Using WinNUT Client with ReadyNAS 312?

[gwhite]

I have a new CyberPower UPS, which I have connected via USB to my RN312.  It is all set up to shutdown the NAS using the "Auto" threshold, which I believe is 5 minutes of remaining run-time.

I also want to shut down my Windows 10 PC.  As best I can tell, I can run a Network UPS Tool ("NUT") program on the PC to communicate with the NAS to do this.  There are two "WinNUT" programs out there.  One is a port of a Linux program, and all the configuration is in text files, and it's very complicated & a bit cryptic:

https://networkupstools.org/download.html#_binary_packages  

There is also a much simpler GUI program called WinNUT Client:

https://github.com/gawindx/WinNUT-Client 

This allows basic control of when the PC shuts down, and also has a graphical display of a bunch of power & UPS related parameters.

After checking "Enable network monitoring of attached UPS" in the NAS FrontView UPS section, I installed WinNUT Client last night.  There is a Settings-Options window where you tell it how to talk to the NAS:

I haven't found any examples of how this gets filled out, especially for a NetGear NAS running FrontView.  I tried entering the NAS network name in "NUT Host", and it didn't like that.  I gave it the IP address, and that seemed to be OK.  In FrontView, the UPS is just listed as "UPS", so I tried that for the "UPS Name".  I also put in the login info to get to FrontView, but I have no idea if that is required or not.  It couldn't connect, and I gave up for the night.

This morning, I  decided to try leaving off the Login stuff, but when I tried to open the program, it crashed.  I filed a bug report, and will uninstall, re-install, and try again.

This looks like a very nice little program, but I'm clearly missing some detail on how to get it to talk to the NAS.  Does anyone out there have this working?

Thanks!

[gwhite · Accepted solution]

It turns out the version I got was from an older "fork" on GitHub, and I needed to get the  latest version here:

https://github.com/nutdotnet/WinNUT-Client?tab=readme-ov-file 

I installed this one, and configured the communications window like this:

No login info required.  I only put in the NAS IP address, and changed the UPS name.  It connected immediately!

The only other important settings I changed were the Shutdown Options:

The default shutdown runtime was set to 120 seconds.  If the NAS shuts down at 5 minutes remaining runtime, that will be a problem.  I set the PC shutdown time to 6 minutes so it will shut down first.  Without that load, the run time should jump way up, and the NAS will run a lot longer.

It looks like it's all working.  I'm not sure I have the nerve to test it at the moment...  

I hope this info helps others.  I think this approach is WAY simpler than all the others I investigated.

[Sandshark]

When remotely monitoring a ReadyNAS with as UPS attached via NUT, the user name is monuser and the password is pass.

Note that the nice display you pictured is what you get when a UPS is directly attached to the PC, not when monitoring a remote UPS.

[gwhite · Accepted solution]

It turns out the version I got was from an older "fork" on GitHub, and I needed to get the  latest version here:

https://github.com/nutdotnet/WinNUT-Client?tab=readme-ov-file 

I installed this one, and configured the communications window like this:

No login info required.  I only put in the NAS IP address, and changed the UPS name.  It connected immediately!

The only other important settings I changed were the Shutdown Options:

The default shutdown runtime was set to 120 seconds.  If the NAS shuts down at 5 minutes remaining runtime, that will be a problem.  I set the PC shutdown time to 6 minutes so it will shut down first.  Without that load, the run time should jump way up, and the NAS will run a lot longer.

It looks like it's all working.  I'm not sure I have the nerve to test it at the moment...  

I hope this info helps others.  I think this approach is WAY simpler than all the others I investigated.

[gwhite]

Actually, that display IS from the UPS via the NAS connected to my PC.  The WinNUT Client gets the info on the UPS from the NAS, and produces that nice display, mimicking what a direct UPS to PC monitor program looks like.

It's all very slick, once I got the right version.

[gwhite]

I noticed that the voltage and frequency "gauges" in the display were wrong, and clearly set for European grid parameters.  To fix this for US power, you have to go to the "Calibration" tab in the Settings.  I have mine configured as shown below:

Now, my "meter panel" looks like:

The only thing that is out of whack is that the output voltage is showing 136V, which is WAY too high.  The front panel of the UPS reports 121Vac output.  I'm not sure if the UPS is telling the NAS the wrong value, if the NAS is misinterpreting the info from the UPS, or if the WinNUT program is misinterpreting what it is getting from the NAS...

I'll report back if I find a fix.

[gwhite]

Apparently there is a known bug in older versions of the NUT software that will result in reporting the wrong voltage.  Synology NAS's can also produce the same error, presumably because everyone is getting their NUT server software from the same source.  This would have to be fixed with a firmware update to the NAS.  

Given that the 312 is an older box, I'm guessing that is unlikely to happen unless the same firmware is in use in newer hardware.  I just checked, and it doesn't look like NetGear has any current NAS products.

[StephenB]

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@gwhite wrote:

It looks like it's all working.  I'm not sure I have the nerve to test it at the moment...  

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A safe way to test it is to connect the NAS power directly to the main power, and then connect a different load to the UPS.  For instance, a fan or perhaps an incandescent light bulb if you have one.

Then disconnect the UPS from main power.  You should see the appropriate status on the PC client, and both the PC and the NAS should shut down when the UPS battery drains.  Since power is not removed during this test, there is no chance of an unclean shutdown.

[gwhite]

Thanks!  That's a nice way to safely check things. 

I'll try that at some point, but this whole adventure has put a big hole in my schedule.  The exercise started when my APC UPS killed another battery, and I decided to switch to a CyberPower.  They seem to kill batteries MUCH slower than APC's do.  In the process of shutting down the NAS for the swap, I discovered one of the mirrored drives had died...  I had changed my email password a while back & hadn't noticed I wasn't getting notifications.