Mikrotik UPS monitoring through usb

RouterOS General
1

Hi Guys,

We run a small wisp in South africa.

We have been trying to monitor our upses through the usb ports on the mikrotiks.
Only basic features are needed, mostly to see if the ups kicks in and batttery levels if possible.

I have been testing with the CCR 1009 and the 951Ui 2HnD.
So far I dont seem to be able to get the usb port added as the ups port.
I have seen guides where you configure the usb ports in the serial console, but from what I can see this option is not available in either of these routers.

They are smart upses, but they don’t have snmp.

Any advice on wheteher this is possible will be much appreciated.

2

Do you have the UPS package installed? You need that first.

Once that’s installed, all you have to do is plug in the UPS.
Now go to system/ups and do an “Add New”.
In the “Port” drop-down, you should see a “usbhid1” entry. That’s your UPS.

3

Yup.. usbhid1 is what you need. it’s works well.

[djoyce@Intrus_Router] /system ups> monitor 
numbers: 0
         on-line: yes
    runtime-left: 1h7m30s
  battery-charge: 100%
    line-voltage: 123V
  output-voltage: 124V
            load: 15%
4

Thanks for the response.

I do have the ups package installed.
When I go to the drop down on the ccr1009 only serial is available and on the 951 there are no options on the drop down.
New ups.png

5

What brand and model of UPS are you using? Maybe it’s just not recognized as an UPS by the kernel.
Anything in the log when you plug it in?
Do you have a Linux computer that you can plug the UPS into to see if it registers as a usbhid device?

6

The UPS is a Tescom apex plus.

I will test this with a linux system and check the log.
Is there anything I would need to enable under logging?

7

It looks like you will need a USB to Serial adaptor for that UPS. The MikroTik UPS drivers only support devices the use the APC protocol. It looks like that manufacture uses their own drivers and protocol for USB.

8

And how would such an adapter help to get the UPS recognized on the router?

9

because their site says that the unit supports standard Simple Signaling.

10

Assuming the Tescom apex plus uses the simple protocol, which I doubt. They have their own software, which includes detecting the UPS type, so it is probably not compatible.

11

Virtual box picks it up as “INNO Tech Usb to serial” but I am unable to attach it to the linux vm.
There is nothing on the log of the mikrotik when I plug it in.

12

Most USB to Serial devices use the Prolific chipset, or something based on that. the INNO Tech Usb to serial is not a well known device and doesn’t have drivers built into the kernel. It’s unlikely you will be able to get it working with most Linux distros with our building a custom kernel or building a driver module. And there is no chance of getting it working with a Mikrotik router. Your best bet is to try a cheap Prolific 2023 based cable and see if the UPS is detected.

13

Thanks,

I will try get hold of that cable and see if I can get it to work.