Network UPS Tools User Manual

Network UPS Tools User Manual 1 / 84
1 Introduction
The primary goal of the Network UPS Tools (NUT) project is to provide support for Power Devices, such as Uninterruptible
Power Supplies, Power Distribution Units and Solar Controllers.
NUT provides many control and monitoring features, with a uniform control and management interface.
More than 100 different manufacturers, and several thousands models are compatible.
This software is the combined effort of many individuals and companies.
This document intend to describe how to install software support for your Power Devices (UPS, PDU, . . . ), and how to use the
NUT project. It is not intended to explain what are, nor distinguish the different technologies that exist. For such information,
have a look at the General Power Devices Information.
If you wish to discover how everything came together, have a look at the Project History.
2 Network UPS Tools Overview
2.1 Description
Network UPS Tools is a collection of programs which provide a common interface for monitoring and administering UPS, PDU
and SCD hardware. It uses a layered approach to connect all of the parts.
Drivers are provided for a wide assortment of equipment. They understand the specific language of each device and map it back
to a compatibility layer. This means both an expensive high end UPS, a simple "power strip" PDU, or any other power device
can be handled transparently with a uniform management interface.
This information is cached by the network server upsd, which then answers queries from the clients. upsd contains a number
of access control features to limit the abilities of the clients. Only authorized hosts may monitor or control your hardware if you
wish. Since the notion of monitoring over the network is built into the software, you can hang many systems off one large UPS,
and they will all shut down together. You can also use NUT to power on, off or cycle your data center nodes, individually or
globally through PDU outlets.
Clients such as upsmon check on the status of the hardware and do things when necessary. The most important task is shutting
down the operating system cleanly before the UPS runs out of power. Other programs are also provided to log information
regularly, monitor status through your web browser, and more.
2.2 Installing
If you are installing these programs for the first time, go read the installation instructions to find out how to do that. This document
contains more information on what all of this stuff does.
2.3 Upgrading
When upgrading from an older version, always check the upgrading notes to see what may have changed. Compatibility issues
and other changes will be listed there to ease the process.
2.4 Configuring and using
Once NUT is installed, refer to the configuration notes for directions.
2.5 Documentation
This is just an overview of the software. You should read the man pages, included example configuration files, and auxiliary
documentation for the parts that you intend to use.