Provided by: pcp_6.3.3-1_amd64 
NAME
pmrep - performance metrics reporter
SYNOPSIS
pmrep [-12357CdgGHIjkLmnprRuUvVxz?] [-4 action] [-6 sort-metric] [-8|-9 limit] [-a archive] [-A align]
[--archive-folio folio] [-b|-B space-scale] [-c config] [--container container] [--daemonize] [-e
derived] [-E lines] [-f format] [-F outfile] [-h host] [-i instances] [--include-texts] [-J rank] [-K
spec] [-l delimiter] [-N predicate] [--no-inst-info] [-o output] [-O origin] [-P|-0 precision] [-q|-Q
count-scale] [-s samples] [-S starttime] [-t interval] [-T endtime] [-w|-W width] [-X label] [-y|-Y time-
scale] [-Z timezone] metricspec [...]
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 output alternatives
listed below together with applicable formatting options.
pmrep collects selected metric values through the facilities of the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP), see
PCPIntro(1). The metrics to be reported are specified on the command line, in configuration files, or
both. Metrics can be automatically converted and scaled using the PCP facilities, either by default or
by per-metric scaling specifications. In addition to the existing metrics, derived metrics can be
defined using the arithmetic expressions described in pmRegisterDerived(3).
A wide range of metricsets (see below) is included by default, providing reports on per-process details,
NUMA performance, mimicking other tools like sar(1) and more, see the pmrep configuration files in
$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep (typically /etc/pcp/pmrep) for details. Tab completion for options, metrics, and
metricsets is available for bash and zsh.
Unless directed to another host by the -h option, pmrep will contact the Performance Metrics Collector
Daemon (PMCD, see pmcd(1)) on the local host.
The -a option causes pmrep to use the specified set of archives rather than connecting to a PMCD. The -a
and -h options are mutually exclusive.
The -L option causes pmrep to use a local context to collect metrics from DSO PMDAs (Performance Metrics
Domain Agents, ``plugins'') on the local host without PMCD. Only some metrics are available in this
mode. The -a, -h, and -L options are mutually exclusive.
The metrics of interest are named in the metricspec argument(s). If a metricspec specifies a non-leaf
node in the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS), then pmrep will recursively descend the PMNS and
report on all leaf nodes (i.e. metrics) for that metricspec. Use pminfo(1) to list all the metrics (PMNS
lead nodes) and their descriptions.
A metricspec has three different forms. First, on the command line it can start with a colon (``:'') to
indicate a metricset to be read from pmrep configuration files (see -c and pmrep.conf(5)), which may then
consist of any number of metrics. Second, a metricspec starting with non-colon specifies a PMNS node as
described above, optionally followed by metric output formatting definitions. This so-called compact
form of a metricspec is defined as follows:
metric[,label[,instances[,unit/scale[,type[,width[,precision[,limit]]]]]]]
A valid PMNS node (metric) is mandatory. It may be followed by a text label used with stdout output.
The optional instances definition restricts csv and stdout reporting to the specified instances of the
metric so non-matching instances will be filtered out (see -i). An optional unit/scale is applicable for
dimension-compatible, non-string metrics. See below for supported unit/scale specifications. By
default, cumulative counter metrics are converted to rates, an optional type can be set to raw to disable
this rate conversion. For stdout output a numeric width can be used to set the width of the output
column for this metric. Too wide strings in the output will be truncated to fit the column. A metric-
specific precision can be provided for numeric non-integer output values. Lastly, a metric-specific
limit can be set for filtering out numeric values per the limit.
As a special case for metrics that are counters with time units (nanoseconds to hours), the unit/scale
can be used to change the default reporting (for example, milliseconds / second) to normalize to the
range zero to one by setting this to sec (see also -y and -Y).
The following metricspec requests the metric kernel.all.sysfork to be reported under the text label
forks, converting to the metric default rate count/s in an 8 wide column. Although the definitions in
this compact form are optional, they must always be provided in the order specified above, thus the
commas.
kernel.all.sysfork,forks,,,,8
The third form of a metricspec, verbose form, is described and valid only in pmrep.conf(5).
Derived metrics are specified like regular PMNS leaf node metrics.
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).
OPTIONS
The available command line options are:
-0 precision, --precision-force=precision
Like -P but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-1, --dynamic-header
Print a new dynamically adjusted header every time changes in the availability of metric and
instance values occur. By default a static header that never changes is printed once. See also -4,
-7, and -E.
-2, --overall-rank
Perform overall ranking of instances in archive. By default ranking (see -J) and reporting happens
on each interval. With this option all instances and values are ranked before a summary is
reported. See pmlogsummary(1) for further archive summary reporting alternatives, including
averages and peak times for values.
-3, --overall-rank-alt
Like -2 but print metric instances in pmrep metricspec format, to allow easily selecting the
instances for further investigation.
-4 action, --names-change=action
Specify which action to take on receiving a metric names change event during sampling. These events
occur when a PMDA discovers new metrics sometime after starting up, and informs running client tools
like pmrep. Valid values for action are update (refresh metrics being sampled), ignore (do nothing
- the default behaviour) and abort (exit the program if such an event occurs). update implies
--dynamic-header.
-5, --ignore-unknown
Silently ignore any metric name that cannot be resolved. At least one metric must be found for the
tool to start.
-6, --sort-metric=sort-metric
Specify a sort reference metric to sort output by values with -X. By default sorting order is
descending, prepending the metric name with the minus sign (``-'') will change the order to be
ascending. See also -J and -N.
-7, --fixed-header
With -X print a fixed header once (unless using -E) including all metrics being reported. Unlike
with the default (static) header, only instances with values available are reported. Unlike with
the dynamic header, the header is not updated even if values for some metrics later become
(un)available. See also -1 and -E.
-8 limit, --limit-filter=limit
Limit results to instances with values above/below limit. A positive integer will include instances
with values at or above the limit in reporting. A negative integer will include instances with
values at or below the limit in reporting. A value of zero performs no limit filtering. This
option will not override possible per-metric specifications. See also -J and -N.
-9 limit, --limit-filter-force=limit
Like -8 but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-a archive, --archive=archive
Performance metric values are retrieved from the set of Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) archive files
identified by the archive argument, which is a comma-separated list of names, each of which may be
the base name of an archive or the name of a directory containing one or more archives. See also
-u.
-A align, --align=align
Force the initial sample to be aligned on the boundary of a natural time unit align. Refer to
PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for align.
--archive-folio=folio
Read metric source archives from the PCP archive folio created by tools like pmchart(1) or, less
often, manually with mkaf(1).
-b scale, --space-scale=scale
Unit/scale for space (byte) metrics, possible values include bytes, Kbytes, KB, Mbytes, MB, and so
forth. This option will not override possible per-metric specifications. See also
pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-B scale, --space-scale-force=scale
Like -b but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-c config, --config=config
Specify the config file or directory to use. In case config is a directory all files in it ending
.conf will be included. The default is the first found of: ./pmrep.conf, $HOME/.pmrep.conf,
$HOME/pcp/pmrep.conf, $PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep/pmrep.conf, and $PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep. See
pmrep.conf(5).
--container=container
Fetch performance metrics from the specified container, either local or remote (see -h).
-C, --check
Exit before reporting any values, but after parsing the configuration and metrics and printing
possible headers.
-d, --delay
When replaying from an archive, this option requests that the prevailing real-time delay be applied
between samples (see -t) to effect a pause, rather than the default behaviour of replaying at full
speed.
--daemonize
Daemonise on startup.
-e derived, --derived=derived
Specify derived performance metrics. If derived starts with a slash (``/'') or with a dot (``.'')
it will be interpreted as a PCP derived metrics configuration file, otherwise it will be interpreted
as comma- or semicolon-separated derived metric expressions. For complete description of derived
metrics and PCP derived metrics configuration files see pmLoadDerivedConfig(3) and
pmRegisterDerived(3). Alternatively, using pmrep.conf(5) configuration syntax allows defining
derived metrics as part of metricsets.
In case of issues with derived metrics, review the aforementioned manual pages in detail and ensure
all the required metrics are available, especially when using archives. Use -Dderive to see
additional debug information about parsing derived metrics.
-E lines, --repeat-header=lines
Repeat the header every lines of output. When not using -1 or -7 use auto to repeat the header
based on terminal height. See also -1 and -7.
-f format, --timestamp-format=format
Use the format string for formatting the timestamp. The format will be used with Python's
datetime.strftime method which is mostly the same as that described in strftime(3). An empty format
string (i.e. "") will remove the timestamps from the output. Defaults to %H:%M:%S when using the
stdout output target. Defaults to %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S when using the csv output target.
-F outfile, --output-file=outfile
Specify the output file outfile. See -o.
-g, --separate-header
Output the column number and complete metric information, one-per-line, before printing the metric
values.
-G, --no-globals
Do not include global metrics in reporting (see pmrep.conf(5)).
-h host, --host=host
Fetch performance metrics from pmcd(1) on host, rather than from the default localhost.
-H, --no-header
Do not print any headers.
-i instances, --instances=instances
Retrieve and report only the specified metric instances. By default all initially present instances
are reported, except when writing an archive (see -o), where also all future instances will be
reported.
The specified instances are filtered from the initially present instances when the tool is starting
up. Thus instances which would match the filter appearing after the tool has started up will not be
reported, use -j to change this.
This is a global option that is used for all set-valued metrics unless a metric-specific instance
filter is provided as part of a metricspec. By default single-valued ``flat'' metrics without
instances are still reported as usual, use -v to change this.
instances is a comma-separated list of one or more instance filter specifications. Filters
containing commas or whitespace must be quoted with single (') or double (") quotes. Note that as
part of a metricspec on command line a list with more than one filter both the list and each filter
must be quoted as shown below. It is also possible to define a single filter with bars (|) as
instance separating regex in order to make quoting easier, see below.
Multiple -i options are allowed as an alternative way of specifying more than one non-metric-
specific instance filters.
An individual instance filter can be one of the following:
name Full instance name. For example, sda for disk.dev instances or eth0 for network.interface
instances.
PID Process ID for proc instances.
command Base name of a process for proc instances. For example, pmcd would match all pmcd(1)
processes regardless of their path or PID.
regex Regular expression. For example, .*python.* would match all instances having the string
python as part of their instance name, meaning that this would match all Python processes
regardless of their path, PID, or version.
As an example, the following would report the same instances:
$ pmrep -i '. minute' kernel.all.load
$ pmrep -i '1 minute','5 minute' kernel.all.load
$ pmrep -i "'1 minute','5 minute'" kernel.all.load
$ pmrep -i '1 minute' -i '5 minute' kernel.all.load
$ pmrep kernel.all.load,,"'1 minute','5 minute'"
$ pmrep kernel.all.load,,'1 minute|5 minute'
However, this would report only the 1-minute instance:
$ pmrep -i '1 minute','5 minute' kernel.all.load,,'1 minute'
And this would report all instances (due to per-metric regex):
$ pmrep -i '1 minute','5 minute' 'kernel.all.load,,.*'
-I, --ignore-incompat
Ignore incompatible metrics. By default incompatible metrics (that is, their type is unsupported or
they cannot be scaled as requested) will cause pmrep to terminate with an error message. With this
option all incompatible metrics are silently omitted from reporting. This may be especially useful
when requesting non-leaf nodes of the PMNS tree for reporting.
--include-texts
When writing a PCP archive, include PCP metric help texts in the created archive.
-j, --live-filter
Perform instance live filtering. This allows capturing all named instances even if processes are
restarted at some point (unlike without live filtering). Performing live filtering over a huge
number of instances will add some internal overhead so a bit of user caution is advised. See also
-1 and -n.
-J rank, --rank=rank
Limit results to highest/lowest ranked instances of set-valued metrics. A positive integer will
include highest valued instances in reporting. A negative integer will include lowest valued
instances in reporting. A value of zero performs no ranking. Ranking does not imply sorting, see
-6. See also -2 and -8.
-k, --extended-csv
Write extended CSV output, similar to sadf(1).
-K spec, --spec-local=spec
When fetching metrics from a local context (see -L), the -K option may be used to control the DSO
PMDAs that should be made accessible. The spec argument conforms to the syntax described in
pmSpecLocalPMDA(3). More than one -K option may be used.
-l delimiter, --delimiter=delimiter
Specify the delimiter that separates each column of csv or stdout output. The default for stdout is
two spaces (`` '') and comma (``,'') for csv. When using a non-whitespace delimiter, all instances
of the delimiter in string values will be replaced by the underscore (``_'') character. Note that
many default metricsets specify a delimiter (that may not be a comma) so it might be necessary to
use this option with metricsets to explicitly set the delimiter as comma for CSV output, i.e.
--delimiter=,
-L, --local-PMDA
Use a local context to collect metrics from DSO PMDAs on the local host without PMCD. See also -K.
-m, --include-labels
Include PCP metric labels in the output.
-n, --invert-filter
Perform ranking before live filtering. By default instance live filtering (when requested, see -j)
happens before instance ranking (when requested, see -J). With this option the logic is inverted
and ranking happens before live filtering.
-N predicate, --predicate=predicate
Specify a comma-separated list of predicate filter reference metrics. By default ranking (see -J)
happens for each metric individually. With predicates, ranking is done only for the specified
predicate metrics. When reporting, rest of the metrics sharing the same instance domain (see
PCPIntro(1)) as the predicate will include only the highest/lowest ranking instances of the
corresponding predicate. Ranking does not imply sorting, see -6.
So for example, using proc.memory.rss (resident memory size of process) as the predicate metric
together with proc.io.total_bytes and mem.util.used as metrics to be reported, only the processes
using most/least (as per -J) memory will be included when reporting total bytes written by
processes. Since mem.util.used is a single-valued metric (thus not sharing the same instance domain
as the process related metrics), it will be reported as usual.
--no-inst-info
Omit instance information from headers. Not applicable with separate header (see -g).
-o output, --output=output
Use output target for reporting. The default target is stdout. The available output target
alternatives are:
archive
Record metrics into a PCP archive which can later be replayed with PCP tools, including pmrep
itself. See LOGARCHIVE(5) and PCPIntro(1) for details about PCP archive files. Requires -F.
csv
Print metrics in CSV format (subject to formatting options).
stdout
Print metrics to stdout (format subject to formatting options).
-O origin, --origin=origin
When reporting archived metrics, start reporting at origin within the time window (see -S and -T).
Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for origin.
-p, --timestamps
Print timestamps. By default no timestamps are printed.
-P precision, --precision=precision
Use precision for numeric non-integer output values. If the value is too wide for its column width,
precision is reduced one by one until the value fits, or not printed at all if it does not. The
default is to use 3 decimal places (when applicable). This option will not override possible per-
metric specifications.
-q scale, --count-scale=scale
Unit/scale for count metrics, possible values include count x 10^-1, count, count x 10, count x
10^2, and so forth from 10^-8 to 10^7. (These values are currently space-sensitive.) This option
will not override possible per-metric specifications. See also pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-Q scale, --count-scale-force=scale
Like -q but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-r, --raw
Output raw metric values, do not convert cumulative counters to rates. When writing archives, raw
values are always used. This option will override possible per-metric specifications.
-R, --raw-prefer
Like -r but this option will not override per-metric specifications.
-s samples, --samples=samples
The samples argument defines the number of samples to be retrieved and reported. If samples is 0 or
-s is not specified, pmrep will sample and report continuously (in real time mode) or until the end
of the set of PCP archives (in archive mode). See also -T.
-S starttime, --start=starttime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restricted to those records logged at or after
starttime. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for starttime.
-t interval, --interval=interval
Set the reporting interval to something other than the default 1 second. The interval argument
follows the syntax described in PCPIntro(1), and in the simplest form may be an unsigned integer
(the implied units in this case are seconds). See also the -T and -u options.
-T endtime, --finish=endtime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be restricted to those records logged before or at
endtime. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax for endtime.
When used to define the runtime before pmrep will exit, if no samples is given (see -s) then the
number of reported samples depends on interval (see -t). If samples is given then interval will be
adjusted to allow reporting of samples during runtime. In case all of -T, -s, and -t are given,
endtime determines the actual time pmrep will run.
-u, --no-interpol
When reporting archived metrics, by default values are reported according to the selected sample
interval (-t option), not according to the actual record interval in an archive. To this effect PCP
interpolates the values to be reported based on the records in the archive. With the -u option
uninterpolated reporting is enabled, every recorded value for the selected metrics is reported and
the requested sample interval (-t) is ignored.
So for example, if a PCP archive contains recorded values for every 10 seconds and the requested
sample interval is 1 hour, by default pmrep will use an interpolation scheme to compute the values
of the requested metrics from the values recorded in the proximity of these requested metrics and
values for every 1 hour are reported. With -u every record every 10 seconds are reported as such
(the reported values are still subject to rate conversion, use -r or -R to disable).
-U, --no-unit-info
Omit unit information from headers.
-v, --omit-flat
Report only set-valued metrics with instances (e.g. disk.dev.read) and omit single-valued ``flat''
metrics without instances (e.g. kernel.all.sysfork). See -i and -I.
-V, --version
Display version number and exit.
-w width, --width=width
Set the stdout output column width. Strings will be truncated to this width. The default width is
the shortest that can fit the metric text label, the forced minimum is 3. This option will not
override possible per-metric specifications.
-W width, --width-force=width
Like -w but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-x, --extended-header
Print extended header.
-X label, --colxrow=label
Swap columns and rows in stdout output, reporting one instance per line, using label as the text
label for the instance column. Use an empty string ("") to enable swapping without a specific
column label. This change in output allows using grep(1) to filter results or to more closely mimic
other tools. See also -i and -6.
-y scale, --time-scale=scale
Unit/scale for time metrics, possible values include nanosec, ns, microsec, us, millisec, ms, and so
forth up to hour, hr. This option will not override possible per-metric specifications. See also
pmParseUnitsStr(3).
-Y scale, --time-scale-force=scale
Like -y but this option will override per-metric specifications.
-z, --hostzone
Use the local timezone of the host that is the source of the performance metrics, as identified by
either the -h or the -a options. The default is to use the timezone of the local host.
-Z timezone, --timezone=timezone
Use timezone for the date and time. Timezone is in the format of the environment variable TZ as
described in environ(7). Note that when including a timezone string in output, ISO 8601 -style UTC
offsets are used (so something like -Z EST+5 will become UTC-5).
-?, --help
Display usage message and exit.
EXAMPLES
The following examples use the standard PCP facilities for collecting the metric values, no external
utilities are needed. The referenced colon-starting metricsets are part of the default pmrep
configuration. With bash and zsh tab completes available options, metrics, and after a colon metricsets.
Display network interface metrics on the local host:
$ pmrep network.interface.total.bytes
Display all outgoing network metrics for the wlan0 interface:
$ pmrep -i wlan0 -v network.interface.out
Display the slab total usage (in MB) of two specific slab instances:
$ pmrep mem.slabinfo.slabs.total_size,,'kmalloc-4k|xfs_inode',MB
Display timestamped vmstat(8) like information using megabytes instead of kilobytes and also include the
number of inodes used:
$ pmrep -p -B MB :vmstat vfs.inodes.count
Display per-device disk reads and writes from the host server1 using two seconds interval and sadf(1)
like CSV output format:
$ pmrep -h server1 -t 2s -o csv -k disk.dev.read disk.dev.write
Display processes using at least 100MB of memory using dynamic headers, additionally use -g to display
instance (process) names in full:
$ pmrep -b MB --limit-filter 100 --dynamic-header proc.memory.rss
Display the predefined set of metrics from the default pmrep.conf(5) containing details about I/O
requests by current pmlogger process(es):
$ pmrep -gp -i pmlogger :proc-io
Display the three most CPU-using processes:
$ pmrep -1gUJ 3 proc.hog.cpu
Display sar -w and sar -W like information at the same time from the PCP archive ./20150921.09.13 showing
values recorded between 3 - 5 PM:
$ pmrep -a ./20150921.09.13 -S @15:00 -T @17:00 :sar-w :sar-W
Record most relevant CPU, memory, and I/O related information about every Java process on the system,
present and future, to an archive ./a on one minute interval at every full minute in a background
process:
$ pmrep --daemonize -A 1m -t 1m -i '.*java.*' -j -o archive -F ./a \
:proc-info :proc-cpu :proc-mem :proc-io
Record all 389 Directory Server, XFS file system, and CPU/memory/disk metrics every five seconds for five
minutes to a PCP archive ./a:
$ pmrep -t 5s -T 5m -o archive -F ./a ds389 xfs kernel.all.cpu mem disk
Record process memory and I/O information for those processes which are the three most memory-consuming
processes:
$ pmrep -o archive -F ./a -J 3 -N proc.memory.rss proc.memory proc.io
FILES
pmrep.conf
pmrep configuration file (see -c)
$PCP_SYSCONF_DIR/pmrep/*.conf
system provided default pmrep configuration files
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), mkaf(1), pcp(1), pcp2elasticsearch(1), pcp2graphite(1), pcp2influxdb(1), pcp2json(1),
pcp2spark(1), pcp2xlsx(1), pcp2xml(1), pcp2zabbix(1), pcp-atop(1), pmcd(1), pmchart(1), pmdiff(1),
pmdumptext(1), pminfo(1), pmiostat(1), pmlogdump(1), pmlogextract(1), pmlogsummary(1), pmprobe(1),
pmstat(1), pmval(1), sadf(1), sar(1), PMAPI(3), pmGetOptions(3), pmLoadDerivedConfig(3),
pmParseUnitsStr(3), pmRegisterDerived(3), pmSpecLocalPMDA(3), strftime(3), LOGARCHIVE(5), PMNS(5),
pcp.conf(5), pmrep.conf(5), environ(7) and vmstat(8).
Performance Co-Pilot PCP PMREP(1)