1PMCLIENT(1) General Commands Manual PMCLIENT(1)
2
6 pmclient, pmclient_fg - a simple performance metrics client
7
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]
12 pmclient_fg ...
14
16 pmclient and pmclient_fg are simple clients that use the Performance
17 Metrics Application Programming Interface (PMAPI) to report some high-
18 level system performance metrics.
19 The real value of these tools is as sample clients using the PMAPI(3),
21 interfaces and to this end the source code is included with the Perfor‐
22 mance Co-Pilot (PCP) package (see PCPIntro(1)), and is typically
23 installed in /usr/share/pcp/demos/pmclient.
24 The pmclient_fg program differs to pmclient in that it uses the fetch‐
26 group API extension to the PMAPI, see pmFetchGroup(3).
27 Normally pmclient operates on the distributed Performance Metrics Name
29 Space (PMNS), however if the -n option is specified an alternative
30 local PMNS is loaded from the file pmnsfile.
31 Unless directed to another host by the -h option, or to an archive by
33 the -a option, pmclient will contact the Performance Metrics Collector
34 Daemon (PMCD) on the local host to obtain the required information.
35 The argument to -a is a comma-separated list of names, each of which
36 may be the base name of an archive or the name of a directory contain‐
37 ing one or more archives. The -a and -h options are mutually exclu‐
38 sive.
39 By default, pmclient reports the time of day according to the local
41 timezone on the system where pmclient is run. The -Z option changes
42 the timezone to timezone in the format of the environment variable TZ
43 as described in environ(7). The -z option changes the timezone to the
44 local timezone at the host that is the source of the performance met‐
45 rics, as identified via either the -h or -a options.
46 The output from pmclient is directed to standard output, and lists
48 + Aggregate CPU utilization, in the range 0 to 1.
50 + If the system has more than 1 CPU, the ordinal number of the busiest
52 CPU, in the range 0 to ...
53 + If the system has more than 1 CPU, the CPU utilization for the
55 busiest CPU.
56 + Real free memory in Mbytes.
58 + Aggregate physical disk I/O operations per second (IOPS).
60 + Load average over the last 1 minute and over the last 15 minutes.
62
64 The available command line options are:
65 -a archive, --archive=archive
67 Performance metric values are retrieved from the set of Perfor‐
68 mance Co-Pilot (PCP) archive log files identified by the archive
69 argument, which is a comma-separated list of names, each of which
70 may be the base name of an archive or the name of a directory con‐
71 taining one or more archives.
72 -A align, --align=align
74 Force the initial sample to be aligned on the boundary of a natu‐
75 ral time unit align. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete descrip‐
76 tion of the syntax for align.
77 -h host, --host=host
79 Fetch performance metrics from pmcd(1) on host, rather than from
80 the default localhost.
81 -n pmnsfile, --namespace=pmnsfile
83 Load an alternative Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS(5)) from
84 the file pmnsfile.
85 -O origin, --origin=origin
87 When reporting archived metrics, start reporting at origin within
88 the time window (see -S and -T). Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a com‐
89 plete description of the syntax for origin.
90 -P, --pause
92 The default behavior for replaying a set of archives, is to replay
93 at full speed. The -P option may be used in conjunction with a
94 set of archives, to request that the prevailing real-time delay be
95 applied between samples (see -t) to effect a pause.
96 -s samples, --samples=samples
98 The samples argument defines the number of samples to be retrieved
99 and reported. If samples is 0 or -s is not specified, pmclient
100 will sample and report continuously (in real time mode) or until
101 the end of the set of PCP archives (in archive mode).
102 -S starttime, --start=starttime
104 The -S option may be used in conjunction with a set of archives to
105 request that display start at the starttime from the start of the
106 archive(s). Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of
107 the syntax for starttime.
108 -t interval, --interval=interval
110 Set the reporting interval to something other than the default 5
111 seconds. The interval argument follows the syntax described in
112 PCPIntro(1), and in the simplest form may be an unsigned integer
113 (the implied units in this case are seconds).
114 -T endtime, --finish=endtime
116 When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restricted to
117 those records logged before or at endtime. Refer to PCPIntro(1)
118 for a complete description of the syntax for endtime.
119 -V, --version
121 Display version number and exit.
122 -z, --hostzone
124 Use the local timezone of the host that is the source of the per‐
125 formance metrics, as identified by either the -h or the -a
126 options. The default is to use the timezone of the local host.
127 -Z timezone, --timezone=timezone
129 Use timezone for the date and time. Timezone is in the format of
130 the environment variable TZ as described in environ(7).
131 -?, --help
133 Display usage message and exit.
134
136 All are generated on standard error, and are intended to be self-
137 explanatory.
138
140 $PCP_DEMOS_DIR/pmclient
141 source code, documentation, configuration files and Makefile when
142 the PCP development package is installed
143
145 Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the
146 file and directory names used by PCP. On each installation, the file
147 /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values for these variables. The
148 $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an alternative configuration
149 file, as described in pcp.conf(5).
150 For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see pmGetOptions(3).
152
154 PCPIntro(1), pmcd(1), pmchart(1), pmdumptext(1), pmgenmap(1),
155 pminfo(1), pmrep(1), pmstat(1), pmval(1), PMAPI(3), pmFetchGroup(3),
156 pcp.conf(5), pcp.env(5) and PMNS(5).
157Performance Co-Pilot PCP PMCLIENT(1)