Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7

BRRABill

So one of the last little bits of getting my production XS system 100% perfect is to get some sort of UPS integrated. I figured this would be a good learning experience for others in the future so I thought I would document my questions and final procedures here on ML. Some of this is going to be because of my limited Linux experience, I think.

I had purchased an Eaton UPS, but I bought (all me, I was warned) the one that does not support network connectivity. So, I switched back to the older APC unit I had that does indeed have a network card.

QUESTION 1: does apcupsd work with brands other than just APC? If not are there similar products that will work with other brands?

I found the following article that describes how to set this up.
https://pantsmanuk.org/2015/04/apcupsd-running-on-citrix-xenserver-7-0/

The directions are basically the same for 6.5 and 7 with some small differences you will see at the start of the article, the first of which I already have a question about!

It says

Also, in Xenserver 7, you need the rpm package for Centos7 available here:
https://pkgs.org/centos-7/epel-x86_64/apcupsd-3.14.12-1.el7.x86_64.rpm.html”

Do I use wget to get that? How to I "use" that rpm package?

The directions for 6.5 say to enter

wget http://pkgs.repoforge.org/apcupsd/apcupsd-3.14.10-1.el5.rf.x86_64.rpm

So I guess I am a little confused as the the differences in the two things. (AKA, why does the version 7 one have an .HTML at the end.)

Dashrender

And RPM is like an ~~exe~~ installer setup program in Windows.

BRRABill

Well, I was able to download the appropriate RPM file.

When you go to that page, the actual RPM file location is listed below.

Moving on...

BRRABill

@Dashrender said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

And RPM is like an ~~exe~~ installer setup program in Windows.

Yeah I went through @scottalanmiller 's writeup yesterday. Kind of get that now.

JaredBusch

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

I had purchased an Eaton UPS, but I bought (all me, I was warned) the one that does not support network connectivity. So, I switched back to the older APC unit I had that does indeed have a network card.

You do not need the network capabilities if you are putting the UPS software directly on the host.

You are making everything harder than it needs to be by adding networking into the mix.

Plug the Eaton in, grab the USB and plug it in to the server. Install the software. Configure. Done.

You only want networking if you are going to have the units report back to a software controller not directly connected to it via USB. Said software controller would then be configured to fire scripts to handle shutdown, etc.

JaredBusch

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

QUESTION 1: does apcupsd work with brands other than just APC? If not are there similar products that will work with other brands?

Yes. Look at my thread on using a Pi3 for UPS monitoring.

BRRABill

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

QUESTION 1: does apcupsd work with brands other than just APC? If not are there similar products that will work with other brands?

Yes. Look at my thread on using a Pi3 for UPS monitoring.

Ah, OK that makes things simpler.

I have the APC unit up and running, so I might just still use it. It's also has considerably more capacity that the Eaton I bought.

scottalanmiller

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

The directions are basically the same for 6.5 and 7 with some small differences you will see at the start of the article, the first of which I already have a question about!

It says
Also, in Xenserver 7, you need the rpm package for Centos7 available here:
https://pkgs.org/centos-7/epel-x86_64/apcupsd-3.14.12-1.el7.x86_64.rpm.html”
Do I use wget to get that? How to I "use" that rpm package?

Yes you could, but no you do not. You can see that that is listing the name as the EPEL repository. The issue that you have is that that repo is missing. In theory, and especially as a newer Linux user, you should never touch RPMs. You need to let YUM manage them for you. If you start messing around under the hood with RPMs they will not be properly managed and not come from the right sources. Remember... make Linux easier, not harder.

So I'm going to answer to "yes you cans" and then provide the "what you actually do."

You CAN use wget to download an RPM locally then install it using the RPM command. That will absolutely work. Don't do that.
You CAN use the rpm command to install an RPM from the website directly, no need for the wget command. This will absolutely work, don't do this either.

scottalanmiller

What you actually do is install the EPEL repo, then install the desired package. In this way YUM and the repos handle all the heavy lifting for you and you just let the system take care of itself. On CentOS (which is the only place that the EPEL exists) it's like this..

yum -y install epel-release

This sets up the EPEL repositories for you. Then you do this...

yum -y install apcupsd

Done

BRRABill

@scottalanmiller said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:
The directions are basically the same for 6.5 and 7 with some small differences you will see at the start of the article, the first of which I already have a question about!

It says
Also, in Xenserver 7, you need the rpm package for Centos7 available here:
https://pkgs.org/centos-7/epel-x86_64/apcupsd-3.14.12-1.el7.x86_64.rpm.html”
Do I use wget to get that? How to I "use" that rpm package?
Yes you could, but no you do not. You can see that that is listing the name as the EPEL repository. The issue that you have is that that repo is missing. In theory, and especially as a newer Linux user, you should never touch RPMs. You need to let YUM manage them for you. If you start messing around under the hood with RPMs they will not be properly managed and not come from the right sources. Remember... make Linux easier, not harder.

So I'm going to answer to "yes you cans" and then provide the "what you actually do."

You CAN use wget to download an RPM locally then install it using the RPM command. That will absolutely work. Don't do that.

You CAN use the rpm command to install an RPM from the website directly, no need for the wget command. This will absolutely work, don't do this either.

I think this is what I did, because that is what the directions said.

localinstall

BRRABill

@JaredBusch said

You are making everything harder than it needs to be by adding networking into the mix.

After about 10 minutes of working with apcupsd, I already agree with you and will be switching back.

JaredBusch

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@JaredBusch said

You are making everything harder than it needs to be by adding networking into the mix.

After about 10 minutes of working with apcupsd, I already agree with you and will be switching back.

Try NUT instead of apcupsd

BRRABill

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@JaredBusch said

You are making everything harder than it needs to be by adding networking into the mix.

After about 10 minutes of working with apcupsd, I already agree with you and will be switching back.

Try NUT instead of apcupsd

First of all, thanks for the UPS reco. Worked like a charm!

Second of all ... this NUT. While I am tempted to just follow the advice since you've proven yourself right already today on this thread. But, tell me more!

JaredBusch

Assuming you have the EPEL available yum install nut

http://networkupstools.org/

BRRABill

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

Assuming you have the EPEL available yum install nut

http://networkupstools.org/

I mean ... why do you like NUT over apcupsd?

JaredBusch

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

Assuming you have the EPEL available yum install nut

http://networkupstools.org/

I mean ... why do you like NUT over apcupsd?

Honestly, I have barely used both so far. But I like NUT better so far with the little I have setup.

BRRABill

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

Assuming you have the EPEL available yum install nut

http://networkupstools.org/

I mean ... why do you like NUT over apcupsd?

Honestly, I have barely used both so far. But I like NUT better so far with the little I have setup.

Fair enough.

apcupsd was pretty easy to set up via USB. Now I just have to test to see if that XS setup really works.

travisdh1

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@JaredBusch said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

Assuming you have the EPEL available yum install nut

http://networkupstools.org/

I mean ... why do you like NUT over apcupsd?

NUT should work with any model UPS, not just APC like apcupsd.

BRRABill

@travisdh1 said

NUT should work with any model UPS, not just APC like apcupsd.

@JaredBusch said apcupsd works with other UPSes as well.

That was my first question.

travisdh1

@BRRABill said in Installing apcupsd on XenServer 7:

@travisdh1 said

NUT should work with any model UPS, not just APC like apcupsd.

@JaredBusch said apcupsd works with other UPSes as well.

That was my first question.

Huh, I'll have to give it another look then.