1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
4 <refentrytitle>scout</refentrytitle>
5 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
8 <refname>scout</refname>
9 <refpurpose>Monitors the File Server process</refpurpose>
12 <title>Synopsis</title>
13 <para><emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> [<emphasis role="bold">initcmd</emphasis>] <emphasis role="bold">-server</emphasis> <<emphasis>servers to monitor</emphasis>>+
14 [<emphasis role="bold">-basename</emphasis> <<emphasis>base server name</emphasis>>]
15 [<emphasis role="bold">-frequency</emphasis> <<emphasis>poll frequency, in seconds</emphasis>>] [<emphasis role="bold">-host</emphasis>]
16 [<emphasis role="bold">-attention</emphasis> <<emphasis>specify attention (highlighting) level</emphasis>>+]
17 [<emphasis role="bold">-debug</emphasis> <<emphasis>turn debugging output on to the named file</emphasis>>]
18 [<emphasis role="bold">-help</emphasis>]</para>
20 <para><emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> [<emphasis role="bold">i</emphasis>] <emphasis role="bold">-s</emphasis> <<emphasis>servers to monitor</emphasis>>+
21 [<emphasis role="bold">-b</emphasis> <<emphasis>base server name</emphasis>>] [<emphasis role="bold">-f</emphasis> <<emphasis>poll frequency, in seconds</emphasis>>]
22 [<emphasis role="bold">-ho</emphasis>] [<emphasis role="bold">-a</emphasis> <<emphasis>specify attention (highlighting) level</emphasis>>+]
23 [<emphasis role="bold">-d</emphasis> <<emphasis>turn debugging output on to the named file</emphasis>>] [<emphasis role="bold">-he</emphasis>]</para>
27 <title>Description</title>
28 <para>The scout command displays statistics gathered from the File Server
29 process running on each machine specified with the <emphasis role="bold">-server</emphasis>
30 argument. <link linkend="OUTPUT">OUTPUT</link> explains the meaning of the statistics and describes
31 how they appear in the command shell, which is preferably a window managed
32 by a window manager program.</para>
36 <title>Cautions</title>
37 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> program must be able to access the curses graphics package,
38 which it uses to display statistics. Most UNIX distributions include
39 curses as a standard utility.</para>
41 <para>Both dumb terminals and windowing systems that emulate terminals can
42 display the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> program's statistics. The display makes use of
43 reverse video and cursor addressing, so the display environment must
44 support those features for it to look its best (most windowing systems do,
45 most dumb terminals do not). Also, set the TERM environment variable to
46 the correct terminal type, or one with characteristics similar to the
47 actual ones. For machines running the AIX operating system, the
48 recommended setting for TERM is <computeroutput>vt100</computeroutput>, as long as the terminal is
49 similar to that. For other operating systems, the wider range of
50 acceptable values includes <computeroutput>xterm</computeroutput>, <computeroutput>xterms</computeroutput>, <computeroutput>vt100</computeroutput>, <computeroutput>vt200</computeroutput>, and
51 <computeroutput>wyse85</computeroutput>.</para>
55 <title>Options</title>
58 <term><emphasis role="bold">initcmd</emphasis></term>
60 <para>Accommodates the command's use of the AFS command parser, and is optional.</para>
65 <term><emphasis role="bold">-server</emphasis> <<emphasis>servers to monitor</emphasis>>+</term>
67 <para>Specifies each file server machine running a File Server process to
68 monitor. Provide each machine's fully qualified hostname unless the
69 <emphasis role="bold">-basename</emphasis> argument is used. In that case, specify only the unique
70 initial part of each machine name, omitting the domain name suffix (the
71 basename) common to all the names. It is also acceptable to use the
72 shortest abbreviated form of a host name that distinguishes it from other
73 machines, but successful resolution depends on the availability of a name
74 resolution service (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table)
75 at the time the command is issued.</para>
80 <term><emphasis role="bold">-basename</emphasis> <<emphasis>base server name</emphasis>></term>
82 <para>Specifies the basename (domain name) suffix common to all of the file
83 server machine names specified with the <emphasis role="bold">-server</emphasis> argument, and is
84 automatically appended to them. This argument is normally the name of the
85 cell to which the machines belong. Do not include the period that
86 separates this suffix from the distinguishing part of each file server
87 machine name, but do include any periods that occur within the suffix
88 itself. For example, in the ABC Corporation cell, the proper value is
89 <computeroutput>abc.com</computeroutput> rather than <computeroutput>.abc.com</computeroutput>.</para>
94 <term><emphasis role="bold">-frequency</emphasis> <<emphasis>poll frequency</emphasis>></term>
96 <para>Indicates how often to probe the File Server processes. Specify a number
97 of seconds greater than <computeroutput>0</computeroutput> (zero). The default is 60 seconds.</para>
102 <term><emphasis role="bold">-host</emphasis></term>
104 <para>Displays the name of the machine that is running the scout program, in the
105 banner line of the display screen.</para>
110 <term><emphasis role="bold">-attention</emphasis> <<emphasis>attention level</emphasis>>+</term>
112 <para>Defines a list of entries, each of which pairs a statistic and a threshold
113 value. When the value of the statistic exceeds the indicated threshold
114 value, it is highlighted (in reverse video) in the display. List the pairs
115 in any order. The acceptable values are the following:</para>
119 <term>conn <<emphasis>connections</emphasis>></term>
121 <para>Indicates the number of open connections to client processes at which to
122 highlight the statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when
123 the value goes back below the threshold. There is no default threshold.</para>
125 <para>An example of an acceptable value is conn 300.</para>
130 <term>disk <<emphasis>blocks_free</emphasis>></term>
132 <para>Indicates the number of remaining free kilobyte blocks at which to
133 highlight the statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when the
134 value again exceeds the threshold. There is no default threshold.</para>
136 <para>An example of an acceptable value is disk 5000.</para>
141 <term>disk <<emphasis>percent_full</emphasis>>%</term>
143 <para>Indicates the percentage of disk usage at which to highlight the
144 statistic. The statistic returns to regular display when the value goes
145 back below the threshold. The default threshold is 95%. Acceptable values
146 are the integers in the range from <computeroutput>0</computeroutput> to <computeroutput>99</computeroutput>, followed by the percent
147 sign (<computeroutput>%</computeroutput>) to distinguish this type of value from the one described just
150 <para>An example is disk 90%.</para>
155 <term>fetch <<emphasis>fetch RPCs</emphasis>></term>
157 <para>Indicates the cumulative number of fetch RPCs from client processes at
158 which to highlight the statistic. The statistic does not return to regular
159 display until the File Server process restarts, at which time the value
160 returns to zero. There is no default threshold.</para>
162 <para>Example of a legal value: fetch 6000000</para>
167 <term>store <<emphasis>store RPCs</emphasis>></term>
169 <para>Indicates the cumulative number of store RPCs from client processes at
170 which to highlight the statistic. The statistic does not return to regular
171 display until the File Server process restarts, at which time the value
172 returns to zero. There is no default threshold.</para>
174 <para>Example of an acceptable value: store 200000</para>
179 <term>ws <<emphasis>active client machines</emphasis>></term>
181 <para>Indicates the number of client machines with active open connections at
182 which to highlight the statistic. An active connection is defined as one
183 over which the File Server and client have communicated in the last 15
184 minutes. The statistic returns to regular display when the value goes back
185 below the threshold. There is no default threshold.</para>
187 <para>Example of an acceptable value: ws 65</para>
195 <term><emphasis role="bold">-debug</emphasis> <<emphasis>debugging trace file</emphasis>></term>
197 <para>Specifies the pathname of the file into which to write a debugging
198 trace. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working
204 <term><emphasis role="bold">-help</emphasis></term>
206 <para>Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are
214 <title>Output</title>
215 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> program can display statistics either in a dedicated window
216 or on a plain screen if a windowing environment is not available. For best
217 results, the window or screen needs the ability to print in reverse video.</para>
219 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> screen has three main parts: the banner line, the statistics
220 display region and the message/probe line.</para>
223 <title>The Banner Line</title>
224 <para>By default, the string <computeroutput>Scout</computeroutput> appears in the banner line at the top of
225 the window or screen. Two optional arguments place additional information
226 in the banner line:</para>
230 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">-host</emphasis> flag displays the name of the machine where the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis>
231 program is running. As mentioned previously, this is useful when running
232 the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> program on several machines but displaying the results on a
233 single machine.</para>
235 <para>For example, when the <emphasis role="bold">-host</emphasis> flag is included and the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> program
236 is running on the machine <computeroutput>client1.abc.com</computeroutput>, the banner line reads as
240 [client1.abc.com] Scout
245 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">-basename</emphasis> argument displays the indicated basename on the banner
246 line. For example, including the argument <computeroutput>-basename abc.com</computeroutput> argument
247 results in the following banner line:</para>
257 <title>The Statistics Display Region</title>
258 <para>In this region, which occupies the majority of the window, the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis>
259 process displays the statistics gathered for each File Server
260 process. Each process appears on its own line.</para>
262 <para>The region is divided into six columns, labeled as indicated and
263 displaying the following information:</para>
269 <para>The first column displays the number of RPC connections open between the
270 File Server process and client machines. This number equals or exceeds
271 the number in the <computeroutput>Ws</computeroutput> column (see the fourth entry below), because each
272 user on the machine can have several separate connections open at once,
273 and one client machine can handle several users.</para>
280 <para>The second column displays the number of fetch-type RPCs (fetch data,
281 fetch access list, and fetch status) that client machines have made to the
282 File Server process since the latter started. This number is reset to
283 zero each time the File Server process restarts.</para>
290 <para>The third column displays the number of store-type RPCs (store data, store
291 access list, and store status) that client machines have made to the File
292 Server process since the latter started. This number is reset to zero each
293 time the File Server process restarts.</para>
300 <para>The fourth column displays the number of client machines (<computeroutput>Ws</computeroutput> stands for
301 workstations) that have communicated with the File Server process within
302 the last 15 minutes. Such machines are termed <emphasis>active</emphasis>). This number is
303 likely to be smaller than the number in the first (<computeroutput>Conn</computeroutput>) column because
304 a single client machine can have several connections open to one File
310 <term>server name</term>
312 <para>The fifth, unlabeled, column displays the name of the file server machine
313 on which the File Server process is running. Names of 12 characters or
314 less are displayed in full; longer names are truncated and an asterisk
315 (<computeroutput>*</computeroutput>) appears as the last character in the name. Using the <emphasis role="bold">-basename</emphasis>
316 argument is a good way to avoid truncation, but only if all machine names
317 end in a common string.</para>
322 <term>Disk attn</term>
324 <para>The sixth column displays the number of available kilobyte blocks on each
325 AFS disk partition on the file server machine.</para>
327 <para>The display for each partition has the following form:</para>
330 x:&lt;free_blocks&gt;
333 <para>where <computeroutput>x</computeroutput> indicates the partition name. For example, <computeroutput>a:8949</computeroutput> specifies
334 that the <replaceable>/vicepa</replaceable> partition has 8,949 1-KB blocks free. Available space
335 can be displayed for up to 26 partitions. If the window is not wide enough
336 for all partition entries to appear on a single line, the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis> process
337 automatically creates multiple lines, stacking the partition entries into
338 sub-columns within the sixth column.</para>
340 <para>The label on the <computeroutput>Disk attn</computeroutput> column indicates the threshold value at
341 which entries in the column become highlighted. By default, the label is</para>
344 Disk attn: &gt; 95% used
347 <para>because by default the scout program highlights the entry for any
348 partition that is over 95% full.</para>
353 <para>For all columns except the fifth (file server machine name), the optional
354 <emphasis role="bold">-attention</emphasis> argument sets the value at which entries in the column are
355 highlighted to indicate that a certain value has been exceeded. Only
356 values in the fifth and <computeroutput>Disk attn</computeroutput> columns ever become highlighted by
359 <para>If the scout program is unable to access or otherwise obtain information
360 about a partition, it generates a message similar to the following
364 Could not get information on server fs1.abc.com partition /vicepa
369 <title>The Message/Probe Line</title>
370 <para>The bottom line of the scout screen indicates how many times the <emphasis role="bold">scout</emphasis>
371 program has probed the File Server processes for statistics. The
372 statistics gathered in the latest probe appear in the statistics display
373 region. The <emphasis role="bold">-frequency</emphasis> argument overrides the default probe frequency
374 of 60 seconds.</para>
379 <title>Examples</title>
380 <para>See the chapter on monitoring tools in the <emphasis>IBM AFS Administration
381 Guide</emphasis>, which illustrates the displays that result from different
382 combinations of options.</para>
386 <title>Privilege Required</title>
391 <title>See Also</title>
392 <para><link linkend="afsmonitor1">afsmonitor(1)</link>,
393 <link linkend="fstrace8">fstrace(8)</link></para>
397 <title>Copyright</title>
398 <para>IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.</para>
400 <para>This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was
401 converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ
402 Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.</para>