How to automatically shutdown UPS after server shutdown?

[Anonymous user]

Hi Forum,

Recently I acquired a APC Back-UPS PRO 1200VA, 10x C13 (BR1200GI). Have been testing the UPS with a ReadyNAS 312 and it works well in the sense that based on the threshold 30% I set in the ReadyNAS Admin page, the  RN312 is shutdown when battery charge is below 30% (point 1, 3 and 4 in image below). That threshold of 30% will also shows up in the upsc output.

# upsc UPS@localhost
...
battery.charge.low: 30
...

I was expecting the UPS to also shut down (a short while) after the server shuts down. There's no need for the UPS to supply battery power once the RN312 is switched off. All other devices can also loose power at that point. The APC PowerChute manual (990-4595E-001 07/2016) depicts the behaviour I'm trying to achieve on page 36:

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But I didn't see this during my test happening for over 20 minutes after server shutdown and didn't dare wait until the battery was fully drained. So this leads me to a few question. Hope you can help!

1) Is it expected behaviour of  the UPS to be shutdown shortly after RN312 is shutdown?

2) How long should I wait for the "UPS off" (point 7) to be reached?

3) Will ReadyNAS OS "tell" the APC UPS to start the shutdown procedure? (point 2 in image above)

4) Is there a way to influence the Low Battery Duration / Maximum required delay? (point 5 in image above)

5) Is there a way to influence the UPS Shutdown Delay? (before point 7 in image above)

The upsc command on RN312 provides the following info:

# upsc UPS@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.charge.low: 30
battery.charge.warning: 50
battery.date: 2001/09/25
battery.mfr.date: 2018/09/06
battery.runtime: 18990
battery.runtime.low: 120
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 27.2
battery.voltage.nominal: 24.0
device.mfr: American Power Conversion
device.model: Back-UPS RS 1200G
device.serial: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
device.type: ups
driver.flag.ignorelb: enabled
driver.name: usbhid-ups
driver.parameter.pollfreq: 30
driver.parameter.pollinterval: 2
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.parameter.productid: 0002
driver.parameter.serial: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
driver.parameter.synchronous: no
driver.parameter.vendorid: 051d
driver.version: 2.7.4
driver.version.data: APC HID 0.96
driver.version.internal: 0.41
input.sensitivity: medium
input.transfer.high: 294
input.transfer.low: 176
input.transfer.reason: input voltage out of range
input.voltage: 228.0
input.voltage.nominal: 230
ups.beeper.status: disabled
ups.delay.shutdown: 20
ups.firmware: 877.L5 .I
ups.firmware.aux: L5
ups.load: 0
ups.mfr: American Power Conversion
ups.mfr.date: 2018/09/06
ups.model: Back-UPS RS 1200G
ups.productid: 0002
ups.realpower.nominal: 720
ups.serial: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ups.status: OL
ups.test.result: No test initiated
ups.timer.reboot: 0
ups.timer.shutdown: -1
ups.vendorid: 051d

[BillP]

Hello,

The diagram you provided is for PowerChute Network Shutdown and that is not compatible with a Back-UPS. The back-UPS will continue to provide power until the battery is drained unless the command to stop via user intervention or software intervention. 

I am not familiar with the application you are running but I did notice there is a ups.timer.shutdown setting. That might be what you need to configure. 

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Hi Bill, thanks for your reply.

On 2019-01-02 19:19, Bill said:

The diagram you provided is for PowerChute Network Shutdown and that is not compatible with a Back-UPS.

OK. Good to know.

On 2019-01-02 19:19, Bill said:

The back-UPS will continue to provide power until the battery is drained 

Think I can live with that. It will keep the router that also provides Wifi and telephony running. The battery should be good for about 1 hour of power supply. The change of an unscheduled mains power outage that lasts more than an hour is highly unlikely at my location.

On 2019-01-02 19:19, Bill said:

I am not familiar with the application you are running but I did notice there is a ups.timer.shutdown setting. That might be what you need to configure.

The ReadyNAS family is Debian Linux based storage server. More info at: https://www.netgear.com/business/products/storage/readynas/default.aspx .

Have been looking at the ups.timer.shutdown: -1 setting. Can't find out what the -1 means and am not very confident in changing the setting. Will leave it as is and let the battery drain. The shutdown of the ReadyNAS will occur when batttery power gets below the 10% threshold. This will leave enough time for a graceful shutdown.