How can I get APC UPS battery % into Hub

I have an older APC BX1000G UPS and would like to get the UPS Battery % into HE to use as the decision point for hub shutdown rather than my arbitrarily 3 hour delay time, UPS says it has almost 5 hours of backup time.

APC has a Windows Power-Chute app. I've never used it, but it seems all warnings are on the Windows machine, with no way to send an external notification. The app monitors the UPS via a weird network to USB-a cable that must be plugged into the monitoring connector on the UPS.

I realize this may be a futile endeavor. Any ideas appreciated.

Look at eventghost maybe? Its like tasker for your windows machine.

Node red may be another option.

Lol your solution is going to span many systems.

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Thinking have one of them monitor the apc output for changes. When string matches what you want hqve it send a post to maker api to update a virtual device.

Than you for the fast reply!

EventGhost is new to me, but looks like it has many options. I'll install it and see where it goes.

Have you verified that your UPS is too old to work with “NUT” (Network UPS Tools)?

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NUT is another new to me package. I have no idea how to verify the UPS' compatibility.

A quick search does not look too promising...

https://networkupstools.org/ddl/APC/index.html

The model etched into the case says it's an XS1000, sticker on bottom says it's a BX1000G. Neither are listed but the Smart-UPS 1000 is listed. I can only find out by trying.

Here is another site that might be useful. Seems like older APC ups’s are supported, but I am not sure what integrations are possible.

http://www.apcupsd.org

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if you have a smart ups (expensive model) which i do with a optional network card it has telnet access.

i have recently used telnet to write a sendmail program..
I will be coding something using telnet to log into the ups and get status and optionally check runtime and then hopefully parse it and shutdown if below a value
ie

Schneider Electric Network Management Card AOS v6.8.2
(c) Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Smart-UPS & Matrix-UPS APP v6.8.0

Name : netups Date : 09/11/2020
Contact : Unknown Time : 14:19:51
Location : Unknown User : Administrator
Up Time : 101 Days 16 Hours 21 Minutes Stat : P+ N+ A+

IPv4 : Enabled IPv6 : Disabled
Ping Response : Enabled

HTTP : Enabled HTTPS : Enabled
FTP : Enabled Telnet : Enabled
SSH/SCP : Disabled SNMPv1 : Disabled
SNMPv3 : Disabled

Super User : Enabled RADIUS : Disabled
Administrator : 4 Enabled Device User : 1 Enabled
Read-Only User : 1 Enabled Network-Only User : Disabled

Type ? for command listing
Use tcpip command for IP address(-i), subnet(-s), and gateway(-g)

apc>detstatus -rt
E000: Success
Runtime Remaining: 2 hr 19 min 0 sec

also use this command to check if on battery

apc>detstatus -ss
E000: Success
Status of UPS: Online - Green Mode
Last Transfer: UPS battery test
Input Status: Acceptable
Next Battery Replacement Date: 07/26/2070

It may have been 'expensive' in 2007 when I purchased it, but it certainly is not smart for 2020. Still going strong after a battery replacement.

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If you have a Rpi and want a guide on how to get NUT setup and working with HE, check this thread out. Down near the end I linked the guide I used and a few posts later filled in missing pieces for me. I have it notify me when the power source has changed and do a saving shutdown for HE. I also use it to detect when the TV is in use.

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Apcupsd on a rapsberry pi, and this if you want it in hubitat [RELEASE] APC UPS Monitor Driver

I have edited the apcupsd script (it’s Perl) so they when there is a power-on event it does something. I documented that here hubitat/SmarterBulbs at master · bdwilson/hubitat · GitHub

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FWIW I have been using NUT server for over 10 years on two Qnap NAS. I have never found a UPS it couldn’t connect to whether APC or Cyber Power.

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My new Eaton 1500 UPS has no problems with the NUT UPS function built into my Synology NAS, and there is a device driver for NUT here in the forums that works great.

Here's my shutdown rule, copied from the driver thread:

Thank you everyone for all of the interesting, creative, and diverse solutions. I have a lot of reading to do. I am attempting to do this on a very small $$ budget, so the Qnap NAS or any NAS is ruled out.

The only remaining bit of my puzzle is the power % issue, the other stuff is working. When and if I get the UPS' power %, it likely will alter my solution. My UPS is good for 287 minutes, and I do a graceful shutdown at 180 minutes. This may or my not work in the real world, and I prefer getting it 100% right.

My current power solution

  • An older not-smart UPS backup for Cable Modem, Router, and HE hub

  • A Ring Zwave Gen2 extender running with a modified version of bcopelands driver that resets the extender device's power status at HE hub initialization.

  • An RM shown at the end of this, notifying me after a 5 minute outage

  • An old mains powered Samsung phone used as a dashboard, no sim chip, with it's own battery backup (not on UPS), with three MacroDroid macros that at this time do not communicate with the HE hub or any other devices. They are:

    • Power off (Screen is shut off to preserve battery, then turned on when power is restored)
    • Power on
    • Reboot Power on (in case the phone's battery gives up)
    • The Power on macros send an email for outages > 5 minutes to my Verizon phone's SMS via email using an email to address of
      my-cell-number@vtext.com
      including the date and time power was restored, and the outage duration in days hh:mm:ss
  • A TP-Link Kasa Wifi plug between the UPS plug and the HE Hub, allows for hub reboot in case the hub must be power cycled to restart after a graceful shutdown. This occurs when the hub is gracefully shutdown, but the UPS does not lose backup power, and subsequently power is restored. In all other cases: hub does not get shutdown, Ups loses backup power, this is not needed.

  • I'm going to add a RM rule that notifies me when the hub initializes.

My RM shutdown rule


image

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here is the device type i promised to get an apc smart ups with netword card status, so you can gracefully shutdown.

So true! Spending more time and effort on this than I want or expected. Too many changes, hardware adjustments, software packages, software changes, power restored reboot issues, etc, etc. Note no RPi here, attempted this with an older W10 laptop, apcupsd, and a ups to USB connector cable. Unable to dedicate laptop 100% plugged in to UPS for power.

Although a bit pricey, the easiest and most sensible solution for me, when I'm ready to do it, is replacing my older dumb APC UPS with an "APC SmartConnect UPS" using @kahn-hubitat's driver. The SMC1000C is currently $299 on Amazon

you still need the buy the network card for that.. Check the smartups driver thread i have posted some cheap links or ideas to get an smt1500 used on ebay.

An APC sales rep I spoke with yesterday (Sep 14) stated the models ending with a "C" have the wifi card built in.