scout(8dfs)

Synopsis

scout -server machine... [-basename common_prefix] [-host] [-frequency seconds]
[-attention stat/threshold_pair...] [-debug filename] [-help]

Options

-server machine
Specifies each File Server machine whose File Exporter is to be monitored. Use one of the following to indicate each File Server machine:

· The machine's DCE pathname (for example, /.../abc.com/hosts/fs1). If you use the -basename option to specify a pathname prefix common to all machines to be monitored, you need to provide only the unique suffix of each machine name; you can omit the common DCE pathname prefix.

· The machine's hostname (for example, fs1.abc.com or fs1).

· The machine's IP address (for example, 11.22.33.44).

-basename common_prefix
Specifies the DCE pathname prefix (for example, /.../abc.com/hosts) common to all File Server machines specified with the -server option. Do not include the / (slash) that separates the prefix from the unique part of each machine name; it is included automatically with the -basename option. The basename, if specified, is displayed in the banner line.

Use this option only if you are specifying the DCE pathname of each File Server machine to be monitored. Omit this option if you are specifying the host names or IP addresses of one or more machines.

-host
Displays the name of the machine running the scout program in the banner line. This is useful if you are logged into the machine remotely. By default, scout does not display this name.

-frequency seconds
Indicates how often the scout program is to probe the File Exporters. Specify a positive integer as a value in seconds; the default is 60 seconds.

-attention stat/threshold_pair
Specifies a list of attention settings (statistic and threshold value pairs). The scout program highlights any value for a statistic that exceeds its specified threshold; the highlighting is removed when the value goes below the threshold. The pairs can appear in any order. Legal statistic/threshold pairs are

conn connections
The maximum number of connections that principals can have open to the File Exporter before the value is highlighted. Enter a threshold for this statistic in the form of a positive integer.

fetch number_of_fetches
The maximum number of fetches (requests to send data) the File Exporter can service before the value is highlighted. Enter a threshold for this statistic in the form of a positive integer. The highlighting is removed when the File Exporter is restarted, at which time the value returns to 0 (zero).

store number_of_stores
The maximum number of stores (requests to store data) the File Exporter can accept before the value is highlighted. Enter a threshold for this statistic in the form of a positive integer. The highlighting is removed when the File Exporter is restarted, at which time the value returns to 0 (zero).

ws active_client_machines
The maximum number of active client machines the File Exporter can serve before the value is highlighted. Active indicates those machines that communicated with the File Exporter in the past 15 minutes. Enter a threshold for this statistic in the form of a positive integer.

disk percent_full%
The maximum percentage of an aggregate that can contain data before the value is highlighted. This threshold is applied to all exported aggregates and partitions on a File Server machine being monitored. Legal thresholds are the integers between 0 (zero) and 99; the default is 95%. You must enter the % (percent sign) with this threshold. If the % (percent sign) is absent, scout interprets the number as a number of kilobyte blocks. Use this threshold or use disk minimum_blocks_free.

disk minimum_blocks_free
The minimum number of kilobyte blocks that must be available on an aggregate before the value is highlighted. This threshold is applied to all exported aggregates and partitions on a File Server machine being monitored. Enter a threshold for this statistic in the form of a positive integer. Use this threshold or use disk percent_full%.

-debug filename
Enables debugging output and directs it to the specified filename. Provide a complete pathname for filename; the current working directory is used by default. If this option is omitted, no debugging output is written.

-help
Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options specified with this option are ignored.

The help and apropos commands available with all command suites are also available with the scout command. See the bos help and bos apropos reference pages for examples of these commands.

Description
The scout command displays statistics gathered from the File Exporter running in the kernel on each File Server machine specified with the -server option. Usage statistics are also displayed about exported aggregates and partitions on the File Server machine being monitored. The scout program can be run on any DFS client or server machine. The binary file for the program resides in dceshared/bin/scout.

To change attention settings (statistic and threshold pairs), you must stop and restart the scout program. In addition, scout does not store the settings from previous executions; you must specify the desired settings each time you start the program.

Both terminals and windowing systems that emulate terminals can display scout statistics. The scout display uses reverse video and cursor addressing; therefore, the display environment must support these features. The issuer must set the TERM environment variable to the correct terminal type or to one with similar characteristics.

To stop the scout program, enter the interrupt command (<Ctrl-c> or its equivalent) for your operating system in the scout window.

The scout program can display statistics in either a dedicated window or on a plain screen if a windowing environment is unavailable. The scout screen has three main parts: the Banner Line, the Statistics Display Region, and the Message/Probe Line.

The Banner Line at the top of the window or screen displays the word Scout, indicating the program is running. The name of the machine executing scout is displayed if the -host option is specified, and the basename of the File Server machines being monitored is displayed if the -basename option is specified.

The Statistics Display Region displays the statistics scout has gathered for each File Exporter. The region is divided into six columns, one column for each of the five statistic and threshold pairs used with the -attention option, and one column for the name of each File Server machine being monitored. In addition to highlighting any value that exceeds its specified attention threshold, scout highlights the name of any File Server machine whose File Exporter fails to respond to scout's probes. The name remains highlighted until the machine resumes responding to scout's probes.

The Message/Probe Line at the bottom of the window or screen indicates how many times scout has probed the File Exporters for statistics. Use the -frequency option to specify how frequently scout is to probe the File Exporters.

Privilege Required
No privileges are required.

Examples
The following scout command causes the program to monitor the File Exporters on File Server machines fs1 and fs2 in the cell abc.com. The scout program probes the File Exporters every 30 seconds and writes debugging information to the file named scout.one in the current working directory.

$ scout -server fs1 fs2 -basename /.../abc.com/hosts -frequency 30 -debug scout.one

The following command causes scout to monitor the same two machines. The scout program highlights an entry in the Fetch column if the File Exporter services 20,000 or more fetches, and it highlights an entry in the Store column if the File Exporter accepts 10,000 or more stores.

$ scout -server fs1 fs2 -b /.../abc.com/hosts -attention fetch 16 store 8