Issue a clean shutdown from an APC UPS

SUMMARY

How to shutdown a Unitrends physical appliance cleanly during an unplanned power outage.

Note: Use of a properly sized UPS with a Unitrends Physical appliance is a requirement per the Unitrends Software and Hardware Maintenance and Technical Support Agreement and is also clarified in the Site Preparation Guide for Recovery Series Generation 9 Appliances.   However, use of a properly sized UPS alone is only sufficient when using generator backup power.  A UPS can only run for a short time (we recommend a minimum 15 minutes of run time).  Once on battery power, the UPS must signal the Unitrends appliance to power down gracefully.  the UPS will wake the appliance when power has returned.  This is possible when using APC brand (or APC software compatible) UPS systems connected directly to the Unitrends appliance via USB.  

ISSUE

During a power outage, the Unitrends physical appliance needs to be shutdown cleanly.  This article outlines how to implement this via APC UPS software solutions included with the product for compatible UPS.  

RESOLUTION

A clean shutdown from an APS UPS can be implemented for either CentOS 6 or CentOS 7, however the procedure varies based on the Operating System.

First, determine which version of CentOS Linux your Unitrends physical appliance is running, following the steps in the kb article How can I tell my version of CentOS Linux? 

Quick links:

How to set up a APC UPS shutdown for CentOS7

How to set up a APC UPS shutdown for CentOS6

CentOS 7 APC UPS shutdown procedures

Follow the procedure to set up APC UPS support on a CentOS 7 Unitrends physical appliance.

1. The APC ups must be directly connected to the Unitrends physical appliance via a USB using a USB cable provided by the APC UPS vendor.  The APC UPS must be connected prior to running the setup utility.
2. If the Unitrends physical appliance is not a CentOS 7 system, stop here and see instructions for CentOS6. If the UPS is not connected to the Unitrends physical appliance, stop here and complete step 1. This process will not work if the prerequisites are not met.
3. Access the Unitrends physical appliance remotely using PuTTY.  PuTTY will provide command line access to the system. Use the following command to verify the APC is connected using USB: 

   # ls /dev/usb | grep hid

   Note: If nothing shows after running this command, please try a different USB port on the appliance. You should see a result looking similar to, "hiddev0".
4.  Go to UI and select the button "Activate APC UPS" at CONFIGURE --> Edit --> Advanced --> Support Toolbox.

CentOS 6 APC UPS shutdown procedures

Follow the procedure to set up APC UPS support on a CentOS 6 Unitrends physical appliance.

1. The APC ups must be directly connected to the Unitrends physical appliance via a USB using a USB cable provided by the APC UPS vendor.  The APC UPS must be connected prior to running the setup utility.
2. If the Unitrends physical appliance is not a CentOS 6 system, stop here and see instructions for CentOS7. If the UPS is not connected to the Unitrends physical appliance, stop here and complete step 1. This process will not work if the prerequisites are not met.
3. Access the Unitrends physical appliance remotely using PuTTY.  PuTTY will provide command line access to the system. Use the following command to verify the APC is connected using USB: 

   # ls /dev/usb | grep hid

   Note: If nothing shows after running this command, please try a different USB port on the appliance. You should see a result looking similar to, "hiddev0".
4. Download the setup utility from the Unitrends site as below. 

   # cd /tmp
   # wget https://sftp.kaseya.com/utilities/apc/gd-2.0.35-11.el6.x86_64.rpm 
   # yum  localinstall --nogpgcheck gd-2.0.35-11.el6.x86_64.rpm
   # wget https://sftp.kaseya.com/utilities/apc/apcConfig.sh 
   # chmod +x apcConfig.sh

5. Execute the setup utility, then start the apcupsd service.  

   # ./apcConfig.sh
   # service apcupsd start (a reboot will also start the service)
   

6. Verify the script is running.

   # ps aux | grep apc
   root      4649  0.0  0.0 104988   884 ?        Ssl  Nov05   0:07 /sbin/apcupsd -f /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
   root     22261  0.0  0.0 103248   904 pts/0    S+   09:37   0:00 grep apc

The script will configure the Unitrends physical appliance to support a shutdown from an APC UPS via USB cable.

NOTES

For Unitrends Backup or Unitrends Virtual Backup products, a shutdown command may be configured within the hypervisor.