APC UPS Client Add-on or Widget

schalliol wrote:

I too am interested in getting my APC Network Management card to talk to my UPS, as plugging in USB kills serial communication, including environmental temp/humidity monitoring. Over in this thread (last couple posts), it appears that it's possible to make NUT on the ReadyNAS to talk with the card directly, but I don't have the knowledge of how to go about adding this capability. I think someone more used to working on these types of devices will know after looking. Could someone take a look and let us know if there's anything you think we can do? Thanks!

Did you not see my posting earlier in this thread?

I have my ReadyNAS monitoring a Linux box that runs a NUT server. The NUT server monitors my APC RT5000 UPS over the local network. Skip back a few messages in this thread and you'll see a screenshot of the ReadyNAS's health screen.

ianmacd wrote:
schalliol wrote: Did you not see my posting earlier in this thread?

Yep, I did see it. Did you read the text you quoted? I'm looking to "make NUT on the ReadyNAS...talk with the card directly." It seems the way you did it requires a remote machine talk with the card and then the NAS talks with that machine. However, I presume if you can put a service on a Linux box that reads from the card directly, we can do the same on the ReadyNAS...however, I'm not sure how to install and configure it. Perhaps might we install the server and then configure the client on the NAS to look internally? Ideas?

schalliol wrote:
ianmacd wrote: Did you not see my posting earlier in this thread? Yep, I did see it. Did you read the text you quoted?

Yes, but it was a bit confusing. You said:

Over in this thread (last couple posts), it appears that it's possible to make NUT on the ReadyNAS to talk with the card directly, but I don't have the knowledge of how to go about adding this capability.

Whilst you mention that a different thread has suggested that direct communication might be possible, you don't indicate that indirect communication isn't acceptable to you.

Anyway, now to your latest statement:

However, I presume if you can put a service on a Linux box that reads from the card directly, we can do the same on the ReadyNAS...however, I'm not sure how to install and configure it. Perhaps might we install the server and then configure the client on the NAS to look internally? Ideas?

Well, first of all you have to install a development environment and compile the NUT server from scratch for the ReadyNAS's ARM processor. You must take care to include the snmp-ups driver, because that's required to query the APC. Next, install the software, preferably as a proper ReadyNAS package, and configure upsd to query your APC and run on 127.0.0.1. Finally, make the NUT client query 127.0.0.1 as if it were a remote ReadyNAS.

There's quite a bit of work involved in this method and that work will get blown away every time you install a new version of the firmware. I decided it was easier to run the NUT server on a local Linux server and have that monitor the APC instead.

OK, I've just spent a few days playing with NUT and found it wanting. It won't directly work with some virtual machines to shut them down earlier then the host machine. I asked about this on the NUT mailing list and the response was "that's VMWare's problem." FAIL.

apcupsd works fine with every single system we have except the ReadyNAS.

I won't buy anymore ReadyNASs until either (a) Netgear adds support for direct control of the UPS from the ReadyNAS via NUT or (b) Netgear adds support for apcupsd. (b) would be my strong preference.

I also cast a big VOTE for your ReadyNAS 1100 to be able to receive notifications DIRECTLY from an APC 96xx series SNMP/Network Management card in APC Smart UPS.

To have to have a separate linux box running in order for your system to be able to know that the UPS is saying shut down makes absolutely ZERO business sense to me!

Gets my vote too. I have two APC UPS both with network cards and monitoring devices.

please add me to the voting-list !

i have a smart apc 3000 with network-card and a ReadyNAS PRO (pioneer).

br

+1

Sure, I've made it work by running a nut relay on a Linux server nearby, which my old NV and shiny new Pro Business listen to, but that's a kludge which seems like an additional point of failure, and which I wish were unnecessary -- especially now that it's on the to-do list as I migrate to a new Linux box, and I need to remind myself how it was set up.

I'd really like to be able to point the Pro (I may retire the NV, so if there's any difference in potential support between the two platforms that's my priority) at the APC UPS's network card via a simple setting using the NAS's web interface.

Pretty please?

-Jeff

look at this thread, maybe we have the apc-snmp support in one of the next releases...
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30581

pietro

I'm not familiar with apc-snmp but it's not the same thing as apcupsd (http://apcupsd.org), which is the package many of us have been asking Netgear to support.