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 metricsets 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.

Options via environment values (see pmGetOptions(3)) override the corresponding built-in default values (if any). Configuration file options override the corresponding environment variables (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 supported value data types are string, integer, and boolean. String values need not to be quoted expect when whitespace needs to be included in the value (for instance, for the column separator); double quotes from quoted strings will be removed.

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 a semicolon (``;'') 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.

daemonize (boolean)
    Indicates whether to daemonize on startup. Corresponding command line option is --daemonize. Defaults to no.

header (boolean)
    Indicates whether to print headers. Corresponding command line option is -H. Defaults to yes.

unitinfo (boolean)
    Indicates whether to include unit information as part of headers. Corresponding command line option is -U. Defaults to yes.

globals (boolean)
    Indicates whether to include metrics from the [global] section (see below) for reporting. Corresponding command line option is -G. Defaults to yes.

timestamp (boolean)
    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 (boolean)
    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.

type_prefer (string)
    As type but does not override possible per-metric type specifications. Corresponding command line option is -R. Allowed values are default or raw.

ignore_incompat (boolean)
    Indicates that incompatible metrics are to be ignored. Corresponding command line option is -I. Defaults to no.

ignore_unknown (boolean)
    Indicates that unknown metrics are to be ignored. Corresponding command line option is -5. Defaults to no.

names_change (string)
    Indicates the action to take on PMNS changes during sampling. Corresponding command line option is -4. Defaults to ignore.

instances (string)
    Indicates the instances to be reported. Corresponding command line option is -i. Undefined (all instances are reported) by default.

live_filter (boolean)
    Indicates that live filtering should be enabled. Corresponding command line option is -j. Defaults to no.

rank (integer)
    Indicates the value to be used for ranking instances. Corresponding command line option is -J. Undefined (all instances are reported) by default.

overall_rank (boolean)
    Indicates that overall ranking should be performed. Corresponding command line option is -2. Defaults to no.

overall_rank_alt (boolean)
    Indicates that overall ranking with alternative output format should be performed. Corresponding command line option is -3. Defaults to no.

limit_filter (integer)
    Indicates the value to be used with limit filtering. Corresponding command line option is -8. Undefined (all instances are reported) by default.

limit_filter_force (integer)
    As limit_filter but overrides possible possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -9. Undefined (all instances are reported) by default.

invert_filter (boolean)
    Indicates that invert filtering should be performed. Corresponding command line option is -n. Defaults to no.

predicate (string)
    Indicates the metrics to be used as predicate metrics. Corresponding command line option is -N. Undefined by default.

sort_metric (string)
    Indicates the metrics to be used as sort reference metrics. Corresponding command line option is -6. Undefined by default.

omit_flat (boolean)
    Indicates that single-valued ``flat'' metrics are to be omitted from reporting. Corresponding command line option is -v. Defaults to no.

include_texts (boolean)
    Indicates that when writing a PCP archive, PCP help texts shall be included in the created archive. Corresponding command line option is --include-texts. Defaults to no.

colxrow (string)
    Indicates to swap columns and rows in stdout output using the given text 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 text label.

width_force (integer)
    As width but overrides possible possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -W. Forced minimum is 3.

precision (integer)
    Indicates how many decimals to use for numeric non-integer output values. Corresponding command line option is -P. Defaults to 3.

precision_force (integer)
    As precision but overrides possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -0. Undefined by default.

delimiter (string)
    Indicates the column separator. Corresponding command line option is -l. Default depends on the output target, see pmrep(1).

extcsv (boolean)
    Indicates whether to write extended CSV output similar to sadf(1). Corresponding command line option is -k. Defaults to no.

extheader (boolean)
    Indicates whether to print extended header. Corresponding command line option is -x. Defaults to no.

fixed_header (boolean)
    Indicates that a fixed header should be used. Corresponding command line option is -7. Defaults to no.

repeat_header (integer)
    Indicates how often to repeat the header. Corresponding command line option is -E. Defaults to 0.

dynamic_header (boolean)
    Indicates that a dynamic header should be used. Corresponding command line option is -1. Defaults to no.

separate_header (boolean)
    Indicates whether to print a separate header. Corresponding command line option is -g. Defaults to no.

timefmt (string)
    Indicates the format string for formatting the timestamp. Corresponding command line option is -f. Defaults to %H:%M:%S.

interpol (boolean)
    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.

count_scale_force (string)
    Like count_scale but overrides possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -Q. Undefined 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.

space_scale_force (string)
    Like space_scale but overrides possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -B. Undefined 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.

time_scale_force (string)
    Like time_scale but overrides possible per-metric specifications. Corresponding command line option is -Y. Undefined by default.

  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 in an earlier 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 (see below).

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 text label for the metric used by supporting output targets.

    formula
        Defines the needed arithmetic expression for the metric. For details, see pmRegisterDerived(3).

    instances
        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 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.

    precision
        Defines precision for numeric non-integer output values.

    limit
        Defines value limit filter for numeric metric values.

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.

The system default pmrep.conf file contains many more examples. Using tab after the colon can be used to complete available metricsets (with bash and zsh).

    [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
    allcache.width = 10
    [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
    precision = 2
    delimiter = " "
    kernel.all.sysfork = proc/s,,,,12
    kernel.all.pswitch = cswch/s,,,,9

FILES

$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep/pmrep.conf
    system provided pmrep configuration file

PCP ENVIRONMENT
Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the file and directory names used by PCP. On each installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values for these variables. The $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an alternative configuration file, as described in pcp.conf(5).

For environment variables affecting PCP tools, see pmGetOptions(3).

SEE ALSO
PCPIntro(1), pmrep(1), pmGetOptions(3), pmSpecLocalPMDA(3) and pmRegisterDerived(3).