# &app; Manual V&manrevision;

## Introduction

&app; monitors the performance of a system and displays a dynamic, graphical overview of how the system is performing. The application displays strip charts and bar charts to represent system performance for the main performance parameters.

## Getting Started

### To Start &app;

You can start &app; in the following ways:

Applications menu

- Choose System Tools &app; .

Command line

- Type `gnome-perfmeter`, then press Return.

### When You Start &app;

When you start &app;, the following window is displayed.

#### &app; Window

Shows Performance Meter window. Contains a toolbar with the menus View, Options, and Help.

The &app; display area displays the following information about each performance parameter that &app; monitors:

- A strip chart that displays the recent performance history. The color of the strip chart changes when the performance parameter exceeds a predefined threshold.

- A bar chart that displays the current performance. The color of the bar chart changes when the performance parameter exceeds a predefined threshold.

- The name of the performance parameter.

- The maximum performance value possible.

## Usage

### To Display or Hide Performance Parameters

When you start &app; for the first time, the application only displays performance charts for CPU usage. To view the performance charts for other performance parameters, select the appropriate menu item from the View Metrics menu, as follows:

Metrics menu item | &app; displays...
CPU | Percentage of CPU usage.
Load | Average number of runnable processes per minute.
Disk | Number of disk transfers per second.
Page | Number of page swaps per second.
Context | Number of context switches per second.
Job Swaps | Number of job swaps per second.
Interrupts | Number of device interrupts per second.
Packets | Number of ethernet packets per second.
Collisions | Number of ethernet collisions per second.
Errors | Number of errors per second while the system retrieves packets.

When you select a menu item from the View Metrics menu, &app; adds the performance charts for the performance parameter to the display area in the &app; window. To hide performance charts for a performance parameter, deselect the appropriate menu item.

### To Choose the Type of Charts to Display

To choose the type of charts to display in the application window, perform one of the following steps:

- To display bar charts, choose View Bar Chart .

- To display strip charts, choose View Strip Chart .

- To display both bar charts and strip charts, choose View Both Charts .

### To Monitor the Performance of a Remote System

To monitor the performance of a remote system, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Edit Preferences to display the Performance Meter Preferences dialog.

2. Select the Remote option in the Host group.

3. Type the name of the remote system that you want to monitor in the Remote text box.

4. Click Close to apply the change and close the dialog.

## Preferences

To configure &app;, choose Edit Preferences . The Performance Meter Preferences dialog contains the following tabbed sections:

- gperfmeter-prefs-view

- gperfmeter-prefs-preferences

### Metrics

Host

- Select one of the following options:

  - Local

    Select this option to monitor and display the performance of the local system.

  - Remote

    Select this option to monitor and display the performance of a remote system. If you select this option, type the name of the remote system that you want to monitor in the text box.

Metrics Table

- The table in the Metrics tabbed section contains the following settings:

  Column Name | Description
  View | This column displays the names of the performance parameters that the application can monitor. Select the checkbox next to a performance parameter to display the performance charts for the performance parameter in the display area of the application.
  Threshold | This column displays a performance threshold for each performance parameter. To change the performance threshold for a parameter, type a new threshold in the text box. CPU = 50 Load = 2 Disk = 20 Page = 8 Context = 32 Swap = 2 Interrupts = 50 Packets = 16 Collisions = 2 Errors =2
  Below | This column displays the color that &app; uses to show the system performance for each performance parameter when the performance is below the threshold that is specified in the Threshold column. To select a different color, click on the color to display a color palette.
  Above | This column displays the color that &app; uses to show the system performance for each performance parameter when the performance is above the threshold that is specified in the Threshold column. To select a different color, click on the color to display a color palette.

### Chart

Graph

- To specify the type of strip chart that &app; displays, select one of the following options:

  - Line

    Select this option to display a line strip chart.

  - Solid

    Select this option to display a solid strip chart.

Layout

- To specify how &app; displays multiple performance charts in the &app; window, select one of the following options:

  - Horizontal

    Select this option to display the performance charts for each performance parameter side by side in a horizonal direction.

  - Vertical

    Select this option to stack the performance charts for each performance parameter in a vertical direction.

Display

- To specify the level of performance details that &app; displays for each performance parameter, select one of the following options:

  - Bar Chart

    Select this option to only display a bar chart that displays the current performance.

  - Strip Chart

    Select this option to only display a strip chart that displays the recent performance history.

  - Both

    Select this option to display the strip chart and the bar chart.

Limit Line

- Select this option to display a line that represents the performance threshold in the charts.

Hide Menu Bar

- Select this option to hide the menubar. Click in the display area to display the menubar again.

Log Samples in

- Select this option to save to a log file all of the performance values that &app; displays in the strip charts. Use the text box to type the name of the file in which the &app; saves the data.

Sample Every

- Use this spin box to specify the interval at which &app; takes the performance samples.