[Orca-dev] Linux monitoring]

[Philip Hontalas]

Hi.
We (at CNET) have been working on a few modifications / extensions
to procallator for a little while now. Attached is our version of
procallator.pl. We also have procallator as an rpm package
However, currently it is bundled with some other tools that we can't
share (I'll look into seperating that in the near future). So for
now, I have to settle for just mailing the perl (Sorry).

The main additions in this vers. of procallator.pl from the
distribution version are:

- Ian Holsman's addition of extended TCP stats from net/netstat.
  We have found this very useful in tracking down some of the
  more subtle networking / load issues on our sites.

- The addition of per disk partition stats. This too comes in handy
  to quickly identify a thrashing sever.

- Made most of the parameters (which were formerly hardcoded) into
  command line options. This we find to be very useful when you have
  a lot of machines to track and they are not all configured the same
  or they  all don't need to be monitored at the same frequency. Thus
  you don't have a bunch of different versions of procallator.pl floating
  around...


In the very near future (days), I will be committing some other modifications
which may be of interest..

Like making procallator a daemon that Stevens would have approved of.

One of the big issues, we are grappling with is that when you have quite
a few machines the current technique, of rsyncing or pulling over the data
with a bunch of scps, becomes a bit of a problem. We are testing out an
alternative to the current approach that may be more efficient.
I'll keep you posted if you are interested.

So, any feedback / ideas are more than welcome

Regards.
Phil


> kim.taylor at pncbank.com wrote:
>> 
>> I'm a long-time Orca user and have just begun to build out some Linux
>> servers.
>> 
>> Now begins the search for an orcallator.se equivalent for Linux.  I see
>> scant trails from others on the same trek before me.
>> 
>> Is procallator being actively developed or was it a one-time effort?
>
>It is being worked on (slowly) and patches to it are welcome.  If you
>have some patches, wait for the next patch to go in.
>
>> Is the Orca mailing list the best or only place to watch for news on
>> procallator developments?
>
>Yes, the orca-dev and orca-checkins mailing lists are the best places
>to watch and discuss development.
>
>> Are there any enhancements newer that what I find under
>> URL:<http://svn.orcaware.com/repos/tags/orca/0.27/contrib/procallator/>?
>
>Not yet, but there are some patches waiting to go in.
>
>> 
>> I see others making reference to sysstat, libgtop, and 'sar tools' for
>> monitoring Linux performance.  Are there other tools I should get
>> acquainted with?
>
>No that I'm aware of.
>
>Best,
>Blair
>

Phil Hontalas
philiph at cnet.com <mailto:philiph at cnet.com>           
CNET Networks                                     tel:   1 415 344 2625
235 2nd Street  (5254)              fax:  1 415 392 2344
San Francisco, CA  94111                          cell: 1 415 572 0003

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: procallator.pl
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 24579 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : /pipermail/orca-dev/attachments/20030220/50162dec/attachment.obj