scout - Monitors the File Server process
scout [initcmd]
-server <servers to monitor>+
[-basename <base server name>]
[-frequency <poll frequency, in seconds>]
[-host]
[-attention <specify attention (highlighting) level>+]
[-columnwidths <number of characters>+]
[-debug <turn debugging output on to the named file>]
[-version] [-help]
scout [i]
-s <servers to monitor>+
[-b <base server name>]
[-f <poll frequency, in seconds>]
[-ho]
[-a <specify attention (highlighting) level>+]
[-c <number of characters+>]
[-d <turn debugging output on to the named file>]
[-version] [-he]
The scout command displays statistics gathered from the File
Server process running on each machine specified with the -server
argument. "OUTPUT" explains the meaning of the statistics and
describes how they appear in the command shell, which is preferably a window
managed by a window manager program.
The scout program must be able to access the curses
graphics package, which it uses to display statistics. Most UNIX
distributions include curses as a standard utility.
Both dumb terminals and windowing systems that emulate terminals
can display the scout program's statistics. The display makes use of
reverse video and cursor addressing, so the display environment must support
those features for it to look its best (most windowing systems do, most dumb
terminals do not). Also, set the TERM environment variable to the correct
terminal type, or one with characteristics similar to the actual ones. For
machines running the AIX operating system, the recommended setting for TERM
is "vt100", as long as the terminal is
similar to that. For other operating systems, the wider range of acceptable
values includes "xterm",
"xterms",
"vt100",
"vt200", and
"wyse85".
- initcmd
- Accommodates the command's use of the AFS command parser, and is
optional.
- -server
<servers to monitor>+
- Specifies each file server machine running a File Server process to
monitor. Provide each machine's fully qualified hostname unless the
-basename argument is used. In that case, specify only the unique
initial part of each machine name, omitting the domain name suffix (the
basename) common to all the names. It is also acceptable to use the
shortest abbreviated form of a host name that distinguishes it from other
machines, but successful resolution depends on the availability of a name
resolution service (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table)
at the time the command is issued.
- -basename
<base server name>
- Specifies the basename (domain name) suffix common to all of the file
server machine names specified with the -server argument, and is
automatically appended to them. This argument is normally the name of the
cell to which the machines belong. Do not include the period that
separates this suffix from the distinguishing part of each file server
machine name, but do include any periods that occur within the suffix
itself. For example, in the Example Corporation cell, the proper value is
"example.com" rather than
".example.com".
- -frequency
<poll frequency>
- Indicates how often to probe the File Server processes. Specify a number
of seconds greater than 0 (zero). The default is
60 seconds.
- -host
- Displays the name of the machine that is running the scout program, in the
banner line of the display screen.
- -attention
<attention level>+
- Defines a list of entries, each of which pairs a statistic and a threshold
value. When the value of the statistic exceeds the indicated threshold
value, it is highlighted (in reverse video) in the display. List the pairs
in any order. The acceptable values are the following:
- conn
<connections>
- Indicates the number of open connections to client processes at which to
highlight the statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when the
value goes back below the threshold. There is no default threshold.
An example of an acceptable value is conn 300.
- disk
<blocks_free>
- Indicates the number of remaining free kilobyte blocks at which to
highlight the statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when the
value again exceeds the threshold. There is no default threshold.
An example of an acceptable value is disk 5000.
- disk
<percent_full>%
- Indicates the percentage of disk usage at which to highlight the
statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when the value goes
back below the threshold. The default threshold is 95%. Acceptable values
are the integers in the range from 0 to
99, followed by the percent sign
("%") to distinguish this type of value
from the one described just previously.
An example is disk 90%.
- fetch <fetch
RPCs>
- Indicates the cumulative number of fetch RPCs from client processes at
which to highlight the statistic. The statistic does not return to regular
display until the File Server process restarts, at which time the value
returns to zero. There is no default threshold.
Example of a legal value: fetch 6000000
- store <store
RPCs>
- Indicates the cumulative number of store RPCs from client processes at
which to highlight the statistic. The statistic does not return to regular
display until the File Server process restarts, at which time the value
returns to zero. There is no default threshold.
Example of an acceptable value: store 200000
- ws <active client
machines>
- Indicates the number of client machines with active open connections at
which to highlight the statistic. An active connection is defined as one
over which the File Server and client have communicated in the last 15
minutes. The statistic returns to regular display when the value goes back
below the threshold. There is no default threshold.
Example of an acceptable value: ws 65
- -columnwidths
<number of characters>+
- Specifies the number of characters to display in each column of the
scout statistics display region. Specify one to six numbers
separated by spaces to set the number of characters to be displayed in
each column. The values specify the widths of the columns in the same
order the columns are displayed from left to right. Use 0 as a placeholder
to specify a default column width.
- -debug
<debugging trace file>
- Specifies the pathname of the file into which to write a debugging trace.
Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working
directory.
- -help
- Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are
ignored.
- -version
- Prints the program version and then exits. All other valid options are
ignored.
The scout program can display statistics either in a
dedicated window or on a plain screen if a windowing environment is not
available. For best results, the window or screen needs the ability to print
in reverse video.
The scout screen has three main parts: the banner line, the
statistics display region and the message/probe line.
By default, the string "Scout"
appears in the banner line at the top of the window or screen. Two optional
arguments place additional information in the banner line:
- The -host flag displays the name of the machine where the
scout program is running. As mentioned previously, this is useful
when running the scout program on several machines but displaying
the results on a single machine.
For example, when the -host flag is included and the
scout program is running on the machine
"client1.example.com", the banner line
reads as follows:
[client1.example.com] Scout
- The -basename argument displays the indicated basename on the
banner line. For example, including the argument
"-basename example.com" argument results
in the following banner line:
Scout for example.com
In this region, which occupies the majority of the window, the
scout process displays the statistics gathered for each File Server
process. Each process appears on its own line.
The region is divided into six columns, labeled as indicated and
displaying the following information:
- Conn
- The first column displays the number of RPC connections open between the
File Server process and client machines. This number equals or exceeds the
number in the "Ws" column (see the
fourth entry below), because each user on the machine can have several
separate connections open at once, and one client machine can handle
several users.
- Fetch
- The second column displays the number of fetch-type RPCs (fetch data,
fetch access list, and fetch status) that client machines have made to the
File Server process since the latter started. This number is reset to zero
each time the File Server process restarts.
- Store
- The third column displays the number of store-type RPCs (store data, store
access list, and store status) that client machines have made to the File
Server process since the latter started. This number is reset to zero each
time the File Server process restarts.
- Ws
- The fourth column displays the number of client machines
("Ws" stands for workstations) that have
communicated with the File Server process within the last 15 minutes. Such
machines are termed active). This number is likely to be smaller
than the number in the first ("Conn")
column because a single client machine can have several connections open
to one File Server.
- server name
- The fifth, unlabeled, column displays the name of the file server machine
on which the File Server process is running. Names of 12 characters or
less are displayed in full; longer names are truncated and an asterisk
("*") appears as the last character in
the name. Using the -basename argument is a good way to avoid
truncation, but only if all machine names end in a common string.
- Disk attn
- The sixth column displays the number of available kilobyte blocks on each
AFS disk partition on the file server machine.
The display for each partition has the following form:
x:<free_blocks>
where "x" indicates the
partition name. For example, "a:8949"
specifies that the /vicepa partition has 8,949 1-KB blocks free.
Available space can be displayed for up to 26 partitions. If the window
is not wide enough for all partition entries to appear on a single line,
the scout process automatically creates multiple lines, stacking
the partition entries into sub-columns within the sixth column.
The label on the "Disk attn"
column indicates the threshold value at which entries in the column
become highlighted. By default, the label is
Disk attn: > 95% used
because by default the scout program highlights the entry for
any partition that is over 95% full.
For all columns except the fifth (file server machine name), the
optional -attention argument sets the value at which entries in the
column are highlighted to indicate that a certain value has been exceeded.
Only values in the fifth and "Disk attn"
columns ever become highlighted by default.
If the scout program is unable to access or otherwise obtain
information about a partition, it generates a message similar to the
following example:
Could not get information on server fs1.example.com partition /vicepa
The bottom line of the scout screen indicates how many times the
scout program has probed the File Server processes for statistics.
The statistics gathered in the latest probe appear in the statistics display
region. The -frequency argument overrides the default probe frequency
of 60 seconds.
See the chapter on monitoring tools in the OpenAFS
Administration Guide, which illustrates the displays that result
from different combinations of options.
IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights
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This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version
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and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.