source: general/sysutils/sysstat.xml@ 155d664f

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
  %general-entities;

  <!ENTITY sysstat-download-http "http://perso.wanadoo.fr/sebastien.godard/sysstat-&sysstat-version;.tar.bz2">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-download-ftp  "ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/system/status/sysstat-&sysstat-version;.tar.bz2">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-md5sum        "075488cbb5979deec0ab05f3ca0c8d12">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-size          "118 KB">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-buildsize     "1.88 MB">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-time          "0.04 SBU">
]>

<sect1 id="sysstat" xreflabel="Sysstat-&sysstat-version;">
<sect1info>
<othername>$LastChangedBy$</othername>
<date>$Date$</date>
</sect1info>
<?dbhtml filename="sysstat.html"?>
<title>Sysstat-&sysstat-version;</title>
<indexterm zone="sysstat">
<primary sortas="a-Sysstat">Sysstat</primary></indexterm>

<sect2>
<title>Introduction to <application>Sysstat</application></title>

<para>The <application>Sysstat</application> package contains utilities to 
monitor system performance and usage activity. 
<application>Sysstat</application> contains the <command>sar</command> utility, 
common to many commercial Unixes, and tools you can schedule via cron to 
collect and historize performance and activity data.</para>

<sect3><title>Package information</title>
<itemizedlist spacing='compact'>
<listitem><para>Download (HTTP): 
<ulink url="&sysstat-download-http;"/></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Download (FTP): 
<ulink url="&sysstat-download-ftp;"/></para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Download MD5 sum: 
&sysstat-md5sum;</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Download size: 
&sysstat-size;</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Estimated disk space required: 
&sysstat-buildsize;</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Estimated build time: 
&sysstat-time;</para></listitem></itemizedlist>
</sect3>

<sect3><title><application>Sysstat</application> dependencies</title>
<sect4><title>Recommended</title>
<para><xref linkend="fcron"/></para></sect4>
</sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Installation of <application>Sysstat</application></title>

<para>Install <application>Sysstat</application> by running the 
following commands:</para>

<screen><userinput><command>make config &amp;&amp;
make</command></userinput></screen>

<para>Now, as the root user:</para>

<screen><userinput role='root'><command>make install</command></userinput></screen>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Command explanations</title>

<para><command>make config</command>: Runs the interactive configuration 
process. The first question prompts you for an 
<quote><computeroutput>Installation directory</computeroutput></quote>. Reply 
with <filename class="directory">/usr</filename>, as 
this is equivalent to <application>Autoconf</application>'s 
<parameter>--prefix=/usr</parameter> parameter to 
<command>configure</command>. For all other prompts, you may 
press <command>Enter</command> to accept the (very sane) defaults. When 
prompted for <quote><computeroutput>Number of daily data files to keep: 
[7]</computeroutput></quote>, you may wish to keep a larger number of files.
However, don't exceed 25 because <application>Sysstat</application> will
resuse existing files the next month, leading to erroneous daily 
reports.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Configuring <application>Sysstat</application></title>

<sect3><title>Cron information</title>

<para>To begin gathering <application>Sysstat</application> history 
information, you must add to, or create a privileged user's crontab. The 
default history data location is 
<filename class="directory">/var/log/sa</filename>. The user running 
<application>Sysstat</application> utilities via cron must have write 
access to this location.</para>

<para>Below is an example of what to install in the crontab. Adjust the
parameters to suit your needs. Use <command>man sa1</command> and
<command>man sa2</command> for information about the commands.</para>

<screen><userinput># 8am-7pm activity reports every 10 minutes during weekdays
0 8-18 * * 1-5 /usr/lib/sa/sa1 600 6 &amp;
 
# 7pm-8am activity reports every hour during weekdays
0 19-7 * * 1-5 /usr/lib/sa/sa1 &amp;
 
# Activity reports every hour on Saturday and Sunday
0 * * * 0,6 /usr/lib/sa/sa1 &amp;
 
# Daily summary prepared at 19:05
5 19 * * * /usr/lib/sa/sa2 -A &amp;</userinput></screen>

<para>Ensure you submit the revised crontab to the cron daemon.</para>
</sect3>

<sect3 id="sysstat-init"><title>System startup information</title>
<indexterm zone="sysstat sysstat-init">
<primary sortas="f-sysstat">sysstat</primary></indexterm>

<para>At system startup, a LINUX RESTART message must be inserted in the daily 
data file to reinitialize the kernel counters. This can be automated by
installing the <filename>/etc/rc.d/init.d/sysstat</filename> init script 
included in the <xref linkend="intro-important-bootscripts"/> package using 
the following command:</para>

<screen><userinput role='root'><command>make install-sysstat</command></userinput></screen>
</sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Contents</title>

<segmentedlist>
<segtitle>Installed Programs</segtitle>
<segtitle>Installed Libraries</segtitle>
<segtitle>Installed Directories</segtitle>

<seglistitem>
<seg>iostat, mpstat, sar, sa1, sa2 and sadc</seg>
<seg>None</seg>
<seg>/usr/lib/sa and /var/log/sa</seg>
</seglistitem>
</segmentedlist>

<variablelist>
<bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
<?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>

<varlistentry id="iostat">
<term><command>iostat</command></term>
<listitem><para>reports <acronym>CPU</acronym> statistics and input/output 
statistics for devices and partitions.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat iostat">
<primary sortas="b-iostat">iostat</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="mpstat">
<term><command>mpstat</command></term>
<listitem><para>reports individual or combined processor related 
statistics.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat mpstat">
<primary sortas="b-mpstat">mpstat</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="sar">
<term><command>sar</command></term>
<listitem><para> collects, reports and saves system activity 
information.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat sar">
<primary sortas="b-sar">sar</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="sa1">
<term><command>sa1</command></term>
<listitem><para>collects and stores binary data in the system activity daily 
data file. It is a front end to <filename>sadc</filename> designed to be run 
from cron.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat sa1">
<primary sortas="b-sa1">sa1</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="sa2">
<term><command>sa2</command></term>
<listitem><para>writes a summarized daily activity report. It is a front end 
to <command>sar</command> designed to be run from cron.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat sa2">
<primary sortas="b-sa2">sa2</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry id="sadc">
<term><command>sadc</command></term>
<listitem><para>is the system activity data collector, used as a backend for 
<command>sar</command>.</para>
<indexterm zone="sysstat sadc">
<primary sortas="b-sadc">sadc</primary>
</indexterm></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

</sect1>