xenial (1) pmtrace.1.gz

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.

       The -e option allows 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.

       Trace data can be sent to the trace PMDA running on host, rather than the localhost, using the -h option.
       This overrides use of the environment variable PCP_TRACE_HOST.

       The -q option suppresses messages from a successful trace, so that pmtrace runs quietly.

       The -c option allows an arbitrary counter value to be exported through the trace.count metrics, while the
       -v option allows an arbitrary floating point value to be exported through the trace.observe metrics

       The -S option enables 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).

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.

FILES

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

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).

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.