source: general/sysutils/sysstat.xml@ 518538f

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
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   "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.gz">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-download-ftp  "ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/system/status/sysstat-&sysstat-version;.tar.gz">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-size          "124 KB">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-buildsize     "1.2 MB">
  <!ENTITY sysstat-time          ".12 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>

<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 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 &amp;&amp;
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 "Installation directory". 
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.</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><title>System startup information</title>

<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><command>make install-sysstat</command></userinput></screen>
</sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Contents</title>

<para>The <application>Sysstat</application> package contains 
<command>iostat</command>, 
<command>mpstat</command>, 
<command>sar</command>, 
<filename>sa1</filename>, 
<filename>sa2</filename> and 
<filename>sadc</filename>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2><title>Description</title>

<sect3><title>iostat</title>
<para><command>iostat</command> reports <acronym>CPU</acronym> statistics and 
input/output statistics for devices and partitions.</para></sect3>

<sect3><title>mpstat</title>
<para><command>mpstat</command> reports individual or combined processor 
related statistics.</para></sect3>

<sect3><title>sar</title>
<para><command>sar</command> collects, reports and saves system activity 
information.</para></sect3>

<sect3><title>sa1</title>
<para><filename>sa1</filename> 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></sect3>

<sect3><title>sa2</title>
<para><filename>sa2</filename> writes a summarized daily activity report. It 
is a front end to <command>sar</command> designed to be run from 
cron.</para></sect3>

<sect3><title>sadc</title>
<para><filename>sadc</filename> is the system activity data collector, used as 
a backend for <command>sar</command>.</para></sect3>

</sect2>

</sect1>