NUTSCAN_INIT(3)

✨ NUTSCAN_INIT — the lil' startup ritual for the nutscan library ✨

okay bestie, so this is a page from the NUT Manual — section 3, NUTSCAN_INIT(3) — and honestly? it's short but it's load-bearing, so lock in for like two minutes 💖

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🌸 NAME 🌸

nutscan_init — Initialize the nutscan library.

yes. that's it. that's the whole job. but bestie, if you skip it, everything else breaks, so let's go 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <nut-scan.h>

void nutscan_init(void);

that's the whole vibe. no args, no return value, just vibes and initialization ✨

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

okay so here's the tea, and it's non-negotiable tea: you must call nutscan_init() at least once before you use any other function in the nutscan library. not once per function, not "eh I'll get to it" — at least once, before anything else. periodt. 👑

what it does is it updates a bunch of global variables, and those globals are basically the library telling you "hey, here's what I can actually do on this machine right now." so as a nutscan user you can check them at run-time and know which scan methods are available. no guessing, no praying, just facts 💅

and the availability depends on which further libraries are installed on your system:

• nutscan_avail_avahi = 1: AVAHI NUT scan is available 🦋
• nutscan_avail_ipmi = 1: IPMI scan is available
• nutscan_avail_nut = 1: the "Old" NUT method is available
• nutscan_avail_nut_simulation = 1: the NUT simulation devices method is available
• nutscan_avail_snmp = 1: SNMP method is available
• nutscan_avail_usb = 1: USB method is available
• nutscan_avail_xml_http = 1: XML HTTP method is available 🌈

⚠️ important, bestie, do not skip this: if one of those variables says a method is unavailable, then calling the matching nutscan_scan_* function will always return NULL. every single time. no exceptions. it's giving "the door is locked and there is no key" 💀

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🧚 NOTES 🧚

technically — and I do mean technically — the function is currently defined in the nutscan-init.h file. iykyk 🙈

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

go read these too, they're all part of the same friend group:

• nutscan_init(3)
• nutscan_scan_usb(3)
• nutscan_scan_snmp(3)
• nutscan_scan_xml_http_range(3)
• nutscan_scan_nut(3)
• nutscan_scan_nut_simulation(3)
• nutscan_scan_avahi(3)
• nutscan_scan_ipmi(3)
• nutscan_display_ups_conf(3)
• nutscan_display_sanity_check(3)
• nutscan_display_sanity_check_serial(3)
• nutscan_display_ups_conf_with_sanity_check(3)
• nutscan_display_parsable(3)
• nutscan_new_device(3)
• nutscan_free_device(3)
• nutscan_add_option_to_device(3)
• nutscan_add_device_to_device(3)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this lil' slice of the Network UPS Tools 2.8.5 manual is dated 10/07/2026, so go forth, call nutscan_init() first, and slay 💖✨🌸