1PMCLIENT(1) General Commands Manual PMCLIENT(1)
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6 pmclient, pmclient_fg - a simple performance metrics client
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9 pmclient [-PVz?] [-a archive] [-A align] [-h host] [-n pmnsfile] [-O
10 origin] [-s samples] [-S starttime] [-t interval] [-T endtime] [-Z
11 timezone]
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14 pmclient and pmclient_fg are simple clients that use the Performance
15 Metrics Application Programming Interface (PMAPI) to report some high-
16 level system performance metrics.
17 The real value of these tools is as sample clients using the PMAPI(3),
19 interfaces and to this end the source code is included with the Perfor‐
20 mance Co-Pilot (PCP) package (see PCPIntro(1)), and is typically
21 installed in /usr/share/pcp/demos/pmclient.
22 The pmclient_fg program differs to pmclient in that it uses the fetch‐
24 group API extension to the PMAPI, see pmFetchGroup(3).
25 Normally pmclient operates on the distributed Performance Metrics Name
27 Space (PMNS), however if the -n option is specified an alternative
28 local PMNS is loaded from the file pmnsfile.
29 Unless directed to another host by the -h option, or to an archive by
31 the -a option, pmclient will contact the Performance Metrics Collector
32 Daemon (PMCD) on the local host to obtain the required information.
33 The argument to -a is a comma-separated list of names, each of which
34 may be the base name of an archive or the name of a directory contain‐
35 ing one or more archives. The -a and -h options are mutually exclu‐
36 sive.
37 By default, pmclient reports the time of day according to the local
39 timezone on the system where pmclient is run. The -Z option changes
40 the timezone to timezone in the format of the environment variable TZ
41 as described in environ(7). The -z option changes the timezone to the
42 local timezone at the host that is the source of the performance met‐
43 rics, as identified via either the -h or -a options.
44 The output from pmclient is directed to standard output, and lists
46 + Aggregate CPU utilization, in the range 0 to 1.
48 + If the system has more than 1 CPU, the ordinal number of the busiest
50 CPU, in the range 0 to ...
51 + If the system has more than 1 CPU, the CPU utilization for the
53 busiest CPU.
54 + Real free memory in Mbytes.
56 + Aggregate physical disk I/O operations per second (IOPS).
58 + Load average over the last 1 minute and over the last 15 minutes.
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62 The available command line options are:
63 -a archive, --archive=archive
65 Performance metric values are retrieved from the set of Perfor‐
66 mance Co-Pilot (PCP) archive log files identified by the archive
67 argument, which is a comma-separated list of names, each of which
68 may be the base name of an archive or the name of a directory con‐
69 taining one or more archives.
70 -A align, --align=align
72 Force the initial sample to be aligned on the boundary of a natu‐
73 ral time unit align. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete descrip‐
74 tion of the syntax for align.
75 -h host, --host=host
77 Fetch performance metrics from pmcd(1) on host, rather than from
78 the default localhost.
79 -n pmnsfile, --namespace=pmnsfile
81 Load an alternative Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS(5)) from
82 the file pmnsfile.
83 -O origin, --origin=origin
85 When reporting archived metrics, start reporting at origin within
86 the time window (see -S and -T). Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a com‐
87 plete description of the syntax for origin.
88 -P, --pause
90 The default behavior for replaying a set of archives, is to replay
91 at full speed. The -P option may be used in conjunction with a
92 set of archives, to request that the prevailing real-time delay be
93 applied between samples (see -t) to effect a pause.
94 -s samples, --samples=samples
96 The samples argument defines the number of samples to be retrieved
97 and reported. If samples is 0 or -s is not specified, pmclient
98 will sample and report continuously (in real time mode) or until
99 the end of the set of PCP archives (in archive mode).
100 -S starttime, --start=starttime
102 The -S option may be used in conjunction with a set of archives to
103 request that display start at the starttime from the start of the
104 archive(s). Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of
105 the syntax for starttime.
106 -t interval, --interval=interval
108 Set the reporting interval to something other than the default 5
109 seconds. The interval argument follows the syntax described in
110 PCPIntro(1), and in the simplest form may be an unsigned integer
111 (the implied units in this case are seconds).
112 -T endtime, --finish=endtime
114 When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restricted to
115 those records logged before or at endtime. Refer to PCPIntro(1)
116 for a complete description of the syntax for endtime.
117 -V, --version
119 Display version number and exit.
120 -z, --hostzone
122 Use the local timezone of the host that is the source of the per‐
123 formance metrics, as identified by either the -h or the -a
124 options. The default is to use the timezone of the local host.
125 -Z timezone, --timezone=timezone
127 Use timezone for the date and time. Timezone is in the format of
128 the environment variable TZ as described in environ(7).
129 -?, --help
131 Display usage message and exit.
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134 All are generated on standard error, and are intended to be self-
135 explanatory.
136
138 $PCP_DEMOS_DIR/pmclient
139 source code, documentation, configuration files and Makefile when
140 the PCP development package is installed
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143 Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the
144 file and directory names used by PCP. On each installation, the file
145 /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values for these variables. The
146 $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an alternative configuration
147 file, as described in pcp.conf(5).
148 For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see pmGetOptions(3).
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152 PCPIntro(1), pmcd(1), pmchart(1), pmdumptext(1), pmgenmap(1),
153 pminfo(1), pmrep(1), pmstat(1), pmval(1), PMAPI(3), pmFetchGroup(3),
154 pcp.conf(5), pcp.env(5) and PMNS(5).
155Performance Co-Pilot PCP PMCLIENT(1)