Where did the APCUPSd package go?
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And more importantly, will it be back?
I just did a fresh install counting on using APCUPSd to communicate with my UPS. I swear it was there in the package list when I searched, but now when I go in to the package manager, I can't see it.
Any ideas?
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There is no apcupsd package for pfSense 2.3 and, so far as I am aware, no current plans to create one.
The problem is that there was no maintainer of the apcupsd package, so there was nobody to rewrite the user interface for Bootstrap, the UI framework used in pfSense 2.3.
NUT should be available for pfSense 2.3 in due course. Many APC UPS scenarios should work with NUT - from memory, NUT doesn't support the PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol (pcnet in apcupsd) but does support SNMP, many serial cable scenarios and USB HID.
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There is no apcupsd package for pfSense 2.3 and, so far as I am aware, no current plans to create one.
The problem is that there was no maintainer of the apcupsd package, so there was nobody to rewrite the user interface for Bootstrap, the UI framework used in pfSense 2.3.
NUT should be available for pfSense 2.3 in due course. Many APC UPS scenarios should work with NUT - from memory, NUT doesn't support the PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol (pcnet in apcupsd) but does support SNMP, many serial cable scenarios and USB HID.
Oh that is a pity.
NUT is great, and has a more modern interface, but nothing beats APCUPSd for IMHO APC's best products (the few year old SUA models predating the Schneider acquisition) NUT does not have perfect compatibility with these models.
I see what happened now. I did all my planning based on the older version, and between when I ordered my parts and did my install, the new version was released.
If it were only a matter of time, I'd offer my time to maintain the package myself, but while rather IT competent, I am COMPLETELY ignorant of programming, package maintenance and only a very very basic scripter. I fear it may be outside of my abilities :(
Is it possible to manually install the upstream version in BSD's ports and just manage it manually from the console? I've set up manual console installs of APCUPSd in Debian and Ubuntu installs in the past, it can't be THAT different in FreeBSD. What I am unfamiliar with is how to use ports, especially in a downstream pfSense build.
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I need this package as well. the NUT package is moving up but all it does is show status and it does not control what happened when on battery power; which is what APCUPSd did. so, as far as I am concerned, without APCUPSd, NUT is useless.
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without APCUPSd, NUT is useless.
And as I explained here, https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=109778.msg614907#msg614907, your incorrect.
I don't want bad info spread about the capabilities of a piece of software you've not really configured before. Here's the documentation about how the UPS decides to shutdown:
http://networkupstools.org/docs/user-manual.chunked/ar01s06.html
By default, NUT waits for a low battery condition on the UPS before shutting down. My previous NUT install I changed the behavior since if my power was back on in five minutes, it probably wasn't coming back on for a while.
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I'm not spreading bad info. My UPS is software dependant and without it, it doesn't operate like you specify. I know this because I have experienced a few power failures while using this UPS. With NUT only, my pfsense ran until it killed the battery in the UPS and hard powered off due to lack of power. With APCUPSd installed in ran until parameters were met in the settings I put in then it shut down my pfsense box before the battery died.
Now as far as monitoring goes, I don't need a monitoring widget seeing how my UPS has a large LCD display on it. What I do need however is control fearures APCUPSd.
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Yeah, APCUPSd is an absolute must-have for me.
I'll happily forgo the GUI interface, as I am comfortable managing it from the command line. What I am not comfirtable with (ir have any clue about) is how to use ports to install it in pfSense 2.3
This guide in the pfSense documentation says you can use pkg and pass it the full URL to the package. So I went out googling for the full url to the apcupsd FreeBSD packge. I came across this.
Since I have absolutely no experience with ports, I'm not sure what it expects as an URL. Is it the link above to the online ports database page for it? Or maybe the link to the plist file?
Also, I assume I'll have to manually install all of its dependencies. It is unclear to me which of them may already be installed in the base pfSense install, and since I have no experience with ports, I have no idea how to find out. I presume I can issue some sort of command to list all installed packages, and grep it. I'll have to do further research.
I'll then have to manually edit the config files in /etc/apcupsd just like I have under linux, and create a startup script for it, since rc.d does not work in pfsense.
If anyone with ports experience could give me some suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!
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I'm not spreading bad info. My UPS is software dependant and without it, it doesn't operate like you specify. I know this because I have experienced a few power failures while using this UPS. With NUT only, my pfsense ran until it killed the battery in the UPS and hard powered off due to lack of power. With APCUPSd installed in ran until parameters were met in the settings I put in then it shut down my pfsense box before the battery died.
Now as far as monitoring goes, I don't need a monitoring widget seeing how my UPS has a large LCD display on it. What I do need however is control fearures APCUPSd.
Not sure why you would have that issue, maybe it is UPS specific… NUT is used in tens of thousands of installations, and works correctly for all those people. I've had NUT gracefully shut down my pfsense box (and many other servers) multiple times with no issues.
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Yeah, APCUPSd is an absolute must-have for me.
I'll happily forgo the GUI interface, as I am comfortable managing it from the command line. What I am not comfirtable with (ir have any clue about) is how to use ports to install it in pfSense 2.3
This guide in the pfSense documentation says you can use pkg and pass it the full URL to the package. So I went out googling for the full url to the apcupsd FreeBSD packge. I came across this.
Since I have absolutely no experience with ports, I'm not sure what it expects as an URL. Is it the link above to the online ports database page for it? Or maybe the link to the plist file?
Also, I assume I'll have to manually install all of its dependencies. It is unclear to me which of them may already be installed in the base pfSense install, and since I have no experience with ports, I have no idea how to find out. I presume I can issue some sort of command to list all installed packages, and grep it. I'll have to do further research.
I'll then have to manually edit the config files in /etc/apcupsd just like I have under linux, and create a startup script for it, since rc.d does not work in pfsense.
If anyone with ports experience could give me some suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!
Well, since I keep hearing NUT is on the way, I'll hold off with this, and try NUT once it is released. I don't have huge hopes though, seing that the APCsmart module I need for mine is rated red/single start on the NUT page…
Anyone know if there is a a target date? if It's going to be more than a few weeks, I might just try hacking APCUPSd like mentioned above.
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I'm not spreading bad info. My UPS is software dependant and without it, it doesn't operate like you specify. I know this because I have experienced a few power failures while using this UPS. With NUT only, my pfsense ran until it killed the battery in the UPS and hard powered off due to lack of power. With APCUPSd installed in ran until parameters were met in the settings I put in then it shut down my pfsense box before the battery died.
Now as far as monitoring goes, I don't need a monitoring widget seeing how my UPS has a large LCD display on it. What I do need however is control fearures APCUPSd.
I can't help but wonder if this was merely a NUT configuration problem. Usually all the UPS does (regardless of model or software on the host it is attached to) is report statistics, like % battery and estimated time left at current load, and the software processes this data and decides when to shut down the host.
I wonder if there were some sort of permission issues preventing NUT from initiating proper shutdown, or if it was not reading the statistics from the UPS properly.