power.conf (4)

Name

power.conf -- Power management configuration information file.

Synopsis

/etc/power.conf

Availability

SUNWpmr

Description

The power.conf file is used by the power management configuration program, pmconfig(1M), to initialize the settings for power management of the system. Devices not appearing in this file will not be power managed without explicit configuration using the power management pseudo driver. It is recommended that you fully understand the power management framework before modifying this file. Although inappropriate settings will not cause system damage, severe performance reduction may result.

The power.conf file contains a line by line listing of the devices to be configured. A line may be more than 80 characters. A new line character will be treated as white space, if it is preceded by a backslash ("\"). Comment lines must begin with a hash character ("#"). Each line must contain a device name field and a threshold field; it may also contain a dependents field. The fields must be in that order (name, threshold, dependents). Fields and subfields are separated by white space (tabs or spaces).

The device name field specifies the device to be configured. The name is a pathname either leading to a special file or specifying the device as in the /etc/path_to_inst file. When using the latter format, instead of using the full pathname, it is possible to omit the portion of the pathname specifying the device's parent(s) (parent devices). This includes the leading "/". Using this "relative" pathname format, the first device whose full pathname contains the given pathname as its tail is matched.

For example, SCSI disk target 1 with the following full path name:

  /iommu@f,e000/sbus@f,e001/espdma@f,4000/esp@f,8000/sd@1,0

May also be specified as:

sbus@f,e000/espdma@f,4000/esp@f,8000/sd@1,0
esp@f,8000/sd@1,0
sd@1,0

The threshold field is used to configure the power manageable components of a device. These components represent the separately power manageable entities within a device. This field may contain as many integer values as the device has components. Each threshold time specifies the idle time in seconds before the respective component may be powered down. if there are fewer component threshold times than device components, the remaining components are not power managed. To explicitly set a component to not turn off, use a value of -1. At least one component threshold must be specified per device (in the file).

The dependent field may contain a list of logical dependents of this device. A logical dependent is a selected device that is not physically connected to the power managed device (e.g., display and the keyboard). A dependent device is one which must be idle and powered down before the managed device may be powered down (over and above any threshold times). The names use the same formats allowed in the first field and a re separated by white space. A device must be previously configured before it may be used as a dependent.

The device name field may also contain the special device name "autoshutdown", which indicates that the line is to initiate the powerd(1M). In this case, the threshold value specifies the system idle time (measured by console keyboard and mouse) before the system may be shutdown. The line must also contain start and finish times which also determine when the system may be automatically suspended.

Examples

The following is a sample power.conf file:

# This is a sample power management configuration file
# Fields must be separated by white space.
#

# Name            Threshold(s)     Logical Dependent(s)
/dev/conskbd      30
/dev/consms       30
/dev/fb           0                 /dev/conskbd  /dev/consms
/dev/fbs/cgsix1   0                 /dev/conskbd   #second display
/dev/dsk/c0t3d0s0 20
esp@4,8800000     0
le@4,8c00000      0
zs@0,0            0 0 0
zs@0,100000       0 0 0

# Auto-Shutdown      Idle Time (min)   Start/Finish Times (hh:mm)
autoshutdown         60                 17:00 8:00

Notes

Remember that physical dependents are automatically included by the power manager and need not be specified.

The default power.conf file suports the standard hardware configuration. for each additional power manageable device (e.g., a second display), a new entry must be manually added to the power.conf file and pmconfig(1M) executed to activate the new change.

Powering devices up and down frequently may reduce device reliability, especially for devices not designed for power management. So do not put additional devices under power management unless the hardware documentation permits it. At this time most SCSI hard disks are not power manageable.

See Also

pm(7), pmconfig(1M), powerd(1M)