NAME

       pmtrace - command line performance instrumentation

SYNOPSIS

       pmtrace [-q?]  [-c value | -e command | -v value] [-h host] [-S state] tag

DESCRIPTION

       pmtrace provides a simple command line interface to the trace Performance Metrics Domain Agent (PMDA) and
       the associated pcp_trace library.

       The default pmtrace behavior is to provide point trace data to the trace PMDA, using the tag argument  as
       the  identifying  name  associated  with  each  trace point.  The tag then becomes an instance identifier
       within the set of trace.point metrics.

OPTIONS

       The available command line options are:

       -c value
            Allow an arbitrary counter value to be exported through the trace.count metrics.

       -e command
            Allow an arbitrary command to be executed.  This command will be measured as a transaction since  it
            has well defined start and end points.  The information is made available through the trace.transact
            metrics.

       -h host
            Sent the trace data to the trace PMDA running on host, rather than the  localhost.   This  overrides
            use of the environment variable PCP_TRACE_HOST.

       -q   Suppress messages from a successful trace, so that pmtrace runs quietly.

       -S state
            Enable  internal debugging and tracing.  The value of state is a bit-wise combination of debug flags
            as defined in pmtracestate(3), and  may  be  specified  using  the  decimal  or  hexadecimal  syntax
            prescribed by strtol(3).

       -v value
            Allow an arbitrary floating point value to be exported through the trace.observe metrics.

       -?   Display usage message and exit.

DIAGNOSTICS

       All are generated on standard error and are intended to be self-explanatory.

       The pmtrace exit status is always zero except when the -e option is in use, in which case the exit status
       of command is returned.

FILES

       $PCP_DEMOS_DIR/trace/pmtrace.c
            source code for pmtrace

ENVIRONMENT

       Since  pmtrace  uses  the  libpcp_trace  library  routines,  the  environment  variables  PCP_TRACE_HOST,
       PCP_TRACE_PORT,  and PCP_TRACE_TIMEOUT are all honored.  Refer to pmdatrace(3) for a detailed description
       of the semantics of each.

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).

SEE ALSO

       pmcd(1), pmdatrace(1), pmprobe(1), PMAPI(3) and pmdatrace(3).