NAME

       pmstore - modify performance metric values

SYNOPSIS

       pmstore [-fFLV?]  [-h host] [-i instances] [-K spec] [-n pmnsfile] metricname value

DESCRIPTION

       Under  certain  circumstances, it is useful to be able to modify the values of performance
       metrics, for example to re-initialize counters or to assign new values to metrics that act
       as control variables.

       pmstore  changes  the  current  values for the nominated instances of a single performance
       metric, as identified by metricname and the list of instance identifiers following the  -i
       argument.   instances  must  be  a single argument, with elements of the list separated by
       commas and/or white space.  By default all instances of metricname will be updated.

       Normally pmstore operates on the  default  Performance  Metrics  Name  Space  (PMNS),  see
       PMNS(5), however if the -n option is specified an alternative namespace is loaded from the
       file pmnsfile.

       Unless directed to another  host  by  the  -h  option,  pmstore  will  interact  with  the
       Performance Metric Collector Daemon (PMCD) on the local host.

       The  -L option causes pmstore to use a local context to store to metrics from PMDAs on the
       local host without PMCD.  Only some metrics are available in this mode.   The  -h  and  -L
       options are mutually exclusive.

       The -f option forces the given value to be stored, even if there is no current value set.

       The  interpretation  of value is dependent on the syntax used in its specification and the
       underlying data type of metricname, as follows.

       1.  If the metric has an integer type, then value should be an  optional  leading  hyphen,
           followed  either  by  decimal digits or ``0x'' and some hexadecimal digits.  ``0X'' is
           also acceptable in lieu of ``0x''.  See strtol(3) and the related routines.

       2.  If the metric has a floating point type, then value should be either in the form of an
           integer  described above, or a fixed point number, or a number in scientific notation.
           See strtod(3).

       3.  If the metric has a string type, then value is interpreted  as  a  literal  string  of
           ASCII characters.

       4.  If  the  metric  has any other type (i.e.  PM_TYPE_EVENT or PM_TYPE_AGGREGATE) then no
           encoding of value from the command line makes sense, and the values of  these  metrics
           cannot be modified with pmstore.

       The  output  reports  the  old  value  and  the new value for each updated instance of the
       requested metric.

       When using the -L option to fetch metrics from a local context, 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.

       Normally pmstore will report the old value (as initially retrieved using  pmFetch(3))  and
       the  new  value  from the command line.  The -F option forces another pmFetch(3) after the
       pmStore(3) and the returned value is reported as the new value.  This is useful  in  cases
       where  metricname  is  a metric that provides different semantics for the store operation,
       e.g. to increment the current value or reset a counter (independent of the value from  the
       command line).

OPTIONS

       The available command line options are:

       -f, --force
            Store the value even if no current value set.

       -F, --fetch
            Report the metric value after setting it.

       -i insts, --insts=insts
            Restrict store to the comma-separated list of instances.

       -h host, --host=host
            Connect to pmcd(1) on host, rather than on the default localhost.

       -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, --local-PMDA
            Use a local context to collect metrics from DSO PMDAs on the local host without PMCD.
            See also -K.

       -n pmnsfile, --namespace=pmnsfile
            Normally  pmcd  loads  the  default  Performance  Metrics  Name  Space  (PMNS)   from
            $PCP_VAR_DIR/pmns/root,  however  if  the  -n  option  is  specified  an  alternative
            namespace is loaded from the file pmnsfile.

       -V, --version
            Display version number and exit.

       -?, --help
            Display usage message and exit.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Two messages indicate a mismatch between the internal data type  for  metricname  and  the
       value provided.

       The value "???" is out of range for the data type (PM_TYPE_...)

       The value "???" is incompatible with the data type (PM_TYPE_...)

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),  pminfo(1),  pmval(1),  PMAPI(3),  pmFetch(3),  pmSpecLocalPMDA(3),   pmStore(3),
       strtod(3), strtol(3) and PMNS(5).