Aug 29, 2011 UPS Logger is a Startup Item that adds basic log messages to the existing support for a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) support built-in to the Mac OS X Energy Saver Preference Pane. It does not affect in any way the operation of your UPS, or Energy Saver. The log file that UPS Logger creates will be at /Library/Logs/UPS Logger.log. The latest version of PowerChute is unknown on Mac Informer. It is a perfect match for the General category. The app is developed by unknown. . PowerChute can use IPv4 or IPv6 to communicate with the Network Management Card(s). IPv6 support is available only for Network Management Card firmware 6.0.X or higher. Firewall PowerChute needs to be able to connect to the NMC Web Access port (default: TCP port 80)and receive data inbound to UDP port 3052. If SNMP is enabled, PowerChute needs.
| Click here to return to the 'Use a third-party APC UPS management tool for more control' hint |
Hm, I've been dreading the battery and power failure beeps with my new APC UPSs. But I don't think the consumer models, I have BackUps LS and CS, have the option to control the alert sounds. Previous models I had were BackUps Pros, and I used the Windoze Powerchute in virtualization to turn off the sounds. I did not see any alert sound options for the CS and LS.
A warning about the installer (I like to poke inside strange new installers, especially from open source): it installs things in system locations, /sbin, /etc & /usr/share, when they should be installed in /usr/local/*. Stuff in system locations has the potential to be removed by Apple updaters, and it's good to have 3rd-party software outside the system, especially for ease of uninstalling.
Powerchute For Mac Os Recovery Tool
Why bother? The built-in software (Energy Saver) is good enough.
Never needed anything beyond that. If you wanted, I'm sure AppleScript and/or Automator could be added for more needs.
> Why bother?
Maybe for the reason described in the first paragraph of colinng's hint? I've used apcupsd precisely for that purpose.
> The built-in software (Energy Saver) is good enough. Never needed anything beyond that.
Good (enough) for you.
> If you wanted, I'm sure AppleScript and/or Automator could be added for more needs.
Do you a specific method to suggest for disabling APC UPS beeps instead of simply a think-you-know-better response?
Thanks for writing up this hint, colinng. Hopefully a few folks will appreciate it.
> Thanks for writing up this hint, colinng. Hopefully a few folks will appreciate it.
D'oh! I just accidentally gave it a 1- instead of 5-star vote… sorry.
Does the built-in monitor more than one UPS? Does it send email notifications?
What a strange comment. Clearly there is value in silencing the beeping noise- I'm going to have mine mute during the night.
I'm going to have mine mute during the night.Minimally, I think that would require a script to interact with apctest to enable/disable beeping using the '6) View/Change alarm behavior' item (shown in the list thwaite posted) or similar. Then cron (for instance) could be used to run that script, with an enable or disable option, at desired intervals.
Setting BEEPSTATE to 'N' (or other values) in apcupsd.conf doesn't apparent to have any effect on the alarm, at least not that I could determine with some brief testing this morning.
I always realize there's a power outage when I'm on/near my home systems and awake to possibly take action. Plus now there's less intrusive Growl notification. And I normally don't want/need to care about outages while asleep. So, I used apctest to change the alarm behavior to unconditionally never beep since there's no reason for it in this context.
This is a useful utility, and the author’s reasons are good: APC software doesn’t give full control even for beeps, much less for network notifications (tho I don’t use these). Don’t expect AppleScript or Automator would expand it.
More usefully, I’ll report:
* the utility works fine on my “ICBM” (heh), a late ‘09 iMac. I finally got a UPS just for it, APC’s BE750G and was annoyed by APC’s limited controls, tho happy that OSX itself does the basic controls nicely (aside: regret that I read the macintouch writer Robert Mohn’s recommendation for iDowell’s iBox and iPack UPS's only later, tho they cost at least twice as much: macintouch.com/reviews/idowell )
* the installer for apcusd is simple, but doesn’t warn that a reboot will be required to complete the install. It does open TextEdit to display two windows, one with the apcupsd.conf file, the other with a notice that you have to edit this configuration file for your specific UPS and should do this before agreeing to the installer's request to reboot. You might be able to skip this step but should read through the config file now to ensure its default settings match your situation. And you’ll need to later edit this .conf file if you want to add network reporting, which can’t be set up using only the simple CLI menu.
* This config file is at /private/etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf. But its permissions are read-only so you can't save changes using TextEdit, which doesn't allow superuser override. Solution: use the Terminal (which you'll have to use anyway for their CLI menu). Navigate to the directory and sudo-launch your favorite CLI text editor (vim, pico, etc).
Having a little Unix knowledge, I lived dangerously and edited various parameters as suggested by their comments. Recall that lines prefaced by # are comments, often useful example settings; but for functional parameter specifications you must remove the #.
* After rebooting, the CLI menu allows for the following choices:
1) Test kill UPS power
2) Perform self-test
3) Read last self-test result
4) View/Change battery date
5) View manufacturing date
6) View/Change alarm behavior
7) View/Change sensitivity
8) View/Change low transfer voltage
9) View/Change high transfer voltage
10) Perform battery calibration
11) Test alarm
12) View/Change self-test interval
Q) Quit
I’ve not yet tried #1 or #10, but the others work as expected.
Another great feature of apcupsd is that you can install it on more than one machine, and each can communicate with the other. If you have several machines that are powered from the same battery, you can set up apcupsd to shut all of the machines down gracefully before the battery runs out. You can also do lots of other cool things, limited only by your imagination.
For instance, I have two Mac minis in my server closet, and when power goes out and the battery is almost out of juice, on each machine, apcupsd quits all user-space applications (with an Applescript run through the 'osascript' command-line tool, schedules a 'wakeorpoweron' event with the power manager so the machine will reboot once power is restored, and then shuts the system down.
The software also works fine with Intel-based Macs.
APC make good UPSs but their Mac software stinks (to put it mildly).
While their wilful neglect of Macs in terms of software provision might have been justified the many years ago when the Mac market was in serious decline, the massive increase in Mac share in more recent years has led other more sensible companies to resume providing decent Mac support. Even Microsoft have improved their Mac support :)
People might also be interested in the open-source NUTS project (Network Ups ToolS), see http://www.networkupstools.org/ and http://boxster.ghz.cc/projects/nut/wiki/NutOnMacOSX this will work with other makes as well as APC.
Not working in 10.6.2 on an Intel 2.66Ghz 8-core.
I ran 'sudo /Library/StartupItems/apcupsd/apcupsd stop'
I still get this:
2010-03-19 04:28:11 apctest 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) darwin
Checking configuration ...
Attached to driver: usb
sharenet.type = DISABLE
cable.type = USB_CABLE
You are using a USB cable type, so I'm entering USB test mode
mode.type = USB_UPS
Setting up the port ...
apctest FATAL ERROR in generic-usb.c at line 636
Cannot find UPS device --
For a link to detailed USB trouble shooting information,
please see <http://www.apcupsd.com/support.html>.
apctest error termination completed
Any ideas?
- Was there any output from running:
sudo /Library/StartupItems/apcupsd/apcupsd stop
If successful, it should be:
Shutting down UPS monitoring
- Try running this:
ps acx | grep apcupsd
No output if apcupsd isn't running. Otherwise, it'll look similar to:
105 ?? Ss 1:10.01 apcupsd
What to suggest next depends on the results.
Are you running your intel chip with OSX's 64-bit kernel? I get your error msg with 64bit though it works fine for me with 32-bit. Hmph.
My system log shows this during the boot:
Mar 19 12:15:04 RG-iMac com.apple.SystemStarter[47]: Starting UPS monitoring
Mar 19 12:15:04 RG-iMac apcupsd[96]: Valid lock file for pid=86, but not ours pid=96
Mar 19 12:15:05 RG-iMac configd[15]: network configuration changed.
Mar 19 12:15:05 RG-iMac apcupsd[97]: apcupsd FATAL ERROR in generic-usb.c at line 636...
Mar 19 12:15:05 RG-iMac apcupsd[97]: Valid lock file for pid=86, but not ours pid=97
Mar 19 12:15:05 RG-iMac apcupsd[97]: apcupsd error shutdown completed
I've not time to follow up on this just now.
Yep, running in 64-bit...
Ah well :-)
Since I didn't see it mentioned in the other posts, I thought I'd add that the apcupsd installer places an application--apcupsd.app--in the /Applications folder.
When launched, no dock icon or interface window will open. Instead, your only indication that it is running is the appearance in the menubar of a generic UPS icon. Should a connection failure occur, the icon will acquire a superimposed red '?', and hovering the mouse over the icon will reveal the tooltip 'NETWORK ERROR'. Clicking on the icon reveals the available interface options.
The GUI's available functions are pretty much limited to status and event monitoring, and provide no equivalent for issuing the CLI commands. It is handy, though, in that it provides the ability, via the preferences settings, to add additional monitors for multiple networked devices, and to turn Growl notifications on and off for them.
Just in case someone else is having the same difficulties I encountered, take a look at your UPS cases.
The battery backup I couldn't get apcupsd to find--among the several it did find--was labeled 'Belkin.'
D'Oh! <forehead slap>
The NUTS software I referred to in a previous comment, does support various Belkin models as well as APC models (and others).
See http://www.networkupstools.org/compat/stable.html
I don't think this utility is ready for primetime. I installed it and decided to uninstall it. Dragged it to the trash, found the startup item, dragged that to the trash, emptied the trash, and rebooted. Now my UPS no longer shows up in Energy Saver under System Preferences!
It says in the documentation that a dummy kernel extension is installed to prevent OS X from recognizing the UPS, but darned if I can find it. Help, please!
Just had the same problem. You need to go to terminal and run sudo /sbin/apcupsd-uninstall. This will get rid of all the related code. Reboot and your APC should show up in energy saver again.
APC PowerChute Business Edition Deluxe Overview:
PowerChute Business Edition enables you to simultaneously monitor up to 25 UPSs protecting servers or workstations. In the event of an extended power outage graceful unattended shutdown ensures no information is lost and time to recovery is minimized. Advanced notification and analysis features help you to identify the causes of potential UPS and power related problems before they occur ensuring the health of your system.
PowerChute Business Edition Deluxe Features:
- Application Shutdown Support
- Auto-discovery
- Battery Capacity Indicator
- Data logging
- E-mail notification
- Event logging
- Hibernation
- Operating system shutdown
- Risk assessment summary
- Run command file
- Scheduled shutdown and reboot
- Silent install
The PowerChute® Business Edition software suite consists of the three individual components identified below:
- PowerChute Business Edition Agent
- PowerChute Business Edition Server
- PowerChute Business Edition Console
PowerChute Business Edition Components
PowerChute Business Edition Agent - Provides UPS status monitoring and, in the event of an extended power outage, system shutdown capabilities for your UPS-protected computers. This software must be installed on each computer that is directly attached to one of the UPS systems described in Supported UPS Models.
PowerChute Business Edition Server - Used to configure and monitor the PowerChute Business Edition Agents. The PowerChute Server gathers information from the PowerChute Agents and provides centralized event tracking, event notification and a single point of contact for the PowerChute Console. This software must be installed on one of your networked computers.
PowerChute Business Edition Console - Connects to the PowerChute Business Edition Server to provide the user interface for managing and configuring your UPS-protected systems. Install the PowerChute Console on any workstation, desktop, or laptop (running a supported operating system).
Note: This help sometimes uses PowerChute to represent PowerChute Business Edition, for example, PowerChute Server instead of PowerChute Business Edition Server.
Features & Benefits:
| Protection | |
| Operating System Shutdown | Prevents possible data corruption by performing graceful, unattended operating system shutdown in the event of an extended power outage. |
| Scheduling capability | Customize a schedule for the shutdown and reboot of connected equipment and UPSs |
| Application shutdown | Specify shutdown sequence ensuring sufficient time for each application to close safely. Supports Lotus Notes/Domino, MS-SQL Server, MS-IIS, MS-Exchange, and Siebel eBusiness Applications on Windows. |
| Hibernation | Preserves entire state of system and speeds time to recovery. |
| Sequenced shutdown and restart | Configure select outlet groups to shut down and turn on in a pre-determined order (for UPSs with switched outlet groups). |
| Load shedding | Turn off select outlet groups in a pre-determined sequence to shed less critical equipment and conserve runtime (UPSs with switched outlet groups). |
| Outlet group control | Turn on/off, reboot or shut down select outlet groups to save dispatching technicians to remote locations (for UPSs with switched outlet groups). |
| Energy Management | |
| Energy usage reporting | Gain a fact-based understanding of the energy usage of your protected equipment. |
| Energy costing | Understand the cost of powering your protected equipment. |
| CO2 Emissions Reporting | Monitor the environmental impact of powering your protected equipment. |
| Availability | |
| Risk assessment summary | Maximize uptime by identifying potential threats to the availability of your equipment such as aging batteries or insufficient runtime. |
| Power event summary | Analyze power by pinpointing frequent or extended under and over voltages. Alerts you to unusual or chronic power situations that require attention. |
| Power Analysis Graph | Graph power and UPS events by time of day or week to easily identify periodic, recurring power disturbances. |
| Voltage analysis | Monitors input line voltage over time to ensure it is within high and low transfer parameters. |
| Manageability | |
| Multiple Smart-UPS Management | Customize your UPS status overview to centrally display parameters such as battery replacement date and runtime remaining. |
| Recommended Actions | Providing descriptions of problems together with recommended actions reduces the need of training, eases deployment and speeds troubleshooting. |
| Notification | Be notified of problems to ensure crucial situations are dealt with in a timely manner. |
| Data logging | Identify problematic trends before they escalate or export the data log for analysis. |
| Event logging | Pinpoint the timing and sequence of events leading up to an incident with the event log. |
| Run command file | Run command file on shutdown sequence as well as start-up sequence. |
| Convenience | |
| Discovery | Speed deployment by specifying remote networks segments or an IP address range to discover APC UPSs |
| Password Security | User-selectable password protection prevents unauthorized access. |
| SMTP Authentication | Secure Mail Transfer Protocol support to authenticate e-mail |
| Secure communications | Secured web access via HTTPS, as the default, ensures that communication between the device and the client interfaces cannot be interpreted. |
| Compatibility | |
| PowerChute Business Edition OS Compatibility | This software supports numerous operating systems and processors. |
| Communication Computer Interface Cable | UPS cable provides dedicated serial/USB communication between the UPS and the server, independent of the network. |
| Enterprise management system compatible | Make device information available to your preferred enterprise management system by forwarding SNMP traps (events) |
| System Event Log Integration | Writes events to Windows operating system event logs |
System Requirements:
| PowerChuteTM Business Edition v9.0.1 | ||||
| Operating System | Version | Chip Set | ||
| x86 | x64 | SPARC | ||
| Windows® Server 2008 | Windows® Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter Edition | |||
| Windows® Server 2008 R2 Server Core Standard, Datacenter Edition | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 R2 Web Server | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter Edition (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 Server Core Datacenter Edition (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 Small Business Server (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 Web Server (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2008 Foundation (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2003 | Windows® Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise R2 (SP2) | |||
| Windows® Server 2003 Small Business R2 (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2003 Web Edition (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise, (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® Server 2003 Small Business (SP2) | ||||
| Windows® 7 | Windows® 7 (Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate) | |||
| Windows® Vista | Windows® Vista Business, Enterprise, Ultimate (SP2) | |||
| Windows® XP | Windows® XP Professional (SP3) | |||
| Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® | Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® Advanced Platform 5.5 (See Note 1) | |||
| Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® Base Server 5.5 (See Note 1) | ||||
| SuSE® Linux® | SuSE® Linux® Enterprise Server 11 | |||
| Solaris™ | Solaris™ 10 | |||
Notes:
- JRE Compatibility: PowerChute Business Edition has been tested with JRE 1.6.0_19
- Language Support: PowerChute Business Edition 9.0.1 is available in English, Japanese and Chinese.
- Browser Support: PowerChute Business Edition 9.0.1 supports the following browsers; Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.
- Communications Support: For Windows operating systems, both Serial and USB communications are supported. For Linux and Solaris operating system support, a serial cable must be used.
- Note 1: PowerChute Business Edition only supports Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® Version 5 if Xen Virtualisation software is not installed or disabled. Please see Knowledge Base Answer ID 9244 at www.apc.com/support
- Note 2: PowerChute Business Edition does not support virtualised platforms and applications. Please refer to PowerChute Network Shutdown Compatability Chart for Virtualisation support at http://www.apc.com/wp/?um=200
- Note 3: PowerChute Business Edition 9.0.1 provides Application Shutdown support for the following applications - Microsoft IIS V7 / v8, Lotus Notes / Domino v 7 / v8, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 / 2007
- Note 4: For information on the JRE Configuration Tool, please see 'PowerChuteTM Business Edition JRE Configuration Tool v1.0' under User Manual and Installation Guides.
Documentation:
Download the APC PowerChute Business Edition Gettting Started Guide(PDF).
Pricing Notes:
Powerchute Apc Download
- Pricing and product availability subject to change without notice.
- Note: Shipping charges may vary depending on the selected unit's weight or the quantity of units selected. As a result, the shipping charges may change from the value you receive at checkout. A customer representative will confirm these changes with you if they occur before processing your order.