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ReadyNAS as Network UPS Tools (NUT) client?
I recently replaced our aged UPS with a new APC SmartUPS XL series. It provides power for the ReadyNAS (Pioneer Pro 6), a couple of FreeBSD machines, a couple of switches, and a DSL modem.
One of the FreeBSD machines (call it "host-a") is the packet filter between the home networks and the Internet; it only makes use of the ReadyNAS when I'm updating host-a's software, The other FreeBSD machine (call it "host-b") gets some critical file systems from the ReadyNAS (including user home directories), so if the ReadyNAS is unavailable, host-b is in "seriously degraded" mode.
The UPS has both (DB9) serial and USB communication capabilities. However, it apparently cannot use both concurrently: if I have (working) connectivity via serial (to one of the FreeBSD machines), and connect the UPS's USB port to the ReadyNAS, the ReadyNAS can see the UPS, but the FreeBSD machine loses connectivity to the UPS. (I have verified that if I connect the UPS to the ReadyNAS via USB, the ReadyNAS is able to see the UPS status -- but then I lose the ability to have the FreeBSD machines see the UPS.)
The ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer Edition User Guide, v1.0, December 2008, near the bottom of p. 5-4 says "As an option, the ReadyNAS can remotely monitor the UPS when connected to a PC running Network UPS Tools (NUT). For more information about NUT, see http://www.networkupstools.org."
Given that, I connected the UPS's serial port to host-a's serial port and installed & configured Network UPS Tools (ports/sysutils/nut) on host-a, and verified that I could then see the UPS status (e.g., by using upsc(8). I then also installed NUT on host-b, set it up to be a client of host-a, and verified that I could use upsc(8) on host-b to see the status of the UPS connected to host-a.
But I have not yet been able to find out how to (also) configure the ReadyNAS to talk to host-a. How can this be done?
Note: There are a couple of reasons it's not ideal to have the UPS connected (only) directly to the ReadyNAS in my case:
1) I need to be able to (e.g.) update the UPS to tell it how many external battery chassis are connected to it.
2) We have other machines (e.g., laptops) that have other UPSen or batteries powering them and are able to make constructive use of the home network and the Internet connection even if the ReadyNAS is unavailable. Therefore, my intent is to power down host-b and the ReadyNAS well before host-a if we have a prolonged power outage.
One of the FreeBSD machines (call it "host-a") is the packet filter between the home networks and the Internet; it only makes use of the ReadyNAS when I'm updating host-a's software, The other FreeBSD machine (call it "host-b") gets some critical file systems from the ReadyNAS (including user home directories), so if the ReadyNAS is unavailable, host-b is in "seriously degraded" mode.
The UPS has both (DB9) serial and USB communication capabilities. However, it apparently cannot use both concurrently: if I have (working) connectivity via serial (to one of the FreeBSD machines), and connect the UPS's USB port to the ReadyNAS, the ReadyNAS can see the UPS, but the FreeBSD machine loses connectivity to the UPS. (I have verified that if I connect the UPS to the ReadyNAS via USB, the ReadyNAS is able to see the UPS status -- but then I lose the ability to have the FreeBSD machines see the UPS.)
The ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer Edition User Guide, v1.0, December 2008, near the bottom of p. 5-4 says "As an option, the ReadyNAS can remotely monitor the UPS when connected to a PC running Network UPS Tools (NUT). For more information about NUT, see http://www.networkupstools.org."
Given that, I connected the UPS's serial port to host-a's serial port and installed & configured Network UPS Tools (ports/sysutils/nut) on host-a, and verified that I could then see the UPS status (e.g., by using upsc(8). I then also installed NUT on host-b, set it up to be a client of host-a, and verified that I could use upsc(8) on host-b to see the status of the UPS connected to host-a.
But I have not yet been able to find out how to (also) configure the ReadyNAS to talk to host-a. How can this be done?
Note: There are a couple of reasons it's not ideal to have the UPS connected (only) directly to the ReadyNAS in my case:
1) I need to be able to (e.g.) update the UPS to tell it how many external battery chassis are connected to it.
2) We have other machines (e.g., laptops) that have other UPSen or batteries powering them and are able to make constructive use of the home network and the Internet connection even if the ReadyNAS is unavailable. Therefore, my intent is to power down host-b and the ReadyNAS well before host-a if we have a prolonged power outage.
6 Replies
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- If you have a 'monuser' setup on the remote host, the ReadyNAS should connect to it. See more details here: viewtopic.php?p=303766#p303766
- Thanks! OK; added the SSH add-on; found I'd need to reboot to enable it... deferred that (as it's disruptive). Saw (yesterday) that RAIDiator 4.2.27 was now available, so incorporated that update with my regular weekly updates of Everything Else (that was going to be disrupted anyway); on reboot, was reminded that SSH was now available. Right. So, referred to above "viewtopic..."; created /etc/not/.orig & copied all the files from /etc/nut there. (Would have use RCS....) Anyway: referred to the cited post & a FreeBSD machine that's acting as a "nut" slave; copied MONITOR line in upsmon.conf; also edited upsd.users to conform to working machine.
But how do I (re-)start upsmon? Available options on Web interface ("Frontview?) for UPS Configuration don't really apply (and selecting them overwrites the above). On my FreeBSD box, I'd "service nut_upsmon restart" to do this... but I'm unfamiliar with Linux. - Try this:
# /etc/init.d/ups-monitor restart - Thanks. I tried that; it appeared to "work":
howland:/etc/nut# /etc/init.d/ups-monitor restart
Restarting Network UPS Tools:.
howland:/etc/nut# echo $?
0
howland:/etc/nut#
but Front view doesn't show status. On the other hand:
howland:/etc/nut# upsc Main@172.16.8.1
battery.alarm.threshold: 0
battery.charge: 100.0
battery.charge.low: 0
battery.charge.restart: 00
....
(and trying to use the hostname vs. the IP address whined "Error: Connection failure: Connection refused" -- then again, the machine where the UPS is physically connected is multi-homed, so I suppose that could confuse things a bit).
So I *think* this means that "it's working," and I shouldn't get fussed about Frontview.
Thanks for your help & patience. :-) - You can test it easily enough by hooking the NAS up to the normal power, but leaving it configured to monitor the UPS. Then disconnect the main power from the UPS, and see if the NAS shuts down properly when the battery drains.
- Well, thanks.... That may work (well) for some circumstances. But it's way too disruptive for my current situation.
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