UPS not being seen

I’m using openSUSE 13.1, KDE 14.11.5, and apcupsd / gapcmon 3.14.10. the UPS is APC PRO 1300

Today, I attempted to view the logs for my UPS using the gapcmon display in the tray. It reported that there was no connection. I get an error message: unknown@localhost is NISERR NIS network error. Automatic refresh for localhost failed! Network thread is busy.

I understand this to mean the computer cannot communicate with the UPS. I checked the connection, USB on the computer, RJ11 plug on UPS. Seems good.

Until recently, I had a APC PRO 1000 connected and it worked properly. I recently replaced it with this 1300. I’m almost positive it was working. Where do I start to fix this situation.

Bart

Maybe start by sharing your apcupsd.conf, and tel us which UPS cable is in use, just in case that is relevant here. (I know that specific models require particular APC cables.)

BTW, is anything reported by ‘apcaccess’ command?

UNIVAC:~ # apcaccess
Error contacting apcupsd @ localhost:3551: Connection refused
UNIVAC:~ # 

Is apcupsd running? Check

systemctl status apcupsd.service

## apcupsd.conf v1.1 ##
# 
#  for apcupsd release 3.14.10 (13 September 2011) - suse
#
# "apcupsd" POSIX config file

#
# ========= General configuration parameters ============
#

# UPSNAME xxx
#   Use this to give your UPS a name in log files and such. This
#   is particulary useful if you have multiple UPSes. This does not
#   set the EEPROM. It should be 8 characters or less.
#UPSNAME
UPSNAME Desktop

# UPSCABLE <cable>
#   Defines the type of cable connecting the UPS to your computer.
#
#   Possible generic choices for <cable> are:
#     simple, smart, ether, usb
#
#   Or a specific cable model number may be used:
#     940-0119A, 940-0127A, 940-0128A, 940-0020B,
#     940-0020C, 940-0023A, 940-0024B, 940-0024C,
#     940-1524C, 940-0024G, 940-0095A, 940-0095B,
#     940-0095C, M-04-02-2000
#
UPSCABLE usb

# To get apcupsd to work, in addition to defining the cable
# above, you must also define a UPSTYPE, which corresponds to
# the type of UPS you have (see the Description for more details).
# You must also specify a DEVICE, sometimes referred to as a port.
# For USB UPSes, please leave the DEVICE directive blank. For
# other UPS types, you must specify an appropriate port or address.
#
# UPSTYPE   DEVICE           Description
# apcsmart  /dev/tty**       Newer serial character device, appropriate for 
#                            SmartUPS models using a serial cable (not USB).
#
# usb       <BLANK>          Most new UPSes are USB. A blank DEVICE
#                            setting enables autodetection, which is
#                            the best choice for most installations.
#
# net       hostname:port    Network link to a master apcupsd through apcupsd's 
#                            Network Information Server. This is used if the
#                            UPS powering your computer is connected to a 
#                            different computer for monitoring.
#
# snmp      hostname:port:vendor:community
#                            SNMP network link to an SNMP-enabled UPS device.
#                            Hostname is the ip address or hostname of the UPS 
#                            on the network. Vendor can be can be "APC" or 
#                            "APC_NOTRAP". "APC_NOTRAP" will disable SNMP trap 
#                            catching; you usually want "APC". Port is usually 
#                            161. Community is usually "private".
#
# netsnmp   hostname:port:vendor:community
#                            OBSOLETE
#                            Same as SNMP above but requires use of the 
#                            net-snmp library. Unless you have a specific need
#                            for this old driver, you should use 'snmp' instead.
#
# dumb      /dev/tty**       Old serial character device for use with 
#                            simple-signaling UPSes.
#
# pcnet     ipaddr:username:passphrase:port
#                            PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol which can be 
#                            used as an alternative to SNMP with the AP9617 
#                            family of smart slot cards. ipaddr is the IP 
#                            address of the UPS management card. username and 
#                            passphrase are the credentials for which the card 
#                            has been configured. port is the port number on 
#                            which to listen for messages from the UPS, normally 
#                            3052. If this parameter is empty or missing, the 
#                            default of 3052 will be used.
#
UPSTYPE usb
#DEVICE /dev/ttyS0

# POLLTIME <int>
#   Interval (in seconds) at which apcupsd polls the UPS for status. This
#   setting applies both to directly-attached UPSes (UPSTYPE apcsmart, usb, 
#   dumb) and networked UPSes (UPSTYPE net, snmp). Lowering this setting
#   will improve apcupsd's responsiveness to certain events at the cost of
#   higher CPU utilization. The default of 60 is appropriate for most
#   situations.
#POLLTIME 60

# LOCKFILE <path to lockfile>
#   Path for device lock file. Not used on Win32.
LOCKFILE /var/lock

# SCRIPTDIR <path to script directory>
#   Directory in which apccontrol and event scripts are located.
SCRIPTDIR /etc/apcupsd

# PWRFAILDIR <path to powerfail directory>
#   Directory in which to write the powerfail flag file. This file
#   is created when apcupsd initiates a system shutdown and is
#   checked in the OS halt scripts to determine if a killpower
#   (turning off UPS output power) is required.
PWRFAILDIR /etc/apcupsd

# NOLOGINDIR <path to nologin directory>
#   Directory in which to write the nologin file. The existence
#   of this flag file tells the OS to disallow new logins.
NOLOGINDIR /etc


#
# ======== Configuration parameters used during power failures ==========
#

# The ONBATTERYDELAY is the time in seconds from when a power failure
#   is detected until we react to it with an onbattery event.
#
#   This means that, apccontrol will be called with the powerout argument
#   immediately when a power failure is detected.  However, the
#   onbattery argument is passed to apccontrol only after the 
#   ONBATTERYDELAY time.  If you don't want to be annoyed by short
#   powerfailures, make sure that apccontrol powerout does nothing
#   i.e. comment out the wall.
ONBATTERYDELAY 6

# 
# Note: BATTERYLEVEL, MINUTES, and TIMEOUT work in conjunction, so
# the first that occurs will cause the initation of a shutdown.
#

# If during a power failure, the remaining battery percentage
# (as reported by the UPS) is below or equal to BATTERYLEVEL, 
# apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
BATTERYLEVEL 5

# If during a power failure, the remaining runtime in minutes 
# (as calculated internally by the UPS) is below or equal to MINUTES,
# apcupsd, will initiate a system shutdown.
MINUTES 3

# If during a power failure, the UPS has run on batteries for TIMEOUT
# many seconds or longer, apcupsd will initiate a system shutdown.
# A value of 0 disables this timer.
#
#  Note, if you have a Smart UPS, you will most likely want to disable
#    this timer by setting it to zero. That way, you UPS will continue
#    on batteries until either the % charge remaing drops to or below BATTERYLEVEL,
#    or the remaining battery runtime drops to or below MINUTES.  Of course,
#    if you are testing, setting this to 60 causes a quick system shutdown
#    if you pull the power plug.   
#  If you have an older dumb UPS, you will want to set this to less than
#    the time you know you can run on batteries.
TIMEOUT 0

#  Time in seconds between annoying users to signoff prior to
#  system shutdown. 0 disables.
ANNOY 300

# Initial delay after power failure before warning users to get
# off the system.
ANNOYDELAY 60

# The condition which determines when users are prevented from
# logging in during a power failure.
# NOLOGON <string>  disable | timeout | percent | minutes | always ]
NOLOGON disable

# If KILLDELAY is non-zero, apcupsd will continue running after a
# shutdown has been requested, and after the specified time in
# seconds attempt to kill the power. This is for use on systems
# where apcupsd cannot regain control after a shutdown.
# KILLDELAY <seconds>  0 disables
KILLDELAY 0

#
# ==== Configuration statements for Network Information Server ====
#

# NETSERVER  on | off ] on enables, off disables the network
#  information server. If netstatus is on, a network information
#  server process will be started for serving the STATUS and
#  EVENT data over the network (used by CGI programs).
NETSERVER on

# NISIP <dotted notation ip address>
#  IP address on which NIS server will listen for incoming connections.
#  This is useful if your server is multi-homed (has more than one
#  network interface and IP address). Default value is 0.0.0.0 which
#  means any incoming request will be serviced. Alternatively, you can
#  configure this setting to any specific IP address of your server and 
#  NIS will listen for connections only on that interface. Use the
#  loopback address (127.0.0.1) to accept connections only from the
#  local machine.
NISIP 0.0.0.0

# NISPORT <port> default is 3551 as registered with the IANA
#  port to use for sending STATUS and EVENTS data over the network.
#  It is not used unless NETSERVER is on. If you change this port,
#  you will need to change the corresponding value in the cgi directory
#  and rebuild the cgi programs.
NISPORT 3551

# If you want the last few EVENTS to be available over the network
# by the network information server, you must define an EVENTSFILE.
EVENTSFILE /var/log/apcupsd.events

# EVENTSFILEMAX <kilobytes>
#  By default, the size of the EVENTSFILE will be not be allowed to exceed
#  10 kilobytes.  When the file grows beyond this limit, older EVENTS will
#  be removed from the beginning of the file (first in first out).  The
#  parameter EVENTSFILEMAX can be set to a different kilobyte value, or set
#  to zero to allow the EVENTSFILE to grow without limit.
EVENTSFILEMAX 10

#
# ========== Configuration statements used if sharing =============
#            a UPS with more than one machine

#
# Remaining items are for ShareUPS (APC expansion card) ONLY
#

# UPSCLASS  standalone | shareslave | sharemaster ]
#   Normally standalone unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS
#   card.
UPSCLASS standalone

# UPSMODE  disable | share ]
#   Normally disable unless you share an UPS using an APC ShareUPS card.
UPSMODE disable

#
# ===== Configuration statements to control apcupsd system logging ========
#

# Time interval in seconds between writing the STATUS file; 0 disables
STATTIME 0

# Location of STATUS file (written to only if STATTIME is non-zero)
STATFILE /var/log/apcupsd.status

# LOGSTATS  on | off ] on enables, off disables
# Note! This generates a lot of output, so if         
#       you turn this on, be sure that the
#       file defined in syslog.conf for LOG_NOTICE is a named pipe.
#  You probably do not want this on.
LOGSTATS off

# Time interval in seconds between writing the DATA records to
#   the log file. 0 disables.
DATATIME 0

# FACILITY defines the logging facility (class) for logging to syslog. 
#          If not specified, it defaults to "daemon". This is useful 
#          if you want to separate the data logged by apcupsd from other
#          programs.
#FACILITY DAEMON

#
# ========== Configuration statements used in updating the UPS EPROM =========
#

#
# These statements are used only by apctest when choosing "Set EEPROM with conf
# file values" from the EEPROM menu. THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NO EFFECT ON APCUPSD.
#

# UPS name, max 8 characters 
#UPSNAME UPS_IDEN

# Battery date - 8 characters
#BATTDATE mm/dd/yy

# Sensitivity to line voltage quality (H cause faster transfer to batteries)  
# SENSITIVITY H M L        (default = H)
#SENSITIVITY H

# UPS delay after power return (seconds)
# WAKEUP 000 060 180 300   (default = 0)
#WAKEUP 60

# UPS Grace period after request to power off (seconds)
# SLEEP 020 180 300 600    (default = 20)
#SLEEP 180

# Low line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 106 103 100 097
#    M 177 172 168 182
#    A 092 090 088 086
#    I 208 204 200 196     (default = 0 => not valid)
#LOTRANSFER  208

# High line voltage causing transfer to batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 127 130 133 136
#    M 229 234 239 224
#    A 108 110 112 114
#    I 253 257 261 265     (default = 0 => not valid)
#HITRANSFER 253

# Battery charge needed to restore power
# RETURNCHARGE 00 15 50 90 (default = 15)
#RETURNCHARGE 15

# Alarm delay 
# 0 = zero delay after pwr fail, T = power fail + 30 sec, L = low battery, N = never
# BEEPSTATE 0 T L N        (default = 0)
#BEEPSTATE T

# Low battery warning delay in minutes
# LOWBATT 02 05 07 10      (default = 02)
#LOWBATT 2

# UPS Output voltage when running on batteries
# The permitted values depend on your model as defined by last letter 
#  of FIRMWARE or APCMODEL. Some representative values are:
#    D 115
#    M 208
#    A 100
#    I 230 240 220 225     (default = 0 => not valid)
#OUTPUTVOLTS 230

# Self test interval in hours 336=2 weeks, 168=1 week, ON=at power on
# SELFTEST 336 168 ON OFF  (default = 336)
#SELFTEST 336

The configuration file looks okay to me. Check if the apcupsd.service is running though.

AHAH! I have GOT to learn this systemctl thing!

Here’s the result:


UNIVAC:~ # systemctl status apcupsd.service -l
apcupsd.service - APC UPS Power Control Daemon for Linux
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/apcupsd.service; enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2014-12-30 00:51:17 MST; 3 days ago
 Main PID: 3631 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   CGroup: /system.slice/apcupsd.service

Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC systemd[1]: Starting APC UPS Power Control Daemon for Linux...
Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC systemd[1]: Started APC UPS Power Control Daemon for Linux.
Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC apcupsd[3631]: apcupsd FATAL ERROR in apcconfig.c at line 670
Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC apcupsd[3631]: Error opening configuration file (/etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf): Permission denied
Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC systemd[1]: apcupsd.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC systemd[1]: Unit apcupsd.service entered failed state.
UNIVAC:~ # 

So: Where’s the problem?


UNIVAC:~ # ls -l /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12490 Jan 22  2014 /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
UNIVAC:~ # 

It’s not clear to me about what the cause of the errors are, and I need to sleep now (late here). You might need to search online, or perhaps someone else can chime in here. Which version of the software are you using? Maybe worth a try to upgrade?

I’ll check back here tomorrow.

If all else fails
http://www.apcupsd.org/support/

Check the file giving the error

(/etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf): Permission denied

is it there? what are the permissions??

That’s what is not understood. Nothing obvious to me or the OP. However, it is the error before that which could be relevant here

Dec 30 00:51:17 UNIVAC apcupsd[3631]: apcupsd FATAL ERROR in apcconfig.c at line 670

Hi
Nope, that’s the bit of code that generates the error seen :wink:


   if ((apcconf = fopen(cfgfile, "r")) == NULL) {
      Error_abort2("Error opening configuration file (%s): %s
",
         cfgfile, strerror(errno));
   }

So it may look like a valid file, might have some character funnies in it. Not been opened or saved as a windows file?

Perhaps run dos2unix over the file…

Yes, it’s there.


UNIVAC:~ # ls -l /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12490 Jan 22  2014 /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
UNIVAC:~ #


Funny you should say that… I did a Windows “fix it” on apcupsd by uninstalling it, removing the directory that contained the configuraton files, and reinstalled it. Same as before. The file, and the directories, are world readable. Just doesn’t make sense!

Looking at the code though, it seems (to me) like the error isn’t because of garbage within the file, it’s because the file cannot be opened at all. Am I reading that right?

Bart

On Fri 02 Jan 2015 08:56:01 PM CST, montana suse user wrote:

malcolmlewis;2686788 Wrote:
> Hi
> Nope, that’s the bit of code that generates the error seen :wink:
> >
Code:

> >
> if ((apcconf = fopen(cfgfile, “r”)) == NULL) {
> Error_abort2("Error opening configuration file (%s): %s
",
> cfgfile, strerror(errno));
> }
>

> >
> So it may look like a valid file, might have some character funnies in
> it. Not been opened or saved as a windows file?
>
> Perhaps run dos2unix over the file…

Funny you should say that… I did a Windows “fix it” on apcupsd by
uninstalling it, removing the directory that contained the configuraton
files, and reinstalled it. Same as before. The file, and the
directories, are world readable. Just doesn’t make sense!

Looking at the code though, it seems (to me) like the error isn’t
because of garbage within the file, it’s because the file cannot be
opened at all. Am I reading that right?

Bart

Hi
So who owns the apcupsd service? Do a chmod 0644 on the config file and
run dos2unix over it.

Then restart the service;


systemctl stop apcupsd
systemctl start apcupsd
systemctl status apcupsd

Output still the same?


Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.12.28-4-default
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

There may be an error in the apcupsd.conf file. A section of yours is above. Similar lines in mine (which works) are

UPSTYPE usb
DEVICE

Maybe try a blank DEVICE line.

Howard

The following is a showing of the permissions of the path to the configuration file. Copied from the CLI of Konsole and not edited.
It shows the the file in question is clearly there, and should be accessible by apcupsd.


bart@UNIVAC:~> su -
Password: 
UNIVAC:~ # cd /
UNIVAC:/ # ls -dl /etc
drwxr-xr-x 139 root root 8192 Jan  2 12:22 /etc
UNIVAC:/ # cd etc
UNIVAC:/etc # ls -dl apcupsd/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan  2 10:39 apcupsd/
UNIVAC:/etc # cd apcupsd/
UNIVAC:/etc/apcupsd # ls -l apcupsd.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12480 May 13  2014 apcupsd.conf
UNIVAC:/etc/apcupsd # logout
bart@UNIVAC:~> 

On the Sourceforge site, there is the source for the latest version which is supposed to contain some bug fixes. I looked at the instructions for compiling and I’m thinking this would not be the best program for a first time effort. Anyone have any thoughts about this? Worth a try?

Does your question mean the file apcupsd.conf? If so, root is the owner, root is the group

Do a chmod 0644 on the config file and
run dos2unix over it.

Done!

Then restart the service;

systemctl stop apcupsd
systemctl start apcupsd
systemctl status apcupsd

Output still the same?

Yes. Still the same.


Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.12.28-4-default
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks![/QUOTE]

The error message I’m getting indicates the problem is that the file cannot be opened. I don’t think the contents of the file are relevant at this point. That said, I’m going to try your suggestion. Can’t hurt.

Bart

It effectively is blank. Commented out.

#DEVICE /dev/ttyS0