PMDAPROC(1)PMDAPROC(1)NAMEpmdaproc - process performance metrics domain agent (PMDA)
SYNOPSIS
$PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc/pmdaproc [-AL] [-d domain] [-l logfile] [-r cgroup]
[-U username]
DESCRIPTIONpmdaproc is a Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA) which extracts
performance metrics describing the state of the individual processes
running on a Linux system.
The proc PMDA exports metrics that measure the memory, processor and
other resource use of each process, as well as summary information col‐
lated across all of the running processes. The PMDA uses credentials
passed from the PMAPI(3) monitoring tool identifying the user request‐
ing the information, to ensure that only values the user is allowed to
access are returned by the PMDA. This involves the PMDA temporarily
changing its effective user and group identifiers for the duration of
requests for instances and values. In other words, system calls to
extract information are performed as the user originating the request
and not as a privileged user. The mechanisms available for transfer of
user credentials are described further in the PCPIntro(1) page.
A brief description of the pmdaproc command line options follows:
-A Disables use of the credentials provided by PMAPI client tools,
and simply runs everything under the "root" account.
-L Changes the per-process instance domain used by most procproc met‐
rics to include threads as well.
-d It is absolutely crucial that the performance metrics domain num‐
ber 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 proc.log
is written in the current directory of pmcd(1) when pmdaproc is
started, i.e. $PCP_LOG_DIR/pmcd. If the log file cannot be cre‐
ated or is not writable, output is written to the standard error
instead.
-r Restrict the set of processes exported in the per-process instance
domain to only those processes that are contained by the specified
cgroup resource container. This option provides an optional finer
granularity to the monitoring, and can also be used to reduce the
resources consumed by pmdaproc during requests for instances and
values.
-U User account under which to run the agent. The default is the
privileged "root" account, with seteuid (2) and setegid (2)
switching for accessing most information.
INSTALLATION
The proc PMDA is installed and available by default. If you want to
undo the installation, do the following as root:
# cd $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc
# ./Remove
If you want to establish access to the names, help text and values for
the proc performance metrics once more, after removal, do the following
as root:
# cd $PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc
# ./Install
pmdaproc 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 pmdaproc
$PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc/help
default help text file for the proc metrics
$PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc/Install
installation script for the pmdaproc agent
$PCP_PMDAS_DIR/proc/Remove
undo installation script for the pmdaproc agent
$PCP_LOG_DIR/pmcd/proc.log
default log file for error messages and other information
from pmdaprocPCP 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).
SEE ALSOPCPIntro(1), pmcd(1), seteuid(2), setegid(2), PMAPI(3), pcp.conf(5) and
pcp.env(5).
Performance Co-Pilot PCP PMDAPROC(1)
