[Nut-upsdev] Three scenarios for simplifying NUT configuration

[Peter Selinger]

Charles Lepple wrote:
> 
> On 5/30/07, Eric S. Raymond <esr at thyrsus.com> wrote:
> 
> > Scenario 2: HAL-centric
> >
> > We teach HAL about NUT drivers.  HAL autoconfigures for UPS devices
> > based on hotplug notifications.  Gnome Power Manager (or KDE
> > equivalent) replaces upsd and upsmon.
> >
> > Advantages: Zero configuration.
> >
> > Disadvantages: Poor support, or more likely no support at all, for
> > serial and network UPSes.
> 
> HAL sounds like a good idea, but I don't use GNOME or KDE enough to
> really comment on how well this works.

I thought about this "zero configuration" idea. Most of the steps in
INSTALL can be automated, including the driver selection in the case
of USB drivers. HAL or whatever can deal with that.

However, there is one step that cannot be automated as far as I can
see, at least not outside a particular packaged distribution. This is
the part "edit your shutdown scripts". Recall that the purpose is to
power down the computer by shutting down the UPS, rather than using
the computer's internal power-off mechanism. The purpose is to allow
the system to reboot once the power returns (which might not otherwise
happen if the power comes online before the battery runs out).

Each Linux distribution has its own shutdown scripts. Even within a
distribution, the shutdown scripts often differ from release to
release. Not to mention non-Linux systems. Unfortunately, there is no
common standard or hook for power-off. I don't see how any automated
configuration script, no matter how sophisticated, can correctly edit
the shutdown scripts in all cases, unless perhaps we create a database
of all shutdown mechanisms ever encountered; this would still not
cover scripts with custom modifications. So some system admin
knowledge seems to be required to install NUT outside of a packaged
distribution, no matter what.

-- Peter