pfSense - Nut - Synology - looking for help.

bluesky114

Home network.
Main goal is to protect data.
I installed NUT server on my Synology NAS.
Installed NUT client on my Windows 10 Pro PC.
Installed NUT client on my pfSense (CE) firewall.
My thinking is this:

On loss of power, shut down pc first, so all files will be closed on NAS.
Shut down pfSense.
Shut down NAS last.
I think starting the shutdown process about 3-5 minutes after power loss.

I've got the NAS and pc working as desired, but I can't figure out how to configure the NUT client on pfSense to shutdown pfSense (which is running on a pc) after a fixed amount of time.
I've done a lot of searching and I don't see a way to set a time on the NUT client on pfSense.
Can someone tell me if this is possible and how to do it?
I would also consider other ways to accomplish this if my thinking is wrong.
Thanks for any help.

dennypage

@bluesky114 you should run the NUT server on pfSense rather than the Synology to minimize risk to the Synology.

Then, let NUT on pfSense manage the UPS based on low battery rather than time. You can shut the PC down based on time to extend available runtime for pfSense and the Synology, but only if you are willing to accept that the PC will not automatically recover if power returns before the battery is exhausted.

Btw, shutting down a client (PC in this case) does not guarantee that files will be written to disk on the server (Synology).

bluesky114

@dennypage Appreciate the reply. Would you mind explaining a couple of things? How does putting the NUT server on pfSense minimize the risk to the Synology? Also, I thought shutting down the pc would close the files on the Synology.
Thanks.

dennypage

@bluesky114 said in pfSense - Nut - Synology - looking for help.:

How does putting the NUT server on pfSense minimize the risk to the Synology?

Discussion in this thread, this post in particular. [NB: links to posts in long threads don't work well, so if it doesn't take you right there look for a post that begins "I don't disagree that there is a bug in NUT..."

Also this thread, this post in particular. [Look for a post that begins "I think you're conflating two different issues."]

Also, I thought shutting down the pc would close the files on the Synology.

That's not how a Linux based NAS works. Closing a client (PC) connection does not force writes to physical disk. Writes being forced to disk would only be guaranteed when using synchronous IO, which is almost certainly not the case with a PC app. FWIW, I don't believe this issue has any actual relevance as the Synology will go into safe mode, which will guarantee the data on disk.

bluesky114

@dennypage Thanks for the reply and associated info. Working on assimilating it. Help much appreciated.