Commands Reference, Volume 4

pmctrl Command

Purpose

Controls or queries Power Management information.

Syntax

To Set Power Management Device:

pmctrl -d [ [ DeviceName [ -t [ IdleTime StandbyTime ] ] | [ lft0 [ -t [ DimTime SuspendTime TurnOffTime ] ] ] ]

To Set Power Management State:

pmctrl { -e -a State } | { -c | -l | -p | -u | -x } [ -a State ]

To Enable or Disable the Beep, LFT, the Resume Ringing, Sync, the Resume Password, or TTY:

pmctrl { -b | -k | -r | -s | -w | -y | } [ on | off ]

To Set Power Management Timers:

pmctrl { -R [ [ Date ] Time ] | -S [ [ Date ] Time suspend | hibernation | shutdown ] ] | -t [ Time ] | -g [ Time ] }

To Display Power Management Information:

pmctrl -v

The pmctrl command controls or queries Power Management information. The pmctrl command lets you control the State of the system when any of the following circumstances occur provided you have the necessary support allowing you to control the state:

The lid of the notebook is closed (Lid close)
The battery is low (Low battery)
The mainpower switch is pushed (Main power switch)
The system idle timer has run out (System idle timer expiration)

The State of the system can be any of the following:

full_on
enable
standby
suspend
hibernation
shutdown
ignore (not valid with the -e flag)

Flags

-a [State]	Displays the current system state when used alone. When used with the parameter State and in combination with other flags, specifies the system state to change to.
-b [on \| off]	Displays the current system setting for beep when used alone. When used with the parameter on or off, enables or disables the beep whenever the system changes state.
-c	Displays the current system setting for Lid close. When used with the -a State flag, sets the system state to change to (transition) whenever you close the lid of the notebook.
-d DeviceName	Displays the list of all Power Management aware Device Drivers when used alone. When used with DeviceName or DeviceName -t, displays the idle time and standby time of the device specified by DeviceName. When used with DeviceName -t IdleTime StandbyTime , where DeviceName is NOT lft0, sets the idle time and standby time of the device specified by DeviceName. Note: The DeviceName, lft0, specifies the Display Power Management System (DPMS). When used with lft0 -t DimTime SuspendTime TurnoffTime, sets the dim time, suspend time, and turnoff time of lft0. The minimum value for all the Time arguments is 1 minute, and the maximum value is 120 minutes. Specifying -1 as a Time argument means no change. Specifying 0 (zero) in any Time argument disables the timer.
-e	Requests a transition to the specifeid state. This flag must be used with the -a State flag.
-h	Displays the long command usage.
-g [Time]	Displays the current system setting for the duration of the suspend to hibernation when used alone. When used with the Time parameter and the -a State flag, sets duration of suspend to hibernation in minutes. Once this is set, after the system has changed its state to suspend, this timer begins to tick. When the timer expires, the system goes to hibernation state. The minimum value of Time is 1 minute, and the maximum value is 120 minutes. Specifying 0 (zero) disables the timer.
-k [ on \| off ]	Displays the current system setting for Low Function Terminal (LFT) termination when used alone. When set to on, the lft session will be terminated when the system enters suspend or hibernation state. When set to off, the lft session will not be terminated when the system enters suspend or hibernation state.
-l	(lowercase L) Displays the current system setting for Low battery. When used with the -a State flag, sets the system state to change to (transition) whenever the optional battery is low.
-p	Displays the current system setting for Main power switch. When used with the -a State flag, sets the system state to change to (transition) whenever the main power switch is pressed. Note: If necessary, the selected state transition can be overridden and the power immediately turned off by pressing the power button three times quickly (within a two second period).
-r [ on \| off ]	Displays the current system setting for ringing resume when used alone. This setting is used when connected to a telephone through a modem. When set to on, the ring of the telephone will cause the system to resume from hibernation. When set to off, the ring of the telephone will not cause the system to resume from suspend or hibernation.
-R [ [Date] Time ]	Displays the current system setting of the timer for system resume from a power-saving state (hibernation on a workstation or suspend on a notebook computer) when used alone. When used with the parameters, [Date] Time, sets the alarm timer for system resume. Specify [Date] Time, with the format [YYMMDD]hhmm. Specifying only Time means everyday. Setting Time to 0 (zero) means disable the timer. Setting Time to 0000 means midnight.
-s [ on \| off ]	Displays the current system setting for sync daemon termination when used alone. Note: If this flag is on, the sync daemon will be terminated when entering standby state, but reinvoked when resumed from standby. When set to on, the sync daemon will be terminated when the system enters standby state. When set to off, the sync daemon will not be terminated when the system enters standby state.
-S [ [Date] Time ] suspend \| hibernation \| shutdown
	Displays the current system setting of the timer for system to enter a power-saving state (suspend, hibernation or shutdown) when used alone. When used with the parameters, [Date] Time, sets the alarm timer for entering a power-saving state. Specify [Date] Time, with the format [YYMMDD]hhmm. Specifying only Time means everyday. Setting Time to 0 (zero) means disable the timer. Setting Time to 0000 means midnight.
-t [Time]	Displays the current system setting of the system idle-time when used alone. When used with the Time parameter, sets the system idle-time in minutes. Once this is set, this timer begins to tick while the system is left idle. When the time expires, the system changes to the state specified by the pmctrl -xa command. The minimum value of Time is 1 minute, and the maximum value is 120 minutes. Specifying 0 (zero) disables the timer.
-u	Displays the current system setting of the maximun state (shutdown > hibernation > suspend > standby > ignore) permitted to general users. You must have root authority to set this flag. This flag does not cause any system state change. When used with the -a State flag, sets the maximum system state that a general user can set. For example, if a user with root authority enters: pmctrl -u -a suspend then a general user will not be able to invoke pmctrl -e -a hibernation or pmctrl -e -a shutdown, but would be able to invoke pmctrl -e -a suspend or pmctrl -e -a standby. because the maximum state permitted to the general user is suspend. If pmctrl -ua ignore is entered, general users can not request any state transition.
-w [ on \| off ]	Displays the current system setting, when the X server is running,for password query resume when used alone. When used with the parameter on or off, enables or disables the password query.
-v	Displays all Power Management information.
-x	Displays the current system setting of the system transistion for when the system idle-timer expires. When used with the -a State flag, sets the system transistion state when the system idle-timer expires
-y [ on \| off ]	Displays the current system setting for TTY termination when used alone. When set to on, the TTY session will be terminated when the system enters suspend or hibernation state. When set to off, the TTY session will not be terminated when the system enters suspend or hibernation state.

Security

Access Control: Any User

Auditing Events: N/A

Examples

To display all Power Management Information, enter:

pmctrl -v

Something similar to the following displays:

Current system state is enable.
List of registered PM aware DDS is as follows:
lft0 (DPMS)
mouse0
sa0
kbd0
cd0
ent1
ppa0
fda0
bus2
hdisk0
scsi0
System idle time is set to 20. (in minute)
Duration of suspend to hibernation is set to 20. (in minute)
Action for notebook lid close is transition to suspend.
Action for main power switch off is transision to hibernation.
Action for low battery is suspend.
Action for system idle timer expiration is transition standby.
Maximum state authorized for general users is set to hibernation.
Beep setting is on.
Resume password setting is set to on.
Ringing resume setting is set to off
LFT termination setting is set to off.
TTY termination setting is set to off.
Syncd termination setting is set to off.
Timer for suspend is set to disabled.
Timer for resume is set to disabled.

To display the current system state, enter:
```
pmctrl -a
```
Something similar to the following displays:
```
Current system state is enable.
```
To immediately start a state transition to suspend state, enter:
```
pmctrl -e -a suspend
```
To start a state transition to hibernation whenever the lid is closed, enter:
```
pmctrl -c -a hibernation
```
To start a state transition to hibernation whenever the system idle timer expires, enter:
```
pmctrl -x -a hibernation
```
To set the system timer for suspend state at 17:00 on April 7, 1995, enter:
```
pmctrl -S 9504071700 hibernation
```
To set the device idle time of hdisk0 to 2 minutes but not change the current device standby time, enter:
```
pmctrl -d hdisk0 -t 2 -1
```

Files

/usr/bin/pmctrl

Contains the pmctrl command.