TITLE: Installing an APC USB UPS using apcupsd LFS VERSION: 3.3 AUTHOR: Bryan Mason bmason@bmason.com SYNOPSIS: Describes how to install some of the new Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS's) from American Power Conversion (APC) that use a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface to connect to the host. HINT: Version 1.0.0 23 January 2003 Contents ======== 1. Introduction 2. Configuring the LFS Kernel for USB and HID Support 3. Installing apcupsd with USB Support 4. Configuring Apcupsd 5. Testing the Installation 6. Creating Scripts 7. Advanced Testing 8. Tested Configurations 9. Troubleshooting 1. Introduction =============== John McSwain's hint entitled "Apcupsd", which can be found at describes how to install an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) made by American Power Conversion (APC) using apcupsd as the software interface between the UPS and the LFS system. Apcupsd monitors the UPS and informs the system when a power loss has occurred and can subsequently shutdown the system if power is not restored within a predetermined time. This hint works fine for those UPS's that use a serial cable to interface to the host computer, but many of APC's new UPS's use a Universal Serial Bus (USB) hardware interface to connect to the system that is being provided power by the UPS. Although the latest stable version of apcupsd, version 3.8.5, does not support these USB interfaces, versions 3.9.4 and later provide direct support for USB UPS's. This hint is based on version 3.10.3 of apcupsd, the latest development version of apcupsd available at the time of writing. Installation of a USB UPS consists of the following basic steps, which are described in more detail below: 1) Configuring the LFS Kernel for USB and HID support 2) Installing apcupsd with USB support 3) Configuring apcupsd 3) Testing the installation 4) Creating scripts If you have any comments or corrections to be made to this document, please send an e-mail message to the author at . 2. Configuring the LFS Kernel for USB and HID Support ===================================================== To enable the use of a USB UPS in Linux, not only USB support is required, but also support for Human Interface Devices (HIDs). The documentation on the apcupsd Web site states that Alan Cox's patch are required to enable HID support. This may have been true on older kernels, but HID support now seems to be an integral part of kernel version 2.4.18 which is the version used in LFS 3.3. To enable USB and HID, make sure that the following items are enabled either as a module or as part of the kernel. Generally it's easier to install these as part of the kernel; otherwise the modules will have to be loaded in the boot script and a delay will need to be made so that the USB drivers can recognize the UPS. - "Input Core Support" (CONFIG_INPUT) - "Support for USB" (CONFIG_USB) - "Preliminary USB File System" (CONFIG_USB_DEVICEFS) - "USB Human Interface Device (full HID) support" (CONFIG_USB_HID) - "/dev/hiddev raw HID device support" (CONFIG_USB_HIDDEV) - One of: "UHCI (Intel PIIX4, VIA, ...) support" (CONFIG_USB_UHCI) or "UHCI Alternate Driver (JE) support" (CONFIG_USB_UHCI_ALT) or "OHCI (Compaq, iMacs, OPTi, SiS, ALi, ...) support" (CONFIG_USB_OHCI) Which one of these options is enabled will depend on the chip set used in the system on which LFS is running. See your motherboard documentation and the help system within menuconfig for additional information. After the kernel is configured, proceed with the normal process of building and installing a new Linux kernel (make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install, copy the bzImage file, etc.) Strictly speaking, the "Preliminary USB File System" support isn't required, but it should make debugging easier if there are problems. 3. Installing apcupsd with USB Support ====================================== 3.1 Review Existing Documentation Before you install apcupsd, it might be a good idea to review the documentation for the latest version of apcupsd at . Specifically, the following sections might be useful: - Quick Start for Beginners - Compiling and Installing - Using Apcupsd with a USB UPS Also, reviewing John McSwain's apcupsd hint at is also probably a good idea. Much of what follows is based on the documentation listed above -- I've just put it in a convenient, easy to swallow format (I hope). 3.2 Download and Unpack Apcupsd The source tarballs for apcupsd version 3.10.3 are located at the following sites: SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/apcupsd/ Apcupsd Home: ftp://ftp.apcupsd.com/pub/apcupsd/development/apcupsd-3.10.3.tar.gz 3.3 Create the HID Devices After the source has been unpacked, use the "make-hiddev" script in the "examples" directory of the apcupsd source tree to make the HID devices. Make-hiddev performs the following commands: --------------------------------------------------------------- #!/bin/sh mkdir -p /dev/usb/hid mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev0 c 180 96 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev1 c 180 97 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev2 c 180 98 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev3 c 180 99 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev4 c 180 100 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev5 c 180 101 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev6 c 180 102 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev7 c 180 103 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev8 c 180 104 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev9 c 180 105 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev10 c 180 106 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev11 c 180 107 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev12 c 180 108 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev13 c 180 109 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev14 c 180 110 mknod /dev/usb/hid/hiddev15 c 180 111 ---------------------------------------------------------------- After running make-hiddev, connect your UPS to your LFS system, and then build and run the "hid-ups" test program to test the connection between your system and the UPS. If you compiled USB and/or HID support into modules, make sure that you have loaded the modules before running hid- ups. The following modules should be loaded: - "hid" - "input" - "usbcore" - "usb-uhci" (or "usb-ohci" or whatever module you created) To compile and execute hid-ups, execute the following commands (substituting "" with the directory to which you unpacked the apcupsd source tarballs. ---------------------------------------------------------------- cd /examples make hid-ups ./hid-ups ---------------------------------------------------------------- If hid-ups is successful, the tail of the output from hid-ups should look similar to the following: ---------------------------------------------------------------- FeatureReport 53 Field 0, app UPS, phys PowerSummary Usage 0, APCPanelTest = 0 FeatureReport 28 Field 0, app UPS, phys PowerSummary Usage 0, APCBattReplacementDate = 267777 2001-04-16 FeatureReport 64 Field 0, app UPS, phys APCGeneralCollection Usage 0, APCForceShutdown = 0 Waiting for events ... (interrupt to exit) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Press Ctrl-C to exit hid-ups. 3.4 Install Apcupsd Now configure, compile, and install apcupsd by running the following commands: ---------------------------------------------------------------- ./configure --prefix=/usr --sbindir=/sbin \ --with-serial-dev=/dev/usb/hid/hiddev[0-9] \ --with-upstype=usb --with-upscable=usb --enable-usb \ --enable-pthreads --enable-powerflute && make && make install ---------------------------------------------------------------- Below are descriptions of the options passed to the configure script: --with-serial-dev=/dev/usb/hid/hiddev[0-9]: This is not a typo, and should be entered exactly as shown. This syntax allows apcupsd to search all the USB devices to find the UPS. --with-upstype=usb: This tells apcupsd to default to a USB UPS. This option can be changed at runtime by modifying apcupsd's configuration file. --with-upscable=usb: This tells apcupsd to default to a USB cable. This option can be changed at runtime by modifying apucpsd's configuration file. --enable-usb: This enables the USB support in apcupsd. --enable-pthreads: This option enables pthreads support causing apcupsd to be built as a threaded program rather than forking to create separate processes. This should cause apcupsd to be more efficient with memory and resources. This is not strictly needed for USB support, but is a good idea. --enable-powerflute: This enables the building of powerflute, which is an ncurses-based program that can be used to monitor the UPS. This is not strictly need for USB support or even to build apcupsd, but it could be a useful program. 4. Configuring Apcupsd ====================== The apcupsd configuration file is located by default at /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf. There shouldn't be much of a need to change anything in this file, since most of the important settings have already been specified during the compilation of apcupsd in Section 3.4 above. The only thing that might be a good idea is to modify the behavior of apcupsd and syslogd so that apcupsd events are sent to their own file, /var/log/apcupsd.log. To do this, modify the following line in apcupsd.conf: From: #FACILITY local0 To: FACILITY local1 Then add the following lines to /etc/syslog.conf: ---------------------------------------------------------------- # Logging for apcupsd local1.* -/var/log/apcupsd.log ---------------------------------------------------------------- If the "local1" facility is already being used by another program, then change "local1" in the examples above to "local2" or another free local facility. After this is done, syslogd needs to be restarted by executing the following command: ---------------------------------------------------------------- /etc/rc.d/init.d/sysklogd restart ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Testing the Installation =========================== 5.1 Running apcupsd The first step in testing is to run the apcupsd program itself. Simply execute: ---------------------------------------------------------------- apcupsd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Wait for apcupsd to configure itself and establish contact with the UPS, and then execute: ---------------------------------------------------------------- tail /var/log/apcupsd.log ---------------------------------------------------------------- The result should be something similar to the following: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jan 3 15:51:21 linux apcupsd[22825]: apcupsd 3.10.3 (12 \ December 2002) unknown startup succeeded Jan 3 15:51:21 linux apcupsd[22827]: NIS server startup \ succeeded ---------------------------------------------------------------- If apcupsd generates an error code and then exits, see the "Testing" section of the apcupsd documentation, at , for information on possible sources of problems. 5.2 Getting UPS status Once apcupsd is successfully loaded, the next step is to get status from the UPS. To do this, execute the following command: ---------------------------------------------------------------- apcaccess status ---------------------------------------------------------------- The result should be similar to the following: ---------------------------------------------------------------- APC : 001,034,0833 DATE : Fri Jan 03 15:53:21 PST 2003 HOSTNAME : linux RELEASE : 3.10.3 VERSION : 3.10.3 (12 December 2002) unknown UPSNAME : linux CABLE : USB Cable MODEL : Back-UPS RS 1000 UPSMODE : Stand Alone STARTTIME: Fri Jan 03 15:51:20 PST 2003 STATUS : ONLINE LINEV : 122.0 Volts LOADPCT : 2.0 Percent Load Capacity BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent TIMELEFT : 341.0 Minutes MBATTCHG : 10 Percent MINTIMEL : 10 Minutes MAXTIME : 0 Seconds LOTRANS : 097.0 Volts HITRANS : 138.0 Volts ALARMDEL : Always BATTV : 27.1 Volts NUMXFERS : 0 TONBATT : 0 seconds CUMONBATT: 0 seconds XOFFBATT : N/A SELFTEST : NO STATFLAG : 0x02000008 Status Flag MANDATE : 2002-10-13 SERIALNO : JB0241034799 BATTDATE : 2001-09-25 NOMBATTV : 24.0 FIRMWARE : .g2 .D USB FW:g2 APCMODEL : Back-UPS RS 1000 END APC : Fri Jan 03 15:54:04 PST 2003 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Creating Scripts =================== 6.1 Creating the boot script The following boot script will start, stop, restart, etc. apcupsd. It is based on the LFS boot script template (/etc/rc.d/init.d/template) and the file apcupsd in the platforms/unknown directory of the apcupsd source tree. ---------------------------------------------------------------- #!/bin/bash # Begin /etc/rc.d/init.d/apcupsd # Based on sysklogd script from LFS-3.1 and earlier. # Rewritten by Gerard Beekmans - gerard@linuxfromscratch.org # Apcupsd version written by Bryan Mason - bmason@bmason.com source /etc/sysconfig/rc source $rc_functions case "$1" in start) # Uncomment the following lines if the USB and HID # drivers were built as kernel modules # # echo "Installing modules for USB and HID..." # modprobe usb-uhci && # modprobe hid # evaluate_retval # # echo "Waiting for the UPS to be recognized..." # sleep 5 echo "Starting APC UPS Daemon (apcupsd)..." rm -f /etc/apcupsd/powerfail rm -f /etc/nologin loadproc /sbin/apcupsd ;; stop) echo "Stopping APC UPS Daemon (apcupsd)..." killproc /sbin/apcupsd # Uncomment the following lines if the USB and HID # drivers were built as kernel modules # # echo "Removing modules for USB and HID..." # rmmod usb-uhci hid input usbcore # evaluate_retval # Sometimes killproc can't kill apcupsd, which # interrupts the shutdown process. # That isn't good. So lets make sure to always # exit with a status of 0. exit 0 ;; reload) echo "Reloading APC UPS Daemon (apcupsd)..." reloadproc /sbin/apcupsd ;; restart) $0 stop sleep 1 $0 start ;; status) statusproc /sbin/apcupsd ;; *) echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|reload|restart|status}" exit 1 ;; esac # End /etc/rc.d/init.d/apcupsd ---------------------------------------------------------------- This file can be made by copying /etc/rc.d/init.d/template to /etc/rc.d/init.d/apcupsd or made from scratch. If it is made from scratch, be sure to set the correct permissions on the file by running "chmod 750 /etc/rc.d/init.d/apcupsd". 6.2 Creating the links for the boot script Apcupsd should be started as soon as possible during the boot process, right after sysklogd is started. Since sysklogd uses S10, apcupsd can be started at S15 or S20. Apcupsd should also be one of the last things to be stopped, right before sysklogd is stopped. Create the symbolic links by executing the following commands: ---------------------------------------------------------------- cd /etc/rc.d && cd rc0.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd K35apcupsd && cd ../rc1.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd K75apcupsd && cd ../rc2.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S15apcupsd && cd ../rc3.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S15apcupsd && cd ../rc4.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S15apcupsd && cd ../rc5.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S15apcupsd && cd ../rc6.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd K35apcupsd ---------------------------------------------------------------- Of course, if you've renumbered your boot scripts, then you'll need to link the apcupsd boot script accordingly. 6.3 Creating the UPS Powerdown Script Normally, the last thing that needs to happen before the system shuts down is to power off the UPS. Unfortunately, one of the known limitations of apcupsd interfacing to a USB UPS is that the "--killpower" option to apcupsd doesn't work, which means that it is not possible to power off a USB UPS. Although the apcupsd documentation states that the UPS should shut itself down one to two minutes after the system, I did not observer this in my testing. In my case, the UPS continued to supply power to the computer until the batteries drained to a critically low level. Of course, this wasn't a problem because the system had already been shut down. 7. Advanced Testing =================== Many tests that should be run on the system before the installation is considered complete and stable. The "Testing" section of the apcupsd documentation, located at , contains a list of such tests. Briefly, the test sequence runs as follows: - Remove the USB cable from the UPS to make sure communications is working - Modify some of the scripts used by apcupsd so that they are "safe" (i.e. they won't actually shut down the system) and disconnect the UPS from utility power. - Perform a full shutdown test, but do not allow the UPS to power down. - Perform a full shutdown test, allowing the UPS to cut power to the system. 8. Tested Configurations ======================== The following configuration has been tested and is fully functional after following the instructions in this hint: * APC Back-Ups XS 1000 Note: Apcupsd reports this as a Back-UPS RS 1000 If you have successfully installed another APC USB UPS on your LFS system, please send an e-mail message to so I can add your model number to the above list. 9. Troubleshooting ================== The installation of my USB UPS went very smoothly. I didn't have to do much troubleshooting, so I don't have any troubleshooting steps to report. If you experience problems with your installation and have a way to overcome them, please send an e-mail message to bmason@bmason.com with your experience, and I'll add it to this section.