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APCCTRL(8)		     System Manager's Manual		      APCCTRL(8)

NAME
     apcctrl -- a daemon for controlling most APC UPSes

SYNOPSIS
     apcctrl [-b] [-d level | --debug level] [-f file | --config-file file]
	     [-P file | --pid-file file]
	     [-p | --kill-on-powerfail | -t | --term-on-powerfail] [-R]

     apcctrl [-k | --killpower | --hibernate | -o | --power-off]

     apcctrl [-h | --help]

     apcctrl [-V | --version]

DESCRIPTION
     The apcctrl daemon controls the operation of most American Power Conversion
     Corp  (APC) UPSes.  During a power failure, apcctrl informs users about the
     loss of utility power and that a shutdown may occur.  If utility  power  is
     not  restored, a system shutdown will follow when the battery is exhausted,
     a specified timeout expires,  a  specified  battery  charge  percentage  is
     reached, or a specified battery runtime (based on internal UPS calculations
     and  determined  by power consumption rates) expires.  If the utility power
     is restored before one of the these shutdown  conditions  is  met,  apcctrl
     will  inform  users  of  this and the shutdown will generally be cancelled.
     Refer to the Implementation Notes section below for situations in which the
     shutdown may not be cancelled.

     The meaning of the command line options is as follows:

     -b 	 Run in the foreground, do not detach and become a daemon.

     -d level --debug level
		 Set debugging output level where level is a number greater than
		 zero.

     -f file --config-file file
		 Load the specified configuration file.  The default  configura-
		 tion  file  is  /etc/apcctrl/apcctrl.conf.   It must be changed
		 when running more than one copy of apcctrl on the same computer
		 to control multiple UPSes.

     -k | --killpower | --hibernate
		 Power down the UPS in hibernate mode after a 10  second  delay.
		 This  option  is  normally only used by apcctrl itself to power
		 down the UPS after a system shutdown has almost completed.   In
		 hibernate  mode,  the UPS will again supply power to the system
		 when the utility power returns.

     -o | --power-off
		 Power down UPS completely. The UPS will not supply power to the
		 system when the utility power returns.

     -P file --pid-file file
		 Create  the  specified  process  ID  file.   The   default   is
		 /var/run/apcctrl.pid.	 It  must  be  changed when running more
		 than one copy of apcctrl on the same computer to control multi-
		 ple UPSes.

     -p --kill-on-powerfail
		 apcctrl commands the UPS to power down in hibernate  mode  just
		 before  apcctrl  starts the system shutdown. This relies on the
		 grace shutdown delay of a Smart-UPS being long enough to  allow
		 the  system to shutdown completely before the UPS shuts off the
		 power to the system and goes into hibernate mode. This shutdown
		 grace delay is a programmable value stored in a Smart-UPS  EEP-
		 ROM  which can be changed using apctest(8).  In hibernate mode,
		 the UPS will again supply power to the system when the  utility
		 power	returns.  Refer  to  apcctrl.conf(5)  for an alternative
		 method using the KILLDELAY configuration directive and the only
		 method available when using a Back-UPS or other  UPS  operating
		 in simple signalling mode.

     -t --term-on-powerfail
		 apcctrl  exits  immediately  when it issues the system shutdown
		 command.  This behaviour is useful for those systems  where  it
		 is  not possible to insert apcctrl commands in a halt script to
		 issue the killpower command.  Without this option, apcctrl will
		 wait for the SIGTERM signal from the  system  shutdown  process
		 before exiting.

     -R 	 Put  a UPS which runs in smart signalling mode by default (eg a
		 Smart-UPS) into simple signalling mode.

     -v --version
		 Prints the apcctrl version number and the program help.

     -h --help	 Prints the program help.

     The apcctrl daemon supports a networking mode  called  Network  Information
     Server  (NIS) -- not related  to Sun's NIS/YP -- in which the daemon serves
     status  and  event  information to clients over a network. See the "Running
     The Network Information Server" section of the apcctrl manual for more  in-
     formation and configuration details on this mode.

     The  apcctrl  daemon also supports a Smart-UPS in SNMP mode provided an APC
     Web/SNMP or APC PowerNet SNMP card is installed  in  the  UPS's  SmartSlot.
     For  more	information and configuration details on this mode, refer to the
     "Support for SNMP UPSes" section of the apcctrl manual.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
     The shutdown is made by calls to the script /etc/apcctrl/apccontrol by  the
     apcctrl  daemon.  Consequently, no changes to /etc/inittab are necessary on
     Linux as there is no communication  between  the  daemon  and  the  init(1)
     process.	Installation  of  the daemon modifies the halt script so that at
     the end of the shutdown process, the daemon will be  re-executed  to  power
     off the UPS in hibernate mode.

     On  some  operating systems (eg FreeBSD) there is no halt script so apccon-
     trol must be modified to cause the daemon to power off the UPS after a  de-
     lay.   Alternatives  are  to  use	the  --kill-on-powerfail  command on the
     apcctrl command line or refer to apcctrl.conf(5) for details of the KILLDE-
     LAY configuration directive.

CONFIGURATION
     It will almost certainly be necessary to customise the configuration infor-
     mation in the /etc/apcctrl/apcctrl.conf configuration  file  to  suit  your
     configuration and desired UPS behaviour.

     For  information on the configuration directives and the format of the con-
     figuration file, refer to apcctrl.conf(5).

EVENTS
     apcctrl generates events when certain conditions occur.  These  events  are
     sent  to  the  system  log  and,  optionally,  to the temporary events file
     (/var/log/apcctrl.events).    They   also	 generate   a	call   to    the
     /etc/apcctrl/apccontrol  script  which in turn will call any custom scripts
     placed in the /etc/apcctrl directory which may  override  apccontrol's  de-
     fault behaviour. For details of the events and customising apccontrol's be-
     haviour, refer to apccontrol(8).

DATA FILE FORMAT
     If  the  DATATIME	configuration directive is set to non-zero, apcctrl will
     log a data record at the interval defined by the DATATIME	directive.  This
     data record is in a format similar to the APC PowerChute software data file
     format.

STATUS REPORT FORMAT
     The  status report output format is simple ASCII. Generally there is a sin-
     gle piece of information on each line of output. The content  varies  based
     on  the  model  of UPS being used and, in some cases, the firmware version.
     This   status   report    is    also    optionally    written    the    the
     /etc/apcctrl/apcctrl.status file. Refer to apcaccess(8) for full details of
     the status report output.

FILES
     /etc/apcctrl/apcctrl.conf default configuration file

     /var/run/apcctrl.pid default process ID file

     /var/log/apcctrl.status optional status file

     /var/log/apcctrl.events default events file

SEE ALSO
     apcctrl.conf(5), apcaccess(8), apccontrol(8), apctest(8).

     The  HTML	apcctrl  manual  installed on your system or available online at
     http://www.apcctrl.org/

AUTHORS
   This page
     Trevor Roydhouse (current)
     Andre M. Hedrick
     Christopher J. Reimer

   Software
     Adam Kropelin (current Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Kern Sibbald (former Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Riccardo Facchetti (former Project Manager and Code Maintainer)
     Andre M. Hedrick (Project Founder and former Code Maintainer)

   Contributors
     An enormous number of users who have devoted their time and energy to  this
     project -- thanks.

apcctrl v3.14.6 		January 10, 2009		      APCCTRL(8)

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