pmrep.conf(5)
NAME
pmrep.conf - pmrep configuration file
DESCRIPTION
pmrep is a customizable performance metrics reporting tool. Any available performance metric, live or archived, system and/or application, can be selected for reporting using one of the available output alternatives together with applicable formatting options. The metrics of interest are named in the metricspec argument(s) on the pmrep command line. These metricspecs define individual metrics or pre- defined performance metric sets to be read from the configuration file described below. For command line argument details see pmrep(1). The pmrep.conf configuration file allows setting default runtime values and defining any number of custom metricsets for pmrep. A metricset is a user-defined set of arbitrary performance metrics. This allows the user to create specifically crafted metricsets particularly relevant for their application or environment. Instead of being dependent on what existing tools provide or collecting the needed data with several disjoint utilities the user can create and modify custom metricsets by editing pmrep.conf. See below for the metricset specification. Configuration file options override the corresponding built-in default values (if any). Command line options override the corresponding configuration file options (if any).
FILE FORMAT
The file has an ini-style syntax and consists of sections and options.
A section begins with the name of the section in square brackets and
continues until the next section begins. An example section with two
options follows:
[section]
key = value
key2 = value2
The data types used are string (no quotes needed), integer, and bool
(with values of yes or no).
A line comment starts with a hash sign (``#'') or a semicolon (``;'').
Inline comments are not supported.
pmrep.conf must be readable by the user invoking pmrep.
Any option described below with a corresponding command line option
contains additional description in pmrep(1).
SPECIAL SECTIONS
The [options] section
The [options] section is read every time pmrep is run and it defines
the default runtime values (which may be overridden by the
corresponding command line options). Metric specifications are not
allowed in this section.
Section options
version (integer)
Indicates the configuration file version. Defaults to 1. The only
currently supported value is 1.
source (string)
Indicates the source for metrics. Interpreted as a PCP archive if
the string contains a slash (``/''). If set to the special
character ``@'', local DSO PMDA context is used. Otherwise
interpreted as a hostname. Corresponding command line paraters are
-a, -h, and -L. Defaults to local: (see PCPIntro(1)).
output (string)
Indicates the output target. Corresponding command line option is
-o. For supported output targets, see pmrep(1). Defaults to
stdout.
speclocal (string)
Indicates the local DSO PMDAs to be made available when using the
local DSO PMDA context. Corresponding command line option is -K.
For syntax description, see __pmSpecLocalPMDA(3). Use ``|'' to
separate more than one spec. Undefined by default.
derived (string)
Derived metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is
-e. For syntax description, see pmrep(1). Undefined by default.
header (bool)
Indicates whether to print headers. Corresponding command line
option is -H. Defaults to yes.
unitinfo (bool)
Indicates whether to include unit information as part of headers.
Corresponding command line option is -U. Defaults to yes.
globals (bool)
Indicates whether to include metrics from the [global] section (see
below) for reporting. Corresponding command line option is -G.
Defaults to yes.
timestamp (bool)
Indicates whether to print the timestamp. Corresponding command
line option is -p. Defaults to no.
samples (integer)
Indicates the number of samples to print. Corresponding command
line option is -s. Undefined by default (meaning unlimited number
of samples if not limited by other options).
interval (string)
Indicates the interval between samples. Corresponding command line
option is -o. Follows the time syntax described in PCPIntro(1).
Defaults to 1s.
delay (bool)
Indicates whether to pause between samples when replaying from an
archive rather than replaying at full speed. Corresponding command
line option is -d. Defaults to no.
type (string)
Indicates whether to output raw metric values by disabling all rate
conversions or convert cumulative counters to rates (default).
Corresponding command line option is -r. Allowed values are default
or raw.
instances (string)
Indicates the instances to be reported. Corresponding command line
option is -i. Undefined (all current instances are reported) by
default.
colxrow (string)
Indicates to swap columns and rows in stdout output using the given
label. Corresponding command line option is -X. Undefined (no
swapping) by default.
width (integer)
Indicates the width of stdout output columns. Corresponding command
line option is -w. Forced minimum is 3. Defaults to the shortest
width that can fit the metric label.
precision (integer)
Indicates how many decimals to use for numeric non-integer output
values. Corresponding command line option is -P. Defaults to 3.
delimiter (string)
Indicates the column separator. Corresponding command line option
is -l. Default depends on the output target, see pmrep(1).
extheader (bool)
Indicates whether to print extended header. Corresponding command
line option is -x. Defaults to no.
repeat_header (integer)
Indicates how often to repeat the header. Corresponding command
line option is -E. Defaults to 0.
timefmt (string)
Indicates the format string for formatting the timestamp.
Corresponding command line option is -f. Defaults to %H:%M:%S.
interpol (bool)
Indicates whether to interpolate reported archive values.
Corresponding command line option is -u. See pmrep(1) for complete
description. Defaults to yes.
count_scale (string)
Indicates the unit/scale for counter metrics. Corresponding command
line option is -q. For supported syntax, see pmrep(1). Undefined
(no scaling) by default.
space_scale (string)
Indicates the unit/scale for space metrics. Corresponding command
line option is -b. For supported syntax, see pmrep(1). Undefined
(no scaling) by default.
time_scale (string)
Indicates the unit/scale for time metrics. Corresponding command
line option is -y. For supported syntax, see pmrep(1). Undefined
(no scaling) by default.
Output target specific options
The following options are also accepted in the [options] section
but are typically used only in custom sections as they are
applicable only to certain output targets.
zabbix_server (string) (zabbix output target only)
Hostname or IP address of Zabbix server to send the metrics to. If
a host is monitored by a proxy, proxy hostname or IP address should
be used instead. Undefined by default.
zabbix_port (integer) (zabbix output target only)
Specify port number of server trapper running on the server.
Default is 10051.
zabbix_host (string) (zabbix output target only)
Specify agent hostname as registered in Zabbix frontend. Host IP
address and DNS name will not work. Undefined by default.
zabbix_interval (string) (zabbix output target only)
Indicates the interval to send the metrics to the Zabbix server.
This can be longer than the generic interval to minimize the
overhead when communicating with the server (as each send creates a
new connection). Follows the time syntax described in PCPIntro(1).
Defaults to the generic interval. Zabbix tools send at most 250
metrics at a time. Ignored when reading metrics from PCP archives,
in which case metrics will be sent roughly at 250 metric batches.
The [global] section
The [global] section is used to define metrics that will be reported in
addition to any other separately defined metrics or metricsets.
Configuration options are not allowed in this section. Global metrics
are reported by default, the command line option -G or the
configuration file option globals can be used to disable global
metrics.
Section options
No predefined options, only metricspecs allowed in this section.
See below for the metricspec specification.
CUSTOM SECTIONS
Any other section than [options] or [global] will be interpreted as a
new metricset specification. The section name is arbitrary, typically a
reference to its coverage or purpose. A custom section can contain
options, metricspecs, or both.
All the metrics specified in a custom section will be reported when
pmrep is instructed to use the particular custom section. pmrep can be
executed with more than one custom section (i.e., metricset) defined in
which case the combination of all the metrics specified in them will be
reported.
Section options
Any option valid in the [options] section is also valid in a custom
section. Any option or metric defined in the custom section will
override the same option or metric possibly defined earlier in the
[options] section. See below for the metricspec specification.
METRICSET SPECIFICATION
There are three forms of the metricspec. First, on the command line a metricspec can start with a colon (``:'') to indicate a reference to a metricset to be read from the pmrep configuration file. Second, the compact form of a metricspec is a one-line metric specification which can be used both on the command line and in the [global] and custom sections of the configuration file. The only difference of its usage in the configuration file is that the metric name is used as the key and the optional specifiers as values. The compact form of the metricspec is specified in detail in pmrep(1). The third, verbose form of a metricspec is valid only in the configuration file. A key containing a dot (``.'') is interpreted as a metric name (see above), a non-option key not containing a dot is interpreted as an identifier (see below). The verbose form of a metricspec starts with a declaration consisting of a mandatory identifier as the key and the actual performance metric name (a PMNS leaf node) as its value. This equals to the compact form of the metricspec defining the same performance metric without any of optional specifiers defined. The identifier is arbitrary and is not used otherwise except for binding the below specifiers and the metric together. The following specifiers are optional in the verbose form and can be used as keys in any order with an earlier declared identifier followed by a dot and the specifier (as in identifier.specifier): label Defines a text label for the metric used by supporting output targets. formula Defines the needed arithmetic expression for the metric. For details see pmRegisterDerived(3). instance Defines the instances to be reported for the metric. For details, see pmrep(1). unit Defines the unit/scale conversion for the metric. Needs to be dimension-compatible and is used with non-string and (currently) non-raw metrics. For allowed values, see pmrep(1). type If set to raw rate conversion for the metric will be disabled. width Defines the width of the output column for the metric.
EXAMPLE
The following example contains a short [options] section setting some
locally wanted default values. It then goes on to define the global
metrics kernel.all.sysfork using the compact form and mem.util.allcache
using the verbose form of a metricspec. The latter is a derived metric
using the later specified formula. Both of these metrics will be
included in reporting unless disabled with -G or globals = no.
Three different metricsets are also specified: db1, db2, and sar-w.
The DB sets define a host to be used as the source for the metrics.
Both use the verbose form of a metricspec (as the non-option key set
does not contain the dot) to include all postgresql related metrics.
The sar-w set is an example how to mimic an existing tool with pmrep.
[options]
timestamp = yes
interval = 2s
extheader = yes
repeat_header = 20
space_scale = MB
[global]
kernel.all.sysfork = forks,,,,8
allcache = mem.util.allcache
allcache.formula = mem.util.bufmem + mem.util.cached + mem.util.slab
[db1]
source = db-host1.example.com
set = postgresql
[db2]
source = db-host2.example.com
set = postgresql
[sar-w]
header = yes
unitinfo = no
globals = no
timestamp = yes
interval = 1s
extheader = no
precision = 2
sysfork = kernel.all.sysfork
sysfork.label = proc/s
sysfork.width = 11
pswitch = kernel.all.pswitch
pswitch.label = cswch/s
pswitch.width = 8
FILES
$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep/pmrep.conf
System provided configuration file.
SEE ALSO
PCPIntro(1), pmrep(1), __pmSpecLocalPMDA(3), pmRegisterDerived(3) and zbxpcp(3).
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