[Nut-upsuser] How to get started (Windows)

[Jeff Bowman]

> On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, Jeff Bowman wrote:
> 
> > (Note: running
> > 'upsc ups at localhost' echoes only a blank line to the screen, as do
> > both 'upsmon' and 'upsd.')
> 
> Something is wrong here.  Is the daemon upsd running?  On a Unix/Linux
> system, the command ps aux | grep ups gives the report
> 
>   upsd 3196  0.0  0.0  13228   880 ? Ss août30   2:14 /usr/lib/ups/driver/usbhid-ups -a Eaton-66781
>   upsd 3200  0.0  0.0  17560   736 ? Ss août30   0:49 /usr/sbin/upsd -u upsd
>   root 3203  0.0  0.0  19432   664 ? Ss août30   0:00 /usr/sbin/upsmon
>   upsd 3204  0.0  0.0  19856  1612 ? S  août30   0:41 /usr/sbin/upsmon
> 
> I don't have any Windows boxes, but I guess there is a similar command on
> Windows.  What does it show?

The equivalent PowerShell command is Get-Process *ups*

Presently it returns this:

    PS C:\Users\Admin> Get-Process *ups*

    Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName
    -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------
         57       6      788       3584    25     0.03   3504 usbhid-ups

So no...  it doesn't appear upsd is running.

> Is it possible to ssh into the system which runs NUT, and then run command
> "upsc <myups>"?

FYI RDP is the Windows equivalent to SSH, then a PowerShell prompt. I just did so and ran this again:

    upsc ups at localhost

Only a blank line echoes to the screen, presumable because the other *usb* processes aren't running.

Note that when I run upsdrvctl start as indicated on pp21 of the NUT User Manual (PDF), I get the conflict error I described earlier:

    Can't claim USB device [051d:0003]: libusb0-dll:err [claim_interface] could not
    claim interface 0, win error: The requested resource is in use.

    Driver failed to start (exit status=1)

Running the .MSI setup on Windows results in a service (daemon) being created, one that starts and maintains an executable named NUT.exe. I'm not sure what that process does. The above error occurs only when the service is running:

    PS C:\Users\Admin> Get-Process *nut*

    Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName
    -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------
         71       5      692       3376    16     0.00   3840 nut

When I stop the service (NUT.exe) and run upsdrvctl start, the command immediately echoes this:

    Using subdriver: APC HID 0.95

...and then hangs for 45 seconds before returning to a command prompt. No UPS hardware information is printed.

With the service stopped and after running upsdrvctl start, PowerShell returns this:

    PS C:\Users\Admin> Get-Process *ups*

    Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName
    -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- -----------
         57       6      788       3584    25     0.03   3504 usbhid-ups

upsd still returns a blank line. I tried adding this to upsd.conf:

    LISTEN 127.0.0.1 3493

But the result is still the same.

Running this again:

    upsc ups at localhost

Also still results in a blank line.

I tried adding this to ups.conf:

    vendorid = 051d

But that didn't help either.

My UPS is an APC Smart-UPS Model C1000, if that helps.

This is starting to get sticky, isn't it?

> Given that a perfect data set is mission critical for you, I would recommend
> having a test rig where you can check that you can handle wall power return
> at every phase of NUT action.

My plan is to plug the server into a separate power source not controlled by the UPS, and then run my tests. If everything is configured correctly, the server will start its shutdown when I pull the plug on the UPS. But at first I'm only going to have it do something simple, like write some text out to a file or sign out of the current user session. Something non-destructive.

> > Sounds good. Next up: how to then send the 'delayed shutdown' command
> > to the UPS hardware itself? Does the driver automatically handle that?
> 
> The command upsdrvctl shutdown does this.  See man upsdrvctl.

Got it, thanks. Will do. RTFM.

> "Shortly after" means using timers. If you want to preserve the battery
> charge, but not use timers, you need to use a combination of OB and LB and
> set your LB level high using a command such as
> 
>   upsrw -s battery.charge.low=60 -u upsmaster -p sekret my-ups

My timers/loops/etc will be in the logic of the shutdown program I'll eventually write for this (probably a small .NET Console app). All I need NUT to do is detect the power outage and fire the NOTIFYFLAG ONBATT EXEC event, which in turn will run my program. Once control is handed off, I can do anything I want from there. (Start a loop to re-check power status, send emails, shut down the NAS, make log entries, etc.)

But first I have to get it working  :-)

> Roger

Thanks again,
Jeff Bowman
Fairbanks, Alaska