv1 group for UPS monitoring. There isn't any sensitive information in the stream.

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                                          • S
                                            spambait
                                            last edited by

                                            @dennypage:

                                            That makes sense. For what it's worth, most people use a read-only SNMPv1 group for UPS monitoring. There isn't any sensitive information in the stream.

                                            The docu said a write community is needed to facilitate shutdowns. I wanted the UPS and NUT to coordinate that NUT will shut down pfSense when there's not much runtime left and then tell the UPS to shut off the outlet in x minutes and come back up when AC power is restored and battery has at least y % charge.

                                            Otherwise pfSense will just shut down and stay down until someone presses the power button or the BIOS power on time is reached.

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