Provided by: collectl-utils_4.7.1-1_all bug

NAME

       colgui  -  realtime  plotting  for collectl on one or more systems (all must have collectl
       installed)

SYNOPSIS

       colgui [-switches]

       colgui --machines machinesfile [-switches]

       colgui --hosts pattern [-switches]

       colgui --address addresses [-switches]

DESCRIPTION

       Provides a grapical user interface to collectl, displaying real-time  graphs  for  one  or
       more  hosts.   By  default,  plots  are  generated  for the local system.  One can specify
       other/additional systems via a file containg a list of those addresses, the  hosts  listed
       in  /etc/hosts  by  applying  an appropriate filter or by specifying a specific address or
       addresses at the command line.

BASIC SWITCHES

       The easiest way to get started is to use one or more of the following switches which  many
       people  find meet most of their needs.  Over time the need may arise to change the way the
       display looks, modify the data collection itself, simultaneously log the  data  as  it  is
       being  collected  or  even  change  the  way colgui connects to remotes systems.  In those
       situations, more advanced switches are provided.

       Common Options

       When first getting started, you can use the following switches to generate plots for  your
       local system.  To generate remote plots see the following section on "Host Selection".

       --i interval
              The  frequency  at  which  data  should  be collected.  This is passed unaltered to
              collectl as -i.

       --r rowsize
              The number of plots displayed in a row before starting a new row.   By  default,  a
              new  row  is  automatically  started  for  each host.  see --geometry to alter this
              behavior.

       --s subsys
              Select the plots to display by the "standard" subsystems that collectl uses.   This
              too is passed unaltered to collectl as -s.

       Host Selection

       --hosts pattern
              The  hosts  are  chosen  from  the  /etc/hosts  file by executing the command "grep
              pattern /etc/hosts".  The display form of the  hostname  will  be  taken  from  the
              second  field  if it is defined.  When using "--geometry nd", the third column will
              be used.

       --address addresses
              One or more host names, separated by spaces and quoted  if  necessary.   If  it  is
              desired  to display a shorter hostname when "--geometery nd" is chosen, append that
              synonym to the hostname separated by a colon.

       -machines machinesfile
              The machinesfile is a text file similar in format  to  the  /etc/hosts  file.   See
              below  for  more details on the format and how the 2nd and 3rd names (if specified)
              will be used.

       Alternate Plot Selection

       These additional plot selection options can be used in any combination with or without -s.

       -p plots
              Select one or more plots, many of which can also  be  selected  by  -s.   For  more
              information see "Plot Selection" further below.

       -c plots
              Select    one    or    more    custom,    user    developed   plots.    check   out
              /opt/colplot/examples/*cfg to see how these work...

ADVANCED PLOTTING SELECTIONS

       The first set of these effect the size of individual plots and how they are displayed.

       --xaxis int
              Change the size of the x-axis to be n-intervals wide, where an interval corresponds
              to "-i int" seconds.

       --yaxis int
              Change the size of the y-axis to be "int" pixels high.

       --geometry  [n, c, nd, cd]
              Choose  the  display  geometry.   By default, everything displays in "normal" mode,
              that is a new row is started for each host.  In "compact" mode, each row is  filled
              to the number of plots specified by -r.

              Dense  modes,  specified  by adding the "d" modifier to one of the other two modes,
              removes many of the elements common to  each  plot  and  displays  them  elsewhere,
              proving  more  efficient use of the screen real estate, something that becomes more
              important as the number of plots grows.

              NOTE - colgui always generates the same number of  plots  for  all  systems.   This
              means  that  if  doing  detail plots where the number of network, disks, etc can in
              fact be different, colgui will pad unused entries with blank plots which won't have
              an active sweeper line in them.

       Some of the less common plotting switches are:

       --homogeneous
              When  colgui starts up, it queries each node for its configuration since some nodes
              can have different numbers of devices or device names.   When  there  are  a  large
              number of nodes this can slow down the whole startup process.  This switch will set
              the configurations of all  nodes  to  that  of  the  first  one  querried  and  can
              significantly  speed  startup.  Be very careful when doing detail reporting becuase
              if two systems have a different number of devices, you will either  get  errors  or
              incorrect  data displayed.  If any device names differ (and this is always the case
              with lustre), all systems will show the same names and this can be confusing.

       --plottype  [l, p, b, s, r]
              Line plots, the default, are displayed using connected solid  lines,  indexed  from
              the  beginning  Y axis value.  A "point" plot, also known as a scatter plot but the
              "s" was taken, is one in which the points  are  not  connected.   "Bar"  plots  are
              vertical bars, more often associated with business graphics.

              Appending the "s" to any of the first three types (I told you the "s" was taken) of
              plots will produce "stacked" plots (when there are multiple values  being  plotted)
              such  that  rather than each point relative to the base of the y-axis it is stacked
              on top of the previous one.

              Radial or "radar" plots are actually circular plots and this must be combined  with
              l  or  p  and  optionally  s.   At  this  time, radial plots may produce some oddly
              formatted displays.

       --radint  num
              By default, a radial plot has the same number of intervals as an "xy" plot, that is
              based   on  the  value  of  --xaxis.   This  switch  allows  seeing  that  interval
              independently.

       --smooth num
              Some data may be presented very spikey and this allows one to provide  a  smoothing
              value which softens those spikes.

       --linewidth pixels
              For  those  who want a wider plotting line, this is the way to go.  Enter the width
              in pixels.

       --plotwidth pixels
              This is actually the horizontal distance between points in pixels.  Changing either
              this  or  --xaxis  effects the width of the plot, but this does it without changing
              the number of data points that will fit on it.

       Data Collection

       --count num
              The number of samples to collect, this is passed unaltered to collectl as -c.

       --colbin path
              If collectl is stored somewhere other than /usr/sbin on  the  target  machine,  use
              this  to  specify its location.  However, remember that this path will be passed to
              ALL machines being monitored.

       --colmuxbin path
              Like --colbin, this allows you to change the location of where to look for colmux.

       --lustype [cmo]
              This defines what types of lustre machines are being monitored when -sl is selected
              since  there  is no apriori way for colgui to know that.  Choose any combination of
              "cmo" to choose client, mds or oss noting these types of plots  will  be  displayed
              for  ALL  machines  selected.   It  is passed unaltered to collectl as -L.  Also be
              aware that for any machines NOT configured as  running  lustre,  at  least  version
              1.5.3 of collectl will be required.

       --nfstype [c2]
              Collectl  is  capable  of  monitoring nfs clients or servers, supporting either nfs
              version 2 or 3, but only 1 of  the  4  combinations  during  any  single  run.   By
              default,  it  is assumed a machine is running as a v3 server.  To change either the
              version or to make the target machine a client, use  this  switch.   It  is  passed
              unalted to collectl as -O.

       Data Logging

       In  addition  to  displaying  plots,  colgui  can  also  be  requested  to  log  the  data
       simultaneously.

       --logterm
              Write a copy of each record received to the terminal.  Naturally the speed  of  the
              display can effect how quickly the plots can be updated.

       --log1file  dir
              Create  a file in the specified directory named for the host this is running on and
              the date/time of the data collection.  Each record will be preceeded by the name of
              the host (or address) from which the data was collected.

       --logfiles  dir
              Similar  to log1file except now a separate file is created for each host, named for
              that host as well as the date/time that the collection was started.

       You can combine --log1file and --logfiles with --logterm but not each other.

       If Compress::Zlib is installed, the logs will automatically be compressed.  If logging  to
       the terminal AND a file simultaneously, compression will be turned off.

       Networking

       --port  number
              By default, colgui communicates over port 1234.  This option allows you to select a
              different one.

       --proxy  address
              If colgui cannot directly connect to the target machines, one can put the  "colmux"
              program  on  a  machine that can, using it as a proxy.  Specify the address of that
              machine with this switch.

       --realaddress address
              When communicating through a proxy, this machine`s address  is  hidden  from  other
              machines.  Enter the address that needs to be used to connect back to this machine.

       --rsh
              By  default,  colgui uses ssh for all communications.  If not available but rsh is,
              select this switch.

       --username name
              If rsh or ssh requires some username other than the one being run  under,  this  is
              the way to change it.

PLOT SELECTION

       One  can actually select plots in one of three ways.  Using -s, one selects a default plot
       that matches the associated subsystem(s).  Some of these plots contain multiple y-axes  so
       that they can present the maximum amount of information in the minimal amount of space.

       Using  -p,  one selects specific plots by name.  These names can be either comma separated
       (no whitespace) or separated by whitespace and quoted.  The list of available plots can be
       displayed with --showplots, some of which are those displayed via -s.  Many of these plots
       are actually the multi-yaxis plots broken into 2, single axis plots.  A  number  of  these
       plots  contain  data fields not available as -s plots so it's worth familiarizing yourself
       with them.

       Finally, when nothing quite fits the bill, one can use custom plots, referred  to  by  -c.
       Here  too  one can specify one or more name, however in this case these name actual files,
       whose default extensions are "cfg".  These files contain user defined plots  so  that  you
       can essentially plot any data fields known by collectl!

       The  rules of how to define a custom plot are contained in the sample mem.cfg which can be
       found in the examples directory.  There are also a number of custom lustre plots that  can
       display  a  broad  set  of  information.   These  can also be used as a starting point for
       building your own.  There are also FAQs for both  colplot  and  colgui  that  may  provide
       addition help.

       One  thing  to  remember  is  that  colgui  and colplot actually share ALL the plots, both
       standard as well as custom.  This means that any custom plots constructed for  colgui  can
       be  used  by  colplot and visa-versa.  If there appear to be problems using custom plots -
       either colgui is reporting errors OR the data being displayed does't look correct, you can
       also  see the parameters colgui will be using to generate its plots by using --showparams,
       which shows ALL plot definitions, not just custom ones.

       Finally, you CAN mix -s, -p and -c in any combinations you like.

MACHINES FILE

       This is a file that names the machines which are to be monitored.  At  minimal,  it  lists
       one  machine per line.  Each entry must be an address or a name that can be resolved to an
       address.  Additional names may be specified, separated by whitespace.

       If a second name exists, it will be used when a title is  displayed  on  a  plot.   If  it
       doesn't exist, the value of the first field will be displayed.

       When displaying plots in compressed/dense format, host names are displayed vertically.  In
       some cases, the names are simply too long to fit and if specified, the value  of  the  3rd
       field will be used, otherwise the second field will be used.

USING COLMUX AS A PROXY

       This  is  a  feature  that  allows  you  to  monitor  systems  to which you have no direct
       connectivity.  This is typically the case when a machine that does has connectivity  isn't
       configured  to  run  X.   This  feature  has  been  successfully  tested  in  a  number of
       configurations but certainly not all.  If you do encounter  problems  be  sure  to  report
       them.

       To  use this feature, you need to find a machine to act as a proxy and which is capable of
       accessing the target machines via both rsh/ssh and a  socket  connection.   If  there  are
       firewalls  involved  they may have to be opened up, at least for a specific port which can
       then be specified with "--port".

       Since machines can have multiple interfaces on them, be sure to  use  addresses  that  the
       machine  running  colmux  can  see.   If  you  do encounter problems, try logging into the
       machine on which colmux is running and try to run it manually using the same node list but
       without  --proxy.   Often  this  will reveal connectivity/reachability problems you didn't
       realize you had.

RESTRICTIONS

       Requires at least collectl V1.5.6.

       When displaying detail data normal/dense using --geometry nd, there is only a single title
       line  displayed  for  all  systems.   This means that if the devices are not the same, the
       titles can be misleading.  If you're not sure what you're displaying, use --showparams  to
       see this level of information.

AUTHOR

       This program was written by Mark Seger (mjseger@gmail.com).
       Copyright 2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

SEE ALSO

       collectl, colmux, colplot