CentOS 5.6 and Auto Shutdown when UPS Power is On

[amithad]

Hi,

My Centos 5.6 Server ( HP Proliant ML350 G6 ) Server is connected to two UPSes (It has dual power supplies). I want to protect my server when it runs from UPS, and for that I want to shutdown my server when it runs from UPS battery power more than 15 minutes.The backup time is in between 15 to 30 minutes

Server is connected to two Different UPSes

1. MGE Pulsar M 3000
2. Powerware 9120

I found that Network UPS Tools - Welcome software is available for UPS systems handling for Linux.

Do I need some additional drivers if necessary to power off my server through a software like NUT? What should be the the configuration I should follow pls?

[atreyu]

Go to the NUT Hardware compatibility list, where you can see what they support. I see both of your UPSs listed there, both with a serial port and USB driver option.

Next try looking for a CentOS NUT UPS howto, here is a nice and thorough one:

Network UPS Tools (NUT) For USB UPSs On CentOS 5.5 | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

It covers device configuration, controlling the daemon, troubleshooting connectivity, etc.

[amithad]

Dear Artreyu,

Thanks a lot for all the information . I want to clarify another thing; the given blog, which is a .com site. Is it ok for me to download and install software from that site to my enterprise server, considering the security factor?

Thanks

Amitha

[amithad]

Dear atreyu,

I tried installing the packages after downloading those but the following error message comes

error: geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.1: not an rpm package (or package manifest): for

rpm -Uvh geekery-el6-x86_64.repo geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.1 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.2 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.3 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.4 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.5 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.6 geekery-el6-x86_64.repo.7

command

[mizzle]

Looks like you didn't download the right files. Each file should end in .rpm, not .repo.1, etc.

[amithad]

Yes Mizzie you are correct. Now I downloaded the correct files namely

nut-2.6.5-1geekery.x86_64.rpm
nut-devel-2.6.5-1geekery.x86_64.rpm
nut-cgi-2.6.5-1geekery.x86_64.rpm powerman-2.3.5-2geekery.x86_64.rpm
nut-client-2.6.5-1geekery.x86_64.rpm powerman-devel-2.3.5-2geekery.x86_64.rpm

but when I try

ln -s /lib/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
udevcontrol reload_rules
udevtrigger
/etc/init.d/ups restart

http://geekery.blog.com/category/linux/nut-ups-rpms/

It gives the error

[root@proxy Downloads]# ln -s /lib/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
ln: creating symbolic link `/etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules': File exists
[root@proxy Downloads]# udevcontrol reload_rules
bash: udevcontrol: command not found

Thanks

[atreyu]

I want to clarify another thing; the given blog, which is a .com site. Is it ok for me to download and install software from that site to my enterprise server, considering the security factor?

Hello,

I'm sorry I missed your question! I'm sure you've already made your decision on this, but I wanted to follow up because it is a good question.

You are absolutely right to question 3rd party software, especially in a production or high-security environment.

In general, what I would say is always use software that is in your distribution's official software repository first, if it is available. If it is not, then if the binary package is available from a vendor you trust, then you may want to make sure that the package has signed (with a GPG/PGP key, e.g.). You will need to import their public key into your rpm database so that you may verify and install trusted RPMS. If you find a 3rd party source that you do not know from Adam, and it is close sourced, be wary. You have no idea what the software is doing, before you install it. If it is open sourced, then you (or someone you trust) can examine it to see that it is not doing anything nefarious. There is also the option of building binaries from source, provided that you can get the source, but that is not ideal in many circumstances (but is the only approved method in certain work environments).

In this particular case, the blog I linked to mentions installing software from either geekery.blog.com, or EPEL. I'll quote EPEL's website:

What is Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (or EPEL)?

Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (or EPEL) is a Fedora Special Interest Group that creates, maintains, and manages a high quality set of additional packages for Enterprise Linux, including, but not limited to, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL),CentOS and Scientific Linux (SL).

I trust the EPEL software as much as I trust Fedora and CentOS, which is to say implicitly. In this case, I would definitely opt for using the EPEL method over the other one. Besides, once you enable the EPEL repo on your CentOS box, you'll have thousands more packages at your disposal.

Something else to ponder: NOBODY is safe, even the vendors you trust. Fedora's website was hacked, kernel.org was hacked, everybody gets hacked. All you can do is be as well prepared and vigilant as possible. Asking questions like you did is a step in the right direction.

[atreyu]

[root@proxy Downloads]# ln -s /lib/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
ln: creating symbolic link `/etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules': File exists

well, cleary that symlink destination already exists. let's see what it points to (if anything, it could be a regular file):

ls -l /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules

also, see if it belongs to a package:

rpm -qf /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules

[root@proxy Downloads]# udevcontrol reload_rules
bash: udevcontrol: command not found

The way udev is invoked has changed slightly. Try this:

udevadm control --reload-rules

[amithad]

Dear Atreyu,

Many thanks for you valuable information

I tried your suggested command and the output is as follows

[root@proxy ~]# ls -l /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 37 Oct 21 18:32 /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules -> /lib/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
[root@proxy ~]# rpm -qf /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules
file /etc/udev/rules.d/62-nut-usbups.rules is not owned by any package
[root@proxy ~]# udevadm control --reload-rules
[root@proxy ~]#

Thanks a lot

Amitha

[atreyu]

I tried your suggested command and the output is as follows

Okay, the symlink that was already there was correct. It is not owned by any package, but that's okay, too.

Your udev command did not output any errors so that is good, too (if it works properly, it normally doesn't output anything).