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Performance Management Guide

Customizing PDT

Certain aspects of PDT can be customized. For example, any user can be designated as the regular recipient of PDT reports, and the retention period for data in PDT's historical record can be modified. All customization is performed either by modifying one of the PDT files in the directory /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/ or by executing the /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_config script.

It is recommended that no changes be made until after PDT has produced several reports, and a certain familiarity with PDT has been acquired.

Changing the PDT Report Recipient and Severity Level

By default, PDT reports are generated with severity level 1 with only the most serious problems identified. There are other severity levels (2 and 3) at which more detailed information is frequently available. Further, whenever a PDT report is produced, it is mailed to the adm user. You can choose to have the report mailed elsewhere or not mailed at all.

Both of these parameters are controlled with the /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_config script. The following dialog changes the user and the severity level:

# /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_config

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 1

current PDT report recipient and severity level
adm 1

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 2

enter id@host for recipient of report : rsmith
enter severity level for report (1-3): 2

report recipient and severity level
rsmith 2

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 1

current PDT report recipient and severity level
rsmith 2

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 7

In the preceding example, the recipient is changed to user rsmith, and the severity is changed to 2. This means that user rsmith will receive the PDT report, and that both severity 1 and 2 messages will be included. Note the use of option 1 to determine the current PDT report recipient and report severity level.

The user and security level could also be changed directly in the /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.reporting.list file.

To terminate reporting (but allow collection to continue), option 3 is selected, for example:

# /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 3

disable PDT reporting done

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 1

reporting has been disabled (file .reporting.list not found).

PDT Severity Levels

The following lists indicate the possible problems associated with each severity level. Remember that selecting severity n results in the reporting of all problems of severity less than or equal to n.

Severity 1 Problems

Severity 2 Problems

Severity 3 Messages

Severity 3 messages provide additional detail about problems identified at severity levels 1 and 2. This includes the data-collection characteristics, such as number of samples, for severity 1 and 2 messages.

Obtaining a PDT Report on Demand

As an alternative to using the periodic report, any user can request a current report from the existing data by executing /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_report SeverityNum. The report is produced with the given severity (if none is provided, SeverityNum defaults to 1) and written to standard output. Generating a report in this way does not cause any change to the /var/perf/tmp/PDT_REPORT or to /var/perf/tmp/PDT_REPORT.last files.

Modifying the List of Files Monitored by PDT

PDT analyzes files and directories for systematic growth in size. It examines only those files and directories listed in the file /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.files. The format of the .files file is one file or directory name per line. The default content is as follows:

/usr/adm/wtmp
/var/spool/qdaemon/
/var/adm/ras/
/tmp/

You can use an editor to modify this file to track files and directories that are important to your system.

Modifying the List of Hosts That PDT Monitors

PDT tracks the average ping delay to hosts whose names are listed in the /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.nodes file. This file is not shipped with PDT (which means that no host analysis is performed by default), but may be created by the administrator. The format of the .nodes file is one host name per line in the file. For example, to monitor nodes chuys and hulahut, the file .nodes would be as follows:

chuys
hulahut

Changing the Historical-Record Retention Period

Periodically, a retention shell script is run that discards entries in the PDT historical record that are older than the designated retention period. The retention of all data is governed by the same retention policy. This policy is described in the /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.retention.list file. The default .retention.list content is as follows:

* * * 35

which causes all data to be retained no more than 35 days. The number 35 can be replaced by any unsigned integer.

PDT uses the historical record to assess trends and identify system changes. Extending the retention period increases the scope of this analysis, but at the cost of additional disk storage and PDT processing time.

The PDT historical record is maintained in /var/perf/tmp/.SM. The retention script creates a copy of this file in /var/perf/tmp/.SM.last prior to performing the retention operation. In addition, historical data that is discarded is appended to /var/perf/tmp/.SM.discards.

The existence of /var/perf/tmp/.SM.last provides limited backup, but the administrator should ensure that the /var/perf/tmp/.SM file is regularly backed up. If the file is lost, PDT continues to function, but without the historical information. Over time, the historical record will grow again as new data is collected.

Modifying the Collection, Retention, and Reporting Times

Collection, reporting and retention are driven by three entries in the user adm cron table. Collection occurs on every weekday at 9 a.m (Driver_ daily). Reporting occurs every weekday at 10 a.m (Driver_ daily2). The retention analysis is performed once a week, on Saturday evening at 9 p.m (Driver_ offweekly). The following files are used:

/var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.collection.control
Handles collection information
/var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.retention.control
Handles retention information
/var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.reporting.control
Handles reporting information

The cron entries (created by executing the /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_config script and selecting option 2) are shown below:

0  9 * * 1-5   /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/Driver_ daily
0 10 * * 1-5   /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/Driver_ daily2
0 21 * * 6     /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/Driver_ offweekly

The default times can be changed by altering the crontab for user adm.

Modifying the Thresholds

The file /var/perf/cfg/diag_tool/.thresholds contains the thresholds used in analysis and reporting. These thresholds, listed below, have an effect on PDT report organization and content.

PDT Error Reporting

Errors can occur within each of the different PDT components. In general, an error does not terminate PDT. Instead, a message is output to the PDT standard error file, /var/perf/tmp/.stderr. That phase of processing then terminates.

Users experiencing unexpected behavior, such as the PDT report not being produced as expected, should examine the /var/perf/tmp/.stderr file.

Uninstalling PDT

It is not possible to uninstall PDT directly using the pdt_config command, but if option 6 is requested, a message describes the steps necessary to remove PDT from the system:

# /usr/sbin/perf/diag_tool/pdt_config

________________PDT customization menu__________________

1) show current  PDT report recipient and severity level
2) modify/enable PDT reporting
3) disable       PDT reporting
4) modify/enable PDT collection
5) disable       PDT collection
6) de-install    PDT
7) exit pdt_config
Please enter a number: 6

  PDT is installed as package bos.perf.diag_tool in the bos lpp.
  Use the installp facility to remove the package

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