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NAME
afsmonitor - Monitors File Servers and Cache Managers
SYNOPSIS
afsmonitor [initcmd] [-config <configuration file>]
[-frequency <poll frequency, in seconds>]
[-output <storage file name>] [-detailed]
[-debug <debug output file>]
[-fshosts <list of file servers to monitor>+]
[-cmhosts <list of cache managers to monitor>+]
[-buffers <number of buffer slots>] [-version] [-help]
afsmonitor [i] [-co <configuration file>]
[-fr <poll frequency, in seconds>]
[-o <storage file name>] [-det]
[-deb <debug output file>]
[-fs <list of file servers to monitor>+]
[-cm <list of cache managers to monitor>+]
[-b <number of buffer slots>] [-version] [-h]
DESCRIPTION
The afsmonitor command initializes a program that gathers and displays statistics about specified File
Server and Cache Manager operations. It allows the issuer to monitor, from a single location, a wide
range of File Server and Cache Manager operations on any number of machines in both local and foreign
cells.
There are 271 available File Server statistics and 571 available Cache Manager statistics, listed in the
appendix about afsmonitor statistics in the OpenAFS Administration Guide. By default, the command
displays all of the relevant statistics for the file server machines named by the -fshosts argument and
the client machines named by the -cmhosts argument. To limit the display to only the statistics of
interest, list them in the configuration file specified by the -config argument. In addition, use the
configuration file for the following purposes:
• To set threshold values for any monitored statistic. When the value of a statistic exceeds the
threshold, the afsmonitor command displays it in reverse video. There are no default threshold
values.
• To invoke a program or script automatically when a statistic exceeds its threshold. The AFS
distribution does not include any such scripts.
• To list the file server and client machines to monitor, instead of using the -fshosts and -cmhosts
arguments.
For a description of the configuration file, see afsmonitor(5).
CAUTIONS
The following software must be accessible to a machine where the afsmonitor program is running:
• The AFS xstat libraries, which the afsmonitor program uses to gather data.
• The curses graphics package, which most UNIX distributions provide as a standard utility.
The afsmonitor screens format successfully both on so-called dumb terminals and in windowing systems that
emulate terminals. For the output to looks its best, the display environment needs to support reverse
video and cursor addressing. Set the TERM environment variable to the correct terminal type, or to a
value that has characteristics similar to the actual terminal type. The display window or terminal must
be at least 80 columns wide and 12 lines long.
The afsmonitor program must run in the foreground, and in its own separate, dedicated window or terminal.
The window or terminal is unavailable for any other activity as long as the afsmonitor program is
running. Any number of instances of the afsmonitor program can run on a single machine, as long as each
instance runs in its own dedicated window or terminal. Note that it can take up to three minutes to start
an additional instance.
OPTIONS
initcmd
Accommodates the command's use of the AFS command parser, and is optional.
-config <file>
Names the configuration file which lists the machines to monitor, statistics to display, and
threshold values, if any. A partial pathname is interpreted relative to the current working
directory. Provide this argument if not providing the -fshosts argument, -cmhosts argument, or
neither. For instructions on creating this file, see the preceding DESCRIPTION section, and the
section on the afsmonitor program in the OpenAFS Administration Guide.
-frequency <poll frequency>
Specifies in seconds how often the afsmonitor program probes the File Servers and Cache Managers.
Valid values range from 1 to 86400 (which is 24 hours); the default value is 60. This frequency
applies to both File Servers and Cache Managers, but the afsmonitor program initiates the two types
of probes, and processes their results, separately. The actual interval between probes to a host is
the probe frequency plus the time required for all hosts to respond.
-output <file>
Names the file to which the afsmonitor program writes all of the statistics that it collects. By
default, no output file is created. See the section on the afsmonitor command in the OpenAFS
Administration Guide for information on this file.
-detailed
Formats the information in the output file named by -output argument in a maximally readable format.
Provide the -output argument along with this one.
-fshosts <host>+
Names one or more machines from which to gather File Server statistics. For each machine, provide
either a fully qualified host name, or an unambiguous abbreviation (the ability to resolve an
abbreviation depends on the state of the cell's name service at the time the command is issued). This
argument can be combined with the -cmhosts argument, but not with the -config argument.
-cmhosts <host>+
Names one or more machines from which to gather Cache Manager statistics. For each machine, provide
either a fully qualified host name, or an unambiguous abbreviation (the ability to resolve an
abbreviation depends on the state of the cell's name service at the time the command is issued). This
argument can be combined with the -fshosts argument, but not with the -config argument.
-buffers <slots>
Is nonoperational and provided to accommodate potential future enhancements to the program.
-debug <debut output file>
Turns on debugging output, and writes debugging information to the specified file.
-help
Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.
-version
Prints the program version and then exits. All other valid options are ignored.
OUTPUT
The afsmonitor program displays its data on three screens:
System Overview
This screen appears automatically when the afsmonitor program initializes. It summarizes separately
for File Servers and Cache Managers the number of machines being monitored and how many of them have
alerts (statistics that have exceeded their thresholds). It then lists the hostname and number of
alerts for each machine being monitored, indicating if appropriate that a process failed to respond
to the last probe.
File Server
This screen displays File Server statistics for each file server machine being monitored. It
highlights statistics that have exceeded their thresholds, and identifies machines that failed to
respond to the last probe.
Cache Managers
This screen displays Cache Manager statistics for each client machine being monitored. It highlights
statistics that have exceeded their thresholds, and identifies machines that failed to respond to the
last probe.
Fields at the corners of every screen display the following information:
• In the top left corner, the program name and version number.
• In the top right corner, the screen name, current and total page numbers, and current and total
column numbers. The page number (for example, "p. 1 of 3") indicates the index of the current page
and the total number of (vertical) pages over which data is displayed. The column number (for
example, "c. 1 of 235") indicates the index of the current leftmost column and the total number of
columns in which data appears. (The symbol ">>>" indicates that there is additional data to the
right; the symbol "<<<" indicates that there is additional data to the left.)
• In the bottom left corner, a list of the available commands. Enter the first letter in the command
name to run that command. Only the currently possible options appear; for example, if there is only
one page of data, the "next" and "prev" commands, which scroll the screen up and down respectively,
do not appear. For descriptions of the commands, see the following section about navigating the
display screens.
• In the bottom right corner, the "probes" field reports how many times the program has probed File
Servers ("fs"), Cache Managers ("cm"), or both. The counts for File Servers and Cache Managers can
differ. The "freq" field reports how often the program sends probes.
Navigating the afsmonitor Display Screens
As noted, the lower left hand corner of every display screen displays the names of the commands currently
available for moving to alternate screens, which can either be a different type or display more
statistics or machines of the current type. To execute a command, press the lowercase version of the
first letter in its name. Some commands also have an uppercase version that has a somewhat different
effect, as indicated in the following list.
"cm"
Switches to the "Cache Managers" screen. Available only on the "System Overview" and "File Servers"
screens.
"fs"
Switches to the "File Servers" screen. Available only on the "System Overview" and the "Cache
Managers" screens.
"left"
Scrolls horizontally to the left, to access the data columns situated to the left of the current set.
Available when the "<<<" symbol appears at the top left of the screen. Press uppercase "L" to scroll
horizontally all the way to the left (to display the first set of data columns).
"next"
Scrolls down vertically to the next page of machine names. Available when there are two or more
pages of machines and the final page is not currently displayed. Press uppercase "N" to scroll to the
final page.
"oview"
Switches to the "System Overview" screen. Available only on the "Cache Managers" and "File Servers"
screens.
"prev"
Scrolls up vertically to the previous page of machine names. Available when there are two or more
pages of machines and the first page is not currently displayed. Press uppercase "N" to scroll to the
first page.
"right"
Scrolls horizontally to the right, to access the data columns situated to the right of the current
set. This command is available when the ">>>" symbol appears at the upper right of the screen. Press
uppercase "R" to scroll horizontally all the way to the right (to display the final set of data
columns).
The System Overview Screen
The "System Overview" screen appears automatically as the afsmonitor program initializes. This screen
displays the status of as many File Server and Cache Manager processes as can fit in the current window;
scroll down to access additional information.
The information on this screen is split into File Server information on the left and Cache Manager
information on the right. The header for each grouping reports two pieces of information:
• The number of machines on which the program is monitoring the indicated process.
• The number of alerts and the number of machines affected by them (an alert means that a statistic has
exceeded its threshold or a process failed to respond to the last probe).
A list of the machines being monitored follows. If there are any alerts on a machine, the number of them
appears in square brackets to the left of the hostname. If a process failed to respond to the last probe,
the letters "PF" (probe failure) appear in square brackets to the left of the hostname.
The File Servers Screen
The "File Servers" screen displays the values collected at the most recent probe for File Server
statistics.
A summary line at the top of the screen (just below the standard program version and screen title blocks)
specifies the number of monitored File Servers, the number of alerts, and the number of machines affected
by the alerts.
The first column always displays the hostnames of the machines running the monitored File Servers.
To the right of the hostname column appear as many columns of statistics as can fit within the current
width of the display screen or window; each column requires space for 10 characters. The name of the
statistic appears at the top of each column. If the File Server on a machine did not respond to the most
recent probe, a pair of dashes ("--") appears in each column. If a value exceeds its configured
threshold, it is highlighted in reverse video. If a value is too large to fit into the allotted column
width, it overflows into the next row in the same column.
The Cache Managers Screen
The "Cache Managers" screen displays the values collected at the most recent probe for Cache Manager
statistics.
A summary line at the top of the screen (just below the standard program version and screen title blocks)
specifies the number of monitored Cache Managers, the number of alerts, and the number of machines
affected by the alerts.
The first column always displays the hostnames of the machines running the monitored Cache Managers.
To the right of the hostname column appear as many columns of statistics as can fit within the current
width of the display screen or window; each column requires space for 10 characters. The name of the
statistic appears at the top of each column. If the Cache Manager on a machine did not respond to the
most recent probe, a pair of dashes ("--") appears in each column. If a value exceeds its configured
threshold, it is highlighted in reverse video. If a value is too large to fit into the allotted column
width, it overflows into the next row in the same column.
Writing to an Output File
Include the -output argument to name the file into which the afsmonitor program writes all of the
statistics it collects. The output file can be useful for tracking performance over long periods of
time, and enables the administrator to apply post-processing techniques that reveal system trends. The
AFS distribution does not include any post-processing programs.
The output file is in ASCII format and records the same information as the "File Server" and "Cache
Manager" display screens. Each line in the file uses the following format to record the time at which
the afsmonitor program gathered the indicated statistic from the Cache Manager ("CM") or File Server
("FS") running on the machine called host_name. If a probe failed, the error code -1 appears in the
statistic field.
<time> <host_name> CM|FS <statistic>
If the administrator usually reviews the output file manually, rather than using it as input to an
automated analysis program or script, including the -detail flag formats the data in a more easily
readable form.
EXAMPLES
For examples of commands, display screens, and configuration files, see the section about the afsmonitor
program in the OpenAFS Administration Guide.
PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
None
SEE ALSO
afsmonitor(5) fstrace(8), scout(1)
The OpenAFS Administration Guide at <http://docs.openafs.org/AdminGuide/>.
COPYRIGHT
IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was converted from HTML to POD
by software written by Chas Williams and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth
Cassell.
OpenAFS 2025-05-19 AFSMONITOR(1)