AUTHOR: Hints Author and Owner John M. McSwain DATE: 2006-01-04 LICENSE: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 Copyright (c) 2003 John M. McSwain Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html. SYNOPSIS: Apcupsd power protection for your LFS connected to an APC UPS via serial port. DESCRIPTION: This hint describes the installation of Apcupsd software on an LFS based computer protected by an American Power Conversion (APC) uinterruptible power supply connected via serial cable. The normal software installation analyzes the sytem to determine a standard linux distribution so that scripts may be installed to their proper place. Because LFS is nonstandard the installation is not completed and left to the user. This hint describes the steps needed to complete the software installation on an LFS system. PREREQUISITES: This hint will work on any LFS system although the bootscripts may need minor modifications. This is especially true of older LFS systems where the bootscripts were NOT in the /etc/rc.d/init.d directory. HINT: ======================== TABLE OF CONTENTS ======================== 1 Introduction 2 Software 3 Installation 3.1 Generic 3.2 LFS specific 3.2.1 Boot script 3.2.2 Poweroff script 3.2.3 Symlink the scripts 4 Configuration 5 Conclusion ================= 1. Introduction ================= Apcupsd is useful for controlling American Power Conversion's (APC) uninterruptiple power supplies (UPS). Apcupsd monitors the UPS and during a power loss, informs the system users of the failure, and if power is not restored, safely shuts down the system. The Apcupsd manual (available on line at http://www.sibbald.com/apcupsd/manual/index.html or with the software) provides excellent instructions on installing and configuring the software. The configure script can identify several standard linux distributions and make the correct installation. However, as LFS is by design not standard this hint provides the information to protect an LFS system with an APC UPS connected via a serial connection using Apcupsd software. If you are using an APC UPS that connects via USB please see the hint by Bryan Mason. The installation of Apcupsd is mostly straightforward until "make install" is completed. Then the LFS user will see the following series of messages: "Unknown distribution You have to manually install apcupsd boot script and halt script for clean emergency shutdown. Please contribute your distribution install to apcupsd team. I'm sorry: you are on your own." The purpose of this hint is to provide one method of accomplishing the above actions to get Apcupsd up and running on the LFS "unknown" distribution. ================= 2. Software ================= The Apcupsd software can currently be found at sourceforge: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/apcupsd/ As of this writing the latest stable release is Apcupsd-3.10.18. =================== 3. Installation =================== Obtain the source and unpack it in a suitable place such as /usr/src/. Compiler optimizations can be used with Apcupsd. See Optimization.txt hint and the Apcupsd manual for more information. =================== 3.1 Generic =================== Run the following command: ./configure --prefix=/usr --sbindir=/sbin This is a basic installation. If you have a Smartups and wish to have a web interface to the APC unit's status from your web server see the Apcupsd manual. You will probably want to run the above commands with additions: ./configure --prefix=/usr --sbindir=/sbin \ --with-cgi-bin=/srv/www/cgi-bin --enable-cgi Now run: make && make install =================== 3.2 LFS specific =================== At the end of the make install you will get the messages listed above in the introduction. A bootscript and proper halt script must be manually installed. ================== 3.2.1 Bootscript ================== My suggested scripts can be found here: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/hints/downloads/attachments/apcupsd-serial/ You may wish to make your own using the template script located in /etc/rc.d/init.d as a guide. cd /etc/rc.d/init.d cp template apcupsd Now edit the apcupsd file. Under "start)" have the following lines: start) boot_mesg "Starting apcupsd power management..." # House keeping if this were a restart from powerfail rm -f /etc/apcupsd/powerfail rm -f /etc/nologin loadproc /sbin/apcupsd ;; stop) boot_mesg "Stopping apcupsd power management..." killproc /sbin/apcupsd ;; ===================== 3.2.2 Poweroff script ===================== The poweroff script is needed to shutdown the UPS after the system has halted. (Note: Depending on the UPS this could take a minute or two). Thus when the power returns the UPS will come back on and the system will power up (providing your atx bios supports powerup). Apcupsd for most distributions modifies the existing halt script. Rather than that route we are making a separate script called UPSdown. You may use my script mentioned above, or you can easily make your own using a text editor and place it in /etc/rc.d/init.d: #!/bin/sh # Begin /etc/rc.d/init.d/UPSdown # # Script to shutdown UPS after computer shutdown # # Symlink in rc0.d after umounting filesystems # # # See if this is a powerfail situation if [ -f /etc/apcupsd/powerfail ]; then echo echo "APCUPSD will now power off the UPS" echo /etc/apcupsd/apccontrol killpower echo echo "Verify the UPS shuts down or turn off the system" echo fi # # End /etc/rc.d/init.d/UPSdown ========================= 3.2.3 Symlink the scripts ========================= The apcupsd daemon should be started fairly soon in the boot cycle to provide protection. Using the current two digit symlinks, S30 for my system seems appropriate. Use your own judgement here. I stop the daemon rather late in run levels rc1.d and rc6.d, K98. The UPSdown script should be run immediately prior to the halt script. If halt is K99 then UPSdown would be K98. Run the following: cd /etc/rc.d/init.d && chmod 755 apcupsd UPSdown && cd ../rc0.d && ln -s ../init.d/UPSdown K98UPSdown && cd ../rc1.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd K98apcupsd && cd ../rc2.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S30apcupsd && cd ../rc3.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S30apcupsd && cd ../rc4.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S30apcupsd && cd ../rc5.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd S30apcupsd && cd ../rc6.d && ln -s ../init.d/apcupsd K98apcupsd ================ 4. Configuration ================ Our generic configure in 3.1 above placed the configuration file in /etc/apcupsd. This file is called apcupsd.conf. Please consult the apcupsd manual to determine the settings for your system and APC model UPS. ================ 6. Conclusion ============== The above steps were an attempt to have you quickly provide APC UPS power protection to your system using Apcupsd software. The software allows the individual user a lot of options depending on his needs and desires. For example I use the cgi feature to be able to see the status of my UPS from a browser. I use the notification feature to mail the electric company that I have loss power. These and other features along with a description of the workings of Apcupsd are fully described in the Apcupsd manual. CHANGELOG: [2001-06-27] * Initial hint. [2003-02-19] * Updated to current LFS script location (/etc/rc.d/init.d/). * Use two digit symlinks versus three. * Updated software download location and latest version. [2003-09-16] * Format modified to meet new Hint Format requirements. [2005-01-04] * Updated to apcupsd-3.10.18 * Modified download location for apcupsd * Modified symlinks in run levels * Fixed missing last two commands in section 3.2.3 * Updated apcupsd startup script to current LFS-6.1.1 style * Changed cgi path in section 3.1 configure command from old /home/httpd