In this quick article I will give you a crash course in the CLI and cover the basic IP setup of one of these units. Once the unit is IP addressed you can access the web GUI to configure it further.

The box the network management card came in will include a console cable to administration.  It will have a serial connector on one end and what looks like an 1/8 inch male audio connector on the other end.  This is what connects to the net management card.  Connect to the unit with your laptop using 9600 baud and other settings as if it was a Cisco device.

When the unit is powered up will first see a username and password prompt.  The default username and passwords are “apc” and “apc”.  Log in, type a question mark and hit enter.   You will see something like this:

apc>?
Network Management Card Commands:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For command help: command ?
?           about       alarmcount  boot        cd          clrrst
console     date        delete      dir         dns         eventlog
exit        format      ftp         help        netstat     ntp
ping        portspeed   prompt      quit        radius      reboot
resetToDef  snmp        snmpv3      system      tcpip       tcpip6
user        web         xferINI     xferStatus
Device Commands:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ups         detstatus   cfgshutdn   cfgpower    upsfwupdate

As you can see the “?” shows us our options.   Now, go ahead and type one of the commands on the screen, follow it with a question mark and hit “Enter”.  This will give you additional details about that specific command and the arguments it can take in.  For example lets look at the “tcpip” command:

apc>tcpip ?
Usage: tcpip  -- Configure and display TCP/IP v4 parameters
    tcpip [-S <enable | disable>]
          [-i <ipv4 address>]
          [-s <subnet mask>]
          [-g <gateway>]
          [-d <domain name>]
          [-h <host name>]

Now that you are familiar with the basics lets apply some configuration.  Let’s use the” tcpip” command again to get the unit on the network.   You can string all of the arguments together or you can do them one at a time.  If the command is accepted you will see a success message, otherwise an error.  Setting up our network parameters looked something like this:

tcpip -i 192.168.1.100 -s 255.255.255.0 -g 192.168.1.1 -d domain.name -h hostname

You may also want to enable HTTPS for hte web interface. Lets do this with the “web” command:

apc>web ?
Usage: web --  Configuration Options
    web [-S ]
        [-ph ] (80 and 5000-32768)
        [-ps ] (443 and 5000-32768)
apc>web -S https
E002: Success
Reboot required for change to take effect.

Issue a “reboot” command and your system will now be ready to access remotely via a browser.

If your system has most likly been shipped with the outlet group disabled. To enable you can also do this from the CLI with the “ups” command. You can see the help output and the enabling command below:

apc>ups ?
Usage: ups  -- Initiate UPS Control
    ups [-c ]
        [-r ] (UPS Runtime Calibration)
        [-s Start] (UPS Selftest)
        [-o <# | #,#, ... | #-#> ] (Outlet Group Control)
        [-st] (UPS Status)
        [-os] [# | #,#, ... | #-#] (Outlet Group State)
        [-a Start] (Test UPS short alarm)
apc>ups -o 1 on
E000: Success

I hope you have found this fast start helpful! I have also writen a guide on configuring Radius authentication on the APC units as well that you can find HERE.