Configuring Remote UPS Shutdown on Mac OS X

I have APC Smart-UPS SMT1500. It contains a SmartSlot that accepts a network management card that allows the UPS to be connected to the switch (or router) instead of plugging the USB cable from the UPS to a computer. That said, I also have APC AP9630 UPS Network Management Card 2.

My goal is to configure my UPS to shutdown all my Macs (MacBook Pros and Mac Mini) during a power failure.

This is how I do it…

1. After installing the network management card to the UPS, plug the network cable from the network management card to the switch (or router). An IP address will be automatically assigned to the card. Let’s just say, the resolved IP address is 192.168.0.100.
2. Plug the Mac’s power plug to the UPS.
3. Download Apcupsd and install it on your Mac.
4. At the end of the installation, you will see /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf file on your screen. Do not click on the “restart” button yet.
5. In that file, change the following lines:-

   UPSCABLE smart
   UPSTYPE snmp
   DEVICE 192.168.0.100:161:APC:public 
   BATTERYLEVEL 95
   

   The DEVICE value is IP:PORT:VENDOR:COMMUNITY, all you need is to change the IP address and leave the rest of to be the same.

   Based on the documentation, BATTERYLEVEL, MINUTES, and TIMEOUT work in conjunction… basically, the first that occurs will cause the initiation of a shutdown. So, since I want my Mac to shutdown right away during a power failure, I set my BATTERYLEVEL at 95%. When the UPS’s battery level drops before that mark, it will initiate the shutdown process.

6. Save this file and reboot your machine.
7. After rebooting the machine, to ensure the Apcupsd daemon is getting signals from the UPS, run this command:-

   sudo apcaccess
   

   You should see your Apcupsd configuration and the UPS information, like this:-

   APC      : 001,050,1249
   DATE     : 2013-09-24 20:09:37 -0500  
   HOSTNAME : goliath
   VERSION  : 3.14.10 (13 September 2011) darwin
   UPSNAME  : APCUPS
   CABLE    : Ethernet Link
   DRIVER   : SNMP UPS Driver
   UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
   STARTTIME: 2013-09-24 18:29:28 -0500  
   MODEL    : Smart-UPS 1500
   STATUS   : TRIM ONLINE 
   LINEV    : 125.0 Volts
   LOADPCT  :   0.0 Percent Load Capacity
   BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent
   TIMELEFT : 335.0 Minutes
   MBATTCHG : 95 Percent
   MINTIMEL : 150 Minutes
   MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds
   MAXLINEV : 126.0 Volts
   MINLINEV : 125.0 Volts
   OUTPUTV  : 110.0 Volts
   SENSE    : High
   DWAKE    : 000 Seconds
   DSHUTD   : 000 Seconds
   DLOWBATT : 10 Minutes
   LOTRANS  : 106.0 Volts
   HITRANS  : 127.0 Volts
   RETPCT   : -1073742588.0 Percent
   ITEMP    : 28.0 C Internal
   ALARMDEL : No alarm
   BATTV    : 27.0 Volts
   LINEFREQ : 60.0 Hz
   LASTXFER : Line voltage notch or spike
   NUMXFERS : 0
   TONBATT  : 0 seconds
   CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
   XOFFBATT : N/A
   SELFTEST : OK
   STESTI   : OFF
   STATFLAG : 0x0700000A Status Flag
   MANDATE  : 06/17/2013
   SERIALNO : AS1325121222
   BATTDATE : 06/17/2013
   NOMOUTV  : 120 Volts
   NOMBATTV : 3221224708.0 Volts
   HUMIDITY : 3221224708.0 Percent
   AMBTEMP  : 3221224708.0 C
   EXTBATTS : -1073742588
   BADBATTS : -1073742588
   FIRMWARE : UPS 08.3 / MCU 14.0
   END APC  : 2013-09-24 20:10:00 -0500
   

8. Finally, pull the UPS plug from the wall to simulate a power failure. Once the battery level drops below your threshold, your machine will begin to shutdown in a minute or so.

Useful Information

If you tweak the Apcupsd configuration in /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf file, you will need to restart Apcupsd daemon:-

sudo /Library/StartupItems/apcupsd/apcupsd restart