pmdaespping(1)

NAME
     pmdaespping - generic probe performance metrics domain agent

SYNOPSIS
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/pmdaespping [-C] [-d domain] [-l logfile] [-I
     interval] [-t timeout] configfile

DESCRIPTION
     pmdaespping is a Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA) which exports
     quality of service and response time measurements for arbitrary commands
     as might be run from a shell such as sh(1).

     These measurements are intended to be used to quantify service quality
     and service availability for those services that are either mission
     critical or act as early indicators of adverse system performance.  For
     these reasons, pmdaespping is used to provide service probe capabilities
     for the System Group Management (SGM) component of the Embedded Support
     Partner (ESP) tools.

     The sample configuration can be used to monitor various services, both
     locally and remotely, such as ICMP response (using ping(1)), DNS lookup
     via nslookup(1), bind/portmapper service using rpcbind(1), SMTP by
     connecting to telnet port 25 and sending an ``expn root'' request, NNTP
     by connecting to telnet port 119 and running a ``listgroup'' command, and
     numerous others.

     It is expected that other commands would follow the examples in the
     sample configuration files (see the ``FILES'' section below).

     A brief description of the pmdaespping command line options follows:

     -C   Parse configfile, reporting any errors and exiting with non-zero
          status if the file contains syntactical errors.

     -d   It is absolutely crucial that the performance metrics domain number
          specified here is unique and consistent.  That is, domain should be
          different for every PMDA on the one host, and the same domain number
          should be used for the same PMDA on all hosts.

     -l   Location of the log file.  By default, a log file named espping.log
          is written in the current directory of pmcd(1) when pmdaespping is
          started, i.e.  $PCP_LOG_DIR/pmcd.  If the log file cannot be created
          or is not writable, output is written to the standard error instead.

     -I   Amount of time (in seconds) between subsequent executions of the
          list of commands provided via the configuration file configfile.
          The default is 2 minutes.

     -t   Amount of time (in seconds) to wait before timing out awaiting a
          response for a command from configfile.  The default is 20 seconds.
     The required configfile specifies ``tag'' and ``command'' pairs, each on
     a separate line.  All of the commands are run one after another, with the
     whole group rescheduled to be run once per interval.  For each command
     that is run, pmdaespping records information related to the success (or
     timeout), exit status, elapsed time and CPU time (system and user), and
     this information is exported by the PMDA.  The tags are used to identify
     the individual commands amongst the values exported by the PMDA, and form
     the external instance domain identifiers for the pmdaespping metrics
     which relate to each command.

INSTALLATION
     In order for a host to export the names, help text and values for the
     espping performance metrics, do the following as root:

          # cd $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping
          # cp sample.map sgm.map
          # vi sgm.map
          # ./Configure

     The map file which is passed in to the Configure script associates host
     names with services to be monitored on each hostname.  The list of
     services is contained in the file $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/template.conf,
     and this file can be extended with customized service probe mechanisms.

     The set of ``tag'' and ``command'' pairs may be generated via the
     Configure script (as above), or specified from a default (sample)
     configuration file, a customized file or entered interactively as part of
     the Install script (use of the Install script is automated using
     Configure).

     If you want to undo the installation, do the following as root:

          # cd $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping
          # ./Remove

     pmdaespping is launched by pmcd(1) and should never be executed directly.
     The Install and Remove scripts notify pmcd(1) when the agent is installed
     or removed.

FILES
     $PCP_PMCDCONF_PATH
               command line options used to launch pmdaespping
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/help
               default help text file for the espping metrics
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/template.conf
               template configuration file with a number of common service
               probe mechanisms
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/sample.map
               example mapping file for configuring which services to monitor,
               and at which hosts
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/sample.conf
               example configuration file with a number of common commands
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/Configure
               installation script for pmdaespping
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/Install
               direct installation script (bypass Configure) for pmdaespping
     $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/espping/Remove
               undo installation script for pmdaespping
     $PCP_LOG_DIR/pmcd/espping.log
               default log file for error messages and other information from
               pmdaespping

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(4).

SEE ALSO
     pmcd(1)