XPERFMON+(1)XPERFMON+(1)NAME
xperfmon+ - X Window System-based performance monitor
SYNOPSIS
xperfmon+ [-toolkitoption ...] [-additionaloption ...]
DESCRIPTION
xperfmon+ continuously displays multiple system statistics as a set of
parallel line graphs. The name of the host is displayed in the upper
left hand corner. Immediately under the hostname, the update interval
is displayed. The information is scaled so that it always fills the
window regardless of geometry changes.
The xperfmon+ application is based on highly modified Athena
StripChart Widgets. (The original xerfmon used a custom private Wid‐
get.) All scrolling action is smooth, i.e., one pixel at a time, and
the scale labels are updated immediately on plotting a new point out‐
side a previous scale range. The program can produce a filled graph or
a line graph and the update interval can be set in seconds or 100-mil‐
lisecond intervals.
While xperfmon+ is running, it is possible to perform certain tasks by
pressing keys over the window:
Q/q: Quit... Exit gracefully
l | L: Print out a chart of all current limit settings. This chart will
appear in the window from which xperfmon+ was invoked.
s: Decrease update interval (slower) by a small amount
S: Decrease update interval (slower) by a large amount
f: Increase update interval (faster) by a small amount
F: Increase update interval (faster) by a large amount
?: Help
OPTIONS
xperfmon+ accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options
along with the following additional options:
-interval seconds
This options specifies the update interval for the graph. The
default is 1. The interpretation of this option is modified by
the fast option.
-fast This option modifies the meaning of the update option. When
-fast is specified, the update interval is modified to specify
milliseconds. Otherwise, the update interval specifies seconds.
When running in fast mode, the minimum update interval is 100
milliseconds.
-fill This option controls the type of graph produced. When -fill is
specified the program produces a filled graph, otherwise a line
graph is generated.
-immediate
This option controls what the {high|low} limit {alarms|warn‐
ings} are based on. When set, the limit {alarms|warnings} are
based on the current data sample only. When not set, (the
default) the limits are based on the {min|max} value present in
the viewable graph.
GRAPHING OPTIONS
The following options specify the list of statistics to be displayed.
If none are present on the command line, then all statistics are dis‐
played. If any "+" options are listed the default list is cleared and
only those listed as "+" options are displayed. If any "-" options are
listed, then they are taken away from the default list. Specifying both
"-" and "+" options will produce unpredictable results.
-usercpu | +usercpu Graph percentage of User CPU Time.
-systemcpu | +systemcpu Graph System CPU Percentage.
-idlecpu | +idlecpu Graph Idle CPU Percentage.
-freemem | +freemem Graph Free Memory.
-diskxfr | +diskxfr Graph Disk Transfers per interval period.
-interrputs | +interrupts Graph System Interrupts.
-inputpkts | +inputpkts Graph number of network Input Packets.
-outputpkts | +outputpkts Graph number of network Output packets.
-collpkts | +collpkts Graph number of network Collision Packets.
-nfsclient | +nfsclient Graph Number of NFS Client transactions.
-nfsserver | +nfsserver Graph number of NFS Server transactions.
LIMIT OPTIONS
xperfmon+ will accept a number of limit options. When a data point
exceeds a high or low limit the background of that graph changes color
to visually reflect the condition. The background color is an indica‐
tion of the min (low limit) or max (high limit) value currently con‐
tained in the graph. When no limit has been exceeded the background
color is set to green. If no limits have been set for that graph its
background color remains the same as the applications default color,
which is usually white.
WARNING: High and Low limits are mutually exclusive, i.e., you can set
high limits or low limits, but not both. If both are inadvertently set,
the high limits are checked first, and the low limit will be ignored.
There are four possible limit conditions:
High Warning When any value in the current graph exceeds the high
warning limit the background color of that graph is
changed to yellow.
Low Warning When any value in the current graph is less than the
low warning limit the background color of that graph is
changed to yellow.
High Alarm When any value in the current graph exceeds the high
alarm limit the background color of that graph is
changed to red.
Low Alarm When any value in the current graph is less that the
low alarm limit the background color of that graph is
changed to red.
Limits can be set with command line options or with application
resources. The syntax of setting a limit option from the command line
is (Note: Case IS sensitive):
-low*Alarm value Set low Alarm value for *.
-low*Warn value Set low Warning value for *.
-high*Alarm value Set high Alarm value for *.
-high*Warn value Set high Warning value for *.
Where "*" is one of the following:
user Set limit value for User CPU Percentage.
sys Set limit value for System CPU Percentage.
idle Set limit value for Idle CPU Percentage.
mem Set limit value for Free Memory.
disk Set limit value for Disk Transfers.
intrpts Set limit value for System Interrupts.
input Set limit value for network Input Packets.
output Set limit value for network Output Packets.
collision Set limit value for network Collision Packets.
nfsclient Set limit value for NFS Client Transactions.
nfsserver Set limit value for NFS Server Transactions.
For example:
-lowuserA 25 Set low user Alarm value to 25.
As with any X-based command line specification you only need specify
the minimum number of characters required to make the string unique.
See below for a description of setting limit values using application
resource specifications.
TOOLKIT OPTIONS
The following standard X Toolkit arguments are commonly used with
xperfmon+:
-d | -display display
This option specifies the X server to contact.
-g | -geometry geometry
The xperfmon+ window is created with the specified size and
location determined by the supplied geometry specification.
See X(1) for a full explanation.
-bd | -bordercolor color
This option specifies the border color. The default is black.
-bg | -background color
This option specifies the background color. The default is
white.
-bw | -borderwidth pixels
This option specifies the width in pixels of the border around
the window. The default value is 2.
-fg | -foreground color
This option specifies the foreground color. The default color
is black.
-fn | -font fontname
This options specifies the font to be used in displaying the
hostname and labels. The default is 6X10.
-xrm resourcestring
This option specifies a resource string to be used. This is
especially useful for setting resources that do not have sepa‐
rate command line options.
X DEFAULTS
xperfmon+ understands all of the core resource names and classes as
well as:
width (class Width)
Specifies the width of the load average graph.
height (class Height)
Specifies the height of the load average graph.
update (class Interval)
Specifies the frequency in seconds at which the performance
statistics should be redisplayed.
foreground (class Foreground)
Specifies the color for the foreground. The default is black
since the core default for background is white.
font (class Font)
Specifies the font to be used for the label. The default is
fixed.
reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
Specifies that the foreground and background should be
reversed.
LIMIT RESOURCES
To set a limit that applies to all active graphs use the class name as
in the following syntax:
*PerfChart.{lowAlarm|lowWarn|highAlarm|highWarn}
Individual graph limit alarm and warning val‐
ues can be set with resource specifications.
To set a limit that applies to any individual graph use the following
syntax:
*perfChart&.lowAlarm: value
*perfChart&.lowWarn: value
*perfChart&.highAlarm: value
*perfChart&.highWarn: value
Where "&" is one of the following (Note: Case IS important):
Idle Set Idle CPU Percentage resource.
User Set User CPU Percentage resource.
System Set System CPU Percentage resource.
Free Set Free Memory resource.
Disk Set Disk Transfer count resource.
Intrpts Set System Interrupts resource.
Input Set network Input Packets resource.
Output Set network Output Packets resource.
Collision Set network Collision Packets resource.
NFSClient Set NFS Client Transactions resource.
NFSServer Set NFS Server Transactions resource.
For example:
*perfChartIdle.lowAlarm: 25 Set low Idle Alarm (Idle CPU Percentage)
value to 25.
There is a sample Application Defaults file included in the distribu‐
tion called Xperfmon+.ad. Copy this file to your private directory and
edit it to your hearts content. Then load it into xrbd with a command
like:
xrdb -m Xperfmon+.ad
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DISPLAY - specifies the default host and display number.
SEE ALSOX(1), uwm(1), xload(1), mem(4)BUGS
xperfmon+ requires the ability to open and read the special system file
/dev/kmem. On most systems, this requires the suid (set user id) bit
to be set with root ownership, or the sgid (set group id) bit to be set
and membership in the same group as /dev/kmem.
Reading /dev/kmem is inherently non-portable. Therefore, the widget
upon which this application is based must be ported to each new operat‐
ing system.
There is a known bug in the refresh logic that occassionally occurs
when a partially occluded xperfmon+ window is partially or fully
exposed. This is manifested in the redraw logic overwriting some or all
of one or more graphs, and/or the timestamps. It can be corrected by
fully covering the xperfmon+ window and then exposing it, or by iconi‐
fying the xperfmon+ window and then de-iconifying it.
AUTHORS
The X11 version of xperfmon was written by Emanuel Jay Berkenbilt,
Project Athena on 1/21/1988. There is no record of previous authors.
xperfmon was modified by Thomas Bagli, PCS Computer Systeme GmbH, West
Germany, to be a toolkit-based client.
xperfmon+ was created from xperfmon, and the Athena StripChart Widget,
by Roger Smith, Sterling Software @ NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, California. Version 1.0 was released in January, 1994.
If you like this program, or if you have difficulties, I would like to
hear your comments. E-Mail me at rsmith@proteus.arc.nasa.gov.
xperfmon+ was written for Suns running SunOs and X11R5 Windows soft‐
ware. If some energetic soul out there would like to port this program
to any other operating system or architecture I would be glad to incor‐
porate the modifications into this master copy. Send me your changes
via E-Mail at the above address.
Enjoy!
X Version 11 January 1994 XPERFMON+(1)
