APC UPS icon

APC UPS

APC UPS

Plugin: go.d.plugin Module: apcupsd

Overview

This collector monitors Uninterruptible Power Supplies by polling the Apcupsd daemon.

This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

By default, it detects Apcupsd instances running on localhost that are listening on port 3551. On startup, it tries to collect metrics from:

  • 127.0.0.1:3551

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

Setup

You can configure the apcupsd collector in two ways:

Method Best for How to
UI Fast setup without editing files Go to Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs, search for apcupsd, then click + to add a job.
File If you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible) Edit go.d/apcupsd.conf and add a job.

:::important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

:::

Prerequisites

No action required.

Configuration

Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.

Group Option Description Default Required
Collection update_every Data collection interval (seconds). 1 no
autodetection_retry Autodetection retry interval (seconds). Set 0 to disable. 0 no
Target address apcupsd daemon address (IP:PORT). 127.0.0.1:3551 yes
timeout Connection, read, write, and name resolution timeout (seconds). 2 no
Virtual Node vnode Associates this data collection job with a Virtual Node. no

via UI

Configure the apcupsd collector from the Netdata web interface:

  1. Go to Nodes.
  2. Select the node where you want the apcupsd data-collection job to run and click the :gear: (Configure this node). That node will run the data collection.
  3. The Collectors → Jobs view opens by default.
  4. In the Search box, type apcupsd (or scroll the list) to locate the apcupsd collector.
  5. Click the + next to the apcupsd collector to add a new job.
  6. Fill in the job fields, then click Test to verify the configuration and Submit to save.
    • Test runs the job with the provided settings and shows whether data can be collected.
    • If it fails, an error message appears with details (for example, connection refused, timeout, or command execution errors), so you can adjust and retest.

via File

The configuration file name for this integration is go.d/apcupsd.conf.

The file format is YAML. Generally, the structure is:

update_every: 1
autodetection_retry: 0
jobs:
  - name: some_name1
  - name: some_name2

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/apcupsd.conf
Examples
Basic

A basic example configuration.

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:3551
Multi-instance

Note: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Collecting metrics from local and remote instances.

jobs:
  - name: local
    address: 127.0.0.1:3551

  - name: remote
    address: 203.0.113.0:3551

Metrics

Metrics grouped by scope.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.

Per ups

These metrics refer to the UPS unit.

This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

Metric Dimensions Unit
apcupsd.ups_status TRIM, BOOST, CAL, ONLINE, ONBATT, OVERLOAD, LOWBATT, REPLACEBATT, NOBATT, SLAVE, SLAVEDOWN, COMMLOST, SHUTTING_DOWN status
apcupsd.ups_selftest NO, NG, WN, IP, OK, BT, UNK status
apcupsd.ups_battery_charge charge percent
apcupsd.ups_battery_time_remaining timeleft seconds
apcupsd.ups_battery_time_since_replacement since_replacement seconds
apcupsd.ups_battery_voltage voltage, nominal_voltage Volts
apcupsd.ups_load_capacity_utilization load percent
apcupsd.ups_load load Watts
apcupsd.ups_temperature temperature Celsius
apcupsd.ups_input_voltage voltage, min_voltage, max_voltage Volts
apcupsd.ups_input_frequency frequency Hz
apcupsd.ups_output_voltage voltage Volts

Alerts

The following alerts are available:

Alert name On metric Description
apcupsd_ups_load_capacity apcupsd.ups_load_capacity_utilization APC UPS average load over the last 10 minutes
apcupsd_ups_battery_charge apcupsd.ups_battery_charge APC UPS average battery charge over the last minute
apcupsd_last_collected_secs apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS number of seconds since the last successful data collection
apcupsd_ups_selftest_warning apcupsd.ups_selftest APC UPS self-test failed due to insufficient battery capacity or due to overload
apcupsd_ups_status_onbatt apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS has switched to battery power because the input power has failed
apcupsd_ups_status_overload apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS is overloaded and cannot supply enough power to the load
apcupsd_ups_status_lowbatt apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS battery is low and needs to be recharged
apcupsd_ups_status_replacebatt apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS battery has reached the end of its lifespan and needs to be replaced
apcupsd_ups_status_nobatt apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS has no battery
apcupsd_ups_status_commlost apcupsd.ups_status APC UPS communication link is lost

Troubleshooting

Debug Mode

Important: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the apcupsd collector, run the go.d.plugin with the debug option enabled. The output should give you clues as to why the collector isn’t working.

  • Navigate to the plugins.d directory, usually at /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/. If that’s not the case on your system, open netdata.conf and look for the plugins setting under [directories].

    cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/

  • Switch to the netdata user.

    sudo -u netdata -s

  • Run the go.d.plugin to debug the collector:

    ./go.d.plugin -d -m apcupsd

    To debug a specific job:

    ./go.d.plugin -d -m apcupsd -j jobName

Getting Logs

If you’re encountering problems with the apcupsd collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

  • Run the command specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
  • Examine the output for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues. These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep apcupsd

System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at /var/log/netdata/collector.log, and use grep to filter for collector’s name:

grep apcupsd /var/log/netdata/collector.log

Note: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the latest entries for troubleshooting current issues.

Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named “netdata” (replace if different), use this command:

docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep apcupsd

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