Administration Reference


[Return to Library] [Contents] [Previous Topic] [Bottom of Topic] [Next Topic] [Index]

scout

Purpose

Monitors the File Server process

Synopsis

scout [initcmd]  -server <FileServer name(s) to monitor>+
      [-basename <base server name>]  
      [-frequency <poll frequency, in seconds>]  [-host]  
      [-attention <specify attention (highlighting) level>+]
      [-debug <turn debugging output on to the named file>]  [-help]
    
scout [i]  -s <FileServer name(s) to monitor>+  
      [-b <base server name>] [-f <poll frequency, in seconds>] 
      [-ho]  [-a <specify attention (highlighting) level>+]
      [-d <turn debugging output on to the named file>]  [-he]

Description

The scout command displays statistics gathered from the File Server process running on each machine specified with the -server argument. The Output section explains the meaning of the statistics and describes how they appear in the command shell, which is preferably a window managed by a window manager program.

Cautions

The scout program must be able to access the curses graphics package, which it uses to display statistics. Most UNIX distributions include curses as a standard utility.

Both dumb terminals and windowing systems that emulate terminals can display the scout program's statistics. The display makes use of reverse video and cursor addressing, so the display environment must support those features for it to look its best (most windowing systems do, most dumb terminals do not). Also, set the TERM environment variable to the correct terminal type, or one with characteristics similar to the actual ones. For machines running the AIX operating system, the recommended setting for TERM is vt100, as long as the terminal is similar to that. For other operating systems, the wider range of acceptable values includes xterm, xterms, vt100, vt200, and wyse85.

Options

initcmd
Accommodates the command's use of the AFS command parser, and is optional.

-server
Specifies each file server machine running a File Server process to monitor. Provide each machine's fully qualified hostname unless the -basename argument is used. In that case, specify only the unique initial part of each machine name, omitting the domain name suffix (the basename) common to all the names. It is also acceptable to use the shortest abbreviated form of a host name that distinguishes it from other machines, but successful resolution depends on the availability of a name resolution service (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table) at the time the command is issued.

-basename
Specifies the basename (domain name) suffix common to all of the file server machine names specified with the -server argument, and is automatically appended to them. This argument is normally the name of the cell to which the machines belong. Do not include the period that separates this suffix from the distinguishing part of each file server machine name, but do include any periods that occur within the suffix itself. For example, in the ABC Corporation cell, the proper value is abc.com rather than .abc.com.

-frequency
Indicates how often to probe the File Server processes. Specify a number of seconds greater than 0 (zero). The default is 60 seconds.

-host
Displays the name of the machine that is running the scout program, in the banner line of the display screen.

-attention
Defines a list of entries, each of which pairs a statistic and a threshold value. When the value of the statistic exceeds the indicated threshold value, it is highlighted (in reverse video) in the display. List the pairs in any order. The acceptable values are the following:

-debug
Specifies the pathname of the file into which to write a debugging trace. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working directory.

-help
Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.

Output

The scout program can display statistics either in a dedicated window or on a plain screen if a windowing environment is not available. For best results, the window or screen needs the ability to print in reverse video.

The scout screen has three main parts: the banner line, the statistics display region and the message/probe line.

The Banner Line

By default, the string Scout appears in the banner line at the top of the window or screen. Two optional arguments place additional information in the banner line:

The Statistics Display Region

In this region, which occupies the majority of the window, the scout process displays the statistics gathered for each File Server process. Each process appears on its own line.

The region is divided into six columns, labeled as indicated and displaying the following information:

For all columns except the fifth (file server machine name), the optional -attention argument sets the value at which entries in the column are highlighted to indicate that a certain value has been exceeded. Only values in the fifth and Disk attn columns ever become highlighted by default.

If the scout program is unable to access or otherwise obtain information about a partition, it generates a message similar to the following example:

   Could not get information on server fs1.abc.com partition /vicepa
   

The Message/Probe Line

The bottom line of the scout screen indicates how many times the scout program has probed the File Server processes for statistics. The statistics gathered in the latest probe appear in the statistics display region. The -frequency argument overrides the default probe frequency of 60 seconds.

Examples

See the chapter on monitoring tools in the IBM AFS Administration Guide, which illustrates the displays that result from different combinations of options.

Privilege Required

None

Related Information

afsmonitor

fstrace


[Return to Library] [Contents] [Previous Topic] [Top of Topic] [Next Topic] [Index]



© IBM Corporation 2000. All Rights Reserved