genpower README --------------- $Id: README,v 1.4 2001/12/26 22:42:24 quinot Exp $ This is the 1.0.3 release of the genpower (Generic Power Monitoring for *nix) package. Genpower was once known as Unipower, but its name was changed because of trademark issues. The code was originally written by Tom Webster , and was subsequently modified by: Brian White Jhon H. Caicedo O. Thomas Quinot The project is now hosted as SourceForge: http://genpower.sourceforge.net/ FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.3 * Bug fixes and portability enhancements. * Support for the following UPS units: OneUPS+ CyberPower SL w/stock cable TrippLite OmniSmart PNP 675 TrippLite BC Pro w/73-0724 cable APC Back-UPS Pro (several cable types) Blackout Buster USV 500P Trust Energy Protector FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.2 * Support for Tripplite Omnismart 450 PNP. FEATURES ADDED IN 1.0.1 * Users can now select from preconfigured UPS and cable configurations at runtime. With a sufficient body of UPS and cable configurations, this should allow most users to just compile genpower 'right out of the box' and select the desired configuration while installing. * genpower will return an error code if it is unable to kill the UPS's inverter during the shutdown process. This allows for better error handling. * genpower can now use the serial data transmit line for inverter shutdown with the normal command syntax. WHAT GENPOWER DOES: The genpower package is basically a hack of Miquel van Smoorenburg's powerd daemon, which is distributed in the SysVInit package. The express aim of the genpower package is to add additional functionally and a simpler means of configuring UPS monitoring, in a full featured suite that can be configured to work with most UPSs featuring an RS232 monitoring port. Depending on the UPS, cable, and the manner in which the genpower package is configured, the genpower package provides the following features: * Line power sensing, to detect when the power has failed and initiate a delayed shutdown, or other appropriate actions. This facility also allows the system to cancel the shutdown if power is restored before the system is shutdown. * Low battery detection, to detect when the UPS's battery is running low and initiate an immediate shutdown. * Physical cable detection, to detect connection errors. * The ability to kill the UPS's inverter. This shuts the inverter on the UPS off, to prevent the system from draining the UPS's battery after it has shutdown. This allows the system to restart itself, as if the power had been turned on when line power is restored. Additionally, this helps the UPS to retain enough power to deal with power yo-yos, where the power comes up and goes down several times before being fully restored. * The unitest program, included in the genpower package, will monitor the status of a serial line and report changes in the status of the line. The information provided by unitest can then be used to configure the genpower package for your UPS and cable combination. Instructions for configuring the genpower package are contained in the documentation (genpower.docs) and should be read carefully before proceeding. Please let me know if you find any problems, if you have suggestions for enhancing the package, or if you have information on connecting genpower to a UPS that isn't covered in the documentation. Tom Webster webster@kaiwan.com 07/07/95