
             Release Notes for Apcupsd 3.14.x

Apcupsd 3.14.x is the latest STABLE release, containing many bug fixes and
new features over the previous 3.12.x stable series. Users of all previous
versions are encouraged to upgrade.

IF YOU USE THE OLD STYLE MASTER/SLAVE NETWORKING MODE, BE SURE TO READ THE
3.14.0 RELEASE NOTES BELOW.

3.14.2 -- 15 September 2007          (Maintenance Release)


NEW FEATURES

  * Tray icon support on Vista. Vista does not allow background services
    to interact with the user's desktop, so winapcupsd's built-in tray
    icon did not work.

  * Tray icon is now a standalone application "apctray" which is capable of
    monitoring multiple Apcupsd instances via Apcupsd's NIS. Any Apcupsd
    running NIS can be monitored. By default the icon monitors a single
    apcupsd at 127.0.0.1:3551. See command line options below for adding
    additional monitors.

  * Tray icon can be installed individually (disable other packages in the
    installer) for users who want to use the icon only.

  * Apctray command line options:

       apctray.exe
          - No parameters: Start any instances listed in registry. If no
          instances in reg, start a default instance monitoring the local
          machine (127.0.0.1:3551).

       apctray.exe /host foo /port 3551 /add
          - Add a monitor for the given host and port.

       apctray.exe /host foo /port 3551 /del
          - Remove the given monitor.

       apctray.exe /del
          - Remove all monitors.

       apctray.exe /install
          - Configure apctray to start automatically.

       apctray.exe /remove
          - Do not start automatically.

       apctray.exe /kill
          - Shut down apctray

BUG FIXES

  * The win32 portions of winapcupsd have been almost entirely rewritten. 
    The code is cleaner (mostly) and lots of unused baggage has been removed.

  * USB fix for BackUPS LCD series. This fix carries a risk of breaking other
    models, but test results are positive so far.
  
  * Fix linux-usb device detection bug when multiple hiddev nodes are
    present.  Fixes Fedora Bugzilla #245864:
    <https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=245864>
  
  * Fix SNMP port selection when using SNMP driver


  * Add workaround for broken BackUPS Pro model that returns certain
    reports encoded in ASCII. Based on a patch from David Fries
    <David@Fries.net>.

  * apcsmart: Wait 20 seconds before declaring COMMLOST. This is necessary
    when using a smart serial cable on an UPS with an SNMP monitoring card
    installed. The SNMP card appears to disrupt serial comms for several 
    seconds when interesting events are in progress.

  * Documentation updates: Fix up udev info for modern Linux distros.
    Update Windows section for apctray.

  * Don't leak unnecessary descriptors to child when execing apccontrol.

  * Fix bug with multi-threaded net_open() calls. net_open() was using
    a global buffer for the destination address. Yikes! Bug manifestied
    itself in apctray with multiple monitors occasionally (and
    timing-dependently) pointing to the wrong UPS.

  * Correct multimon.conf humidity monitoring.  Problem fixed by
    Patrick Frei.  Reference:
    https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=199834

  * Fix race between attach_ups() and detach_ups() which could result
    in the UPSINFO structure being freed prematurely. Thanks to James
    Abbott <j.abbott@imperial.ac.uk> for running many tests to help me
    find this bug.

  * Remove dependency on libc++ (again). Must use gcc as linker when
    using libsupc++ since g++ automatically links against full libc++.


3.14.1 -- 04 May 2007           (Maintenance Release)

NEW FEATURES

  * MacOS X GUI installer

  * PCNET driver supports remote shutdown request from UPS web interface

BUG FIXES

  * (win32) Detect when balloon tips have been disabled via a group policy
      and fall back on the standard popup message box.

  * (win32) Fix typo: "%sbindir\%popup" -> "%sbindir%\popup" in apccontrol.bat
      Discovered by Stefan.Hegnauer@elektrobit.com.

  * (all) Fix potential NIS client lockup when server disappears. Many thanks
      to Jan Ceuleers <jan.ceuleers@computer.org> for reporting the problem
      and gathering data to track down the cause.

  * (apctest) Fix link error after configuring with --disable-apcsmart.

  * (doc) Document how to force ugen binding on NetBSD 4.x.
      Contributed by Curt Sampson <cjs@starling-software.com>.

  * (apctest) Fix crash when displaying EEPROM values more than once.
      Contributed by Ivaylo Haratcherev <I.J.Haratcherev@tudelft.nl>.

  * Increase self-test timeout to 40 seconds to accomodate the RS 800.
      Contributed by Lars Randers <lars@nstec.dk>.

  * (linux-usb) Rewrite device opening logic to be more reliable. See 
      ChangeLog for details.

  * (apcupsd) Do not attempt to cancel shutdowns.


3.14.0 -- 09 February 2007      (Feature Release)

NEW FEATURES

  * USB support for 3 new platforms:

  	- Windows (Win98SE, WinME, Win2000, Win2003 Server, WinXP)
  	- Mac OS X (Darwin)
  	- Solaris 10 (x86 and SPARC)

        Please see the Apcupsd manual for details on USB configuration for the
        new platforms.

  * Native Windows port
  
       The winapcupsd port has been completely rewritten to use native
       Win32 libraries (based on MinGW32). It no longer relies on a Cygwin
       translation layer, thus improving compatibility and performance.

  * PowerChute Network Shutdown driver
  
       Apcupsd now supports the PowerChute Network Shutdown protocol (PCNET)
       offered by the AP9617 family of smart slot modules. This protocol is
       much lighter-weight than SNMP and offers better security. Please see 
       the Apcupsd manual for details on PCNET configuration.

  * GAPCMON GUI monitoring tool
  
       Apcupsd is now packaged with the GAPCMON GUI monitoring application
       thanks to James Scott, Jr. This is a Gnome/GTK based application which
       integrates into most desktop panels (not just Gnome). It monitors one or
       more Apcupsd instances using Apcupsd's NIS networking server. The status
       of each UPS is shown with a icon similar to the Win32 tray icon in 
       winapcupsd. Enable building of gapcmon at compile time via 
       --enable-gapcmon or install the apcupsd-gapcmon RPM.

  * Unreliable MASTER/SLAVE networking mode is removed
  
       Yes, this is a feature. The old MASTER/SLAVE mode for shutting down
       multiple servers from one UPS has historically been unreliable and prone
       to loss of communications or lockups. Apcupsd has long had a replacement
       networking mode using the NIS server (NIS stands for Network Information
       Server, and has nothing to do with Sun's NIS/YP protocol). The NIS net
       mode is very reliable and has none of the lockup bugs that have plagued 
       MASTER/SLAVE mode.
       
       In 3.14.x, MASTER/SLAVE mode has been removed and the associated 
       configuration directives are now obsolete. Please see the Apcupsd manual
       for a very simple NIS networking configuration to replace MASTER/SLAVE.

   * New configuration directives to set paths at runtime

       Several new (optional) configuration directives have been added to 
       allow overriding compiled-in paths at runtime. The directives are:

          - SCRIPTDIR (sets location of apccontrol and event scripts)
          - PWRFAILDIR (sets location where powerfail file will be written)
          - NOLOGINDIR (set location where nologin file will be written)

       These directives can be used to rearrange the Apcupsd installation
       after compiling, or to run multiple Apcupsd instances on the
       same machine without compiling separate copies.

       See the Apcupsd manual for details on these new directives.
