Spotlight on Unix Getting Started

Spotlight on Unix

Getting Started Guide

7

2009 Quest Software, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Trademarks: Quest, Quest Software, the Quest Software logo, and Spotlight, are trademarks and registered trademarks of Quest Software, Inc in the United States of America and other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks used in this guide are property of their respective owners.

Disclaimer: The information in this document is provided in connection with Quest products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of Quest products. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN QUEST'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THIS PRODUCT, QUEST ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER AND DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY RELATING TO ITS PRODUCTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL QUEST BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF QUEST HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Quest makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice. Quest does not make any commitment to update the information contained in this document.

Spotlight on Unix Getting Started Guide Updated September 2009

Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Welcome to Spotlight on Unix ........................................................................................................................... 7An overview of Spotlight on Unix ............................................................................................................................. 7Features of Spotlight ................................................................................................................................................ 9

Getting started with Spotlight on Unix ........................................................................................................... 11Installing Spotlight .................................................................................................................................................. 11Starting Spotlight .................................................................................................................................................... 14Creating a Unix connection .................................................................................................................................... 15Connecting to a Unix system ................................................................................................................................. 17

Using Spotlight on Unix .................................................................................................................................... 19The Spotlight on Unix home page .......................................................................................................................... 19Spotlight on Unix alarms ........................................................................................................................................ 25Spotlight on Unix drilldowns ................................................................................................................................... 28

Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................................................ 31Use tracing to add details to support bundle .......................................................................................................... 31Product authorization errors ................................................................................................................................... 32Connection problems ............................................................................................................................................. 32iostat not installed on Linux system ...................................................................................................................... 33Drilldown problems ................................................................................................................................................. 33High Spotlight load on database server ................................................................................................................. 34

Appendix: Contact Quest ................................................................................................................................. 37Contacting Quest Support ...................................................................................................................................... 37

4 Spotlight on Unix Getting Started Guide

Contacting Spotlight support .................................................................................................................................. 37Contacting Quest Software ..................................................................................................................................... 38About Quest Software, Inc ...................................................................................................................................... 38

Index ................................................................................................................................................................... 39

1

Introduction

ThisguideprovidesthebasicinformationyouneedtostartusingSpotlightonUnixtodiagnosetheperformanceofyourUnixhosts.Youwillreadabout:

HowSpotlightdisplaysinformationaboutyourUnixsystems. HowtoinstallandstartSpotlightonUnix. HowtomakeaSpotlightonUnixconnectiontoahost. HowtousethatSpotlightconnection. HowtoresolvesomecommonSpotlightproblems. HowtocontactQuestSoftwareforfurtherassistance.

2

Welcome to Spotlight on Unix

SpotlightonUnixisQuestSoftwarespowerfuldiagnosticandproblemresolutiontoolforUnixandLinuxoperatingsystems.Itsuniqueuserinterfaceprovidesyouwithanintuitive,visualrepresentationoftheactivityonyourhostmachine.

ThischapterexplainsthemainfeaturesofSpotlightonUnix.

An overview of Spotlight on Unix SpotlightonUnixisaSpotlightthatisdesignedtopresentafulldiagnosticviewofaUnixenvironment.

Home page TheSpotlightonUnixhomepageprovidesanoverviewofthehost'sUnixenvironment.

Thehomepagehelpsyoulocatesystembottlenecksquickly.Relatedoperatingsystemstatisticsaregroupedtogetheronpanelsthatareconnectedbyaseriesofgraphicalflowsandicons.Spotlightupdatestheseflowsinrealtimesothatyoucanseehowquicklydataismovingthroughthesystem.TheiconschangecolorasSpotlightalarmsareraised,upgraded,downgradedandcanceled.

TheSpotlightonUnixhomepagebelowhassixmainpanels.

Thepanelsare:

TheSystempanel. TheNetworkpanel.


TheCPUpanel. TheMemorypanel. TheSwapSpacepanel. TheDiskActivitypanel.

FormoreinformationonthepanelsintheSpotlighthomepage,andonusingthemtodiagnoseaspecifiedUnixsystem,seePanelsonpage20.

Alarms MoredetailedinformationonsituationswherethediagnosedUnixsystemexceedsacceptableperformancethresholdscanbeviewedinthealarmsthatSpotlightraises.

FormoreinformationonSpotlightalarms,seeSpotlightonUnixalarmsonpage25.

Chapter 2 9 Welcome to Spotlight on Unix

Drilldowns MoredetailedinformationontheperformanceoftheUnixsystemisavailableinthechartsandtablesofthevariousdrilldownpagesthatcanbeaccessedfromtheSpotlighthomepage.

FormoreinformationonSpotlightdrilldowns,andonusingthemtoviewthedetailedperformanceofaspecifiedUnixsystem,seeSpotlightonUnixdrilldownsonpage26.

Features of Spotlight Spotlightisdesignedforeaseofinstallationanduse,andoffersarangeoftoolsforproblemdiagnosis.

Easyinstallation. Thedisplayofrealtimedata. Comprehensiveinformationinchartsandtables. Visible,audibleandconfigurablealarms. Contextsensitivehelp. Calibration. Recordingandplaybackofhistoricaldata.

FordetailedinformationonSpotlightfeatures,seetheSpotlightonlinehelpunderConceptsandFeatures.

3

Getting started with Spotlight on Unix

ThischapterdescribeswhatyouneedtodotostartusingSpotlightonUnix.Itexplains:

HowtoinstallSpotlight. HowtostartSpotlight. HowtocreateaSpotlightonUnixconnection. HowtoconnecttoaUnixsystem.

Installing Spotlight ToinstallSpotlightonUnix,completethefollowingsteps.CloseallotherapplicationsbeforeloadingtheCDintoyourPCor(ifyouhavedownloadedSpotlightfromtheQuestWebsite)executingthedownloadedQuestinstaller.

YoucancanceltheinstallationatanytimebypressingtheEsckeyorbyclickingtheCancelbutton.

Before installing and running Spotlight BeforeyouinstallandrunSpotlight,youshouldensurethattheSpotlightinstalleranddesktopuserhavetheappropriateclientpermissionsontheSpotlightclientmachine.


Note: The Spotlight application can be installed only on a supported Windows system where the current user has Administrator privileges.

At installation Duringinstallation,Spotlightrequireswriteaccesstothefollowingfolders:

TheSpotlightinstallationfolder(bydefault,ProgramFiles\QuestSoftware\Spotlight)

ProgramFiles\CommonFiles\QuestShared DocumentsandSettings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\Quest

Software\Spotlight

DocumentsandSettings\\ApplicationData\QuestSoftware\Spotlight

andtothefollowingWindowsregistrykeysandsubkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\QuestSoftware\Products HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\QuestSoftware\Spotlight HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

Inmanycases,theSpotlightinstallerwillrunatelevatedprivilegesinordertoperformtherequiredactions.TheseprivilegescanspecificallybeallowedordisallowedbysystemadministratorsbymeansofstandardMicrosoftInstaller(MSI)policysettings.

When running Spotlight Duringoperation,SpotlightrequireswriteaccesstothefollowingfilelocationsundertheDocumentsandSettingsfolder:

\ApplicationData\QuestSoftware\Shared \ApplicationData\QuestSoftware\Spotlight

When authenticating a Spotlight license WhenyouinstallanewSpotlightapplicationorupdatelicensedetailsonanexistingapplication,Spotlightrequires:

AdministratoraccesstotheWindowsregistry WriteaccesstotheConsole\LicensessubfolderoftheSpotlightinstallation

folder.

Chapter 3 13 Getting Started with Spotlight on Unix

To install Spotlight on Unix QuestSpotlightinstallerscanbedeliveredonCDorasdownloadedexecutablefiles.

IfinstallingSpotlightfromaCD:

1 InserttheSpotlightInstallerCDintoyourCDROMdrive.

Dependingonyoursystem'sconfiguration,theinstallationprogrammaystartautomatically.Ifthishappens,followtheinstructionsonthescreentocompletetheinstallation.

2 Iftheinstallationprogramdoesnotstart,selectRunfromtheWindowsStartmenuandtyped:\SoU.vvv.exe(whered:istheCDROMidentifier,andvvvistheversion),andclickOK.

3 IfyouhavedownloadedtheQuestSpotlightinstallerfromtheQuestWebsite,executethedownloadedinstaller.

4 Followtheinstructionsdisplayedonthescreen.

Bydefault,SpotlightonUnixisinstalledintothefollowingdirectory,thoughyoucanchooseadifferentinstallationpath.C:\ProgramFiles\QuestSoftware\Spotlight

Multiple installations of Spotlight on Unix AlthoughmanySpotlightapplicationscanrunwithinasingleSpotlightinstallation,therearealsoadvancedSpotlightinstallersthatallowyoutoinstallandseparatelyupgrademultiplecopiesofSpotlightonyourcomputer.

ContactQuestSoftwareformoreinformationoninstallingmultipleSpotlightconsoles.

To authorize Spotlight on Unix IfyouareanewuserofSpotlightonUnix,youwillbesuppliedwithatrialorpermanentkeyinordertotesttheproduct.Whenatrialkeyexpires,contactyourQuestSoftwarerepresentativetoobtainaregisteredkey.

ToviewormodifytheSpotlightlicenseafteryouhaveinstalledSpotlightonUnix:

1 SelectAboutSpotlightfromtheHelpmenu.(TheInstalledProductspagecontainslicensedetailsforallinstalledSpotlightproducts.)


2 SelectView/ChangeProductLicenseundertheSpotlightonUnixentryinthelistofinstalledproducts.

Formoreinformation,seeProductAuthorizationErrorsonpage32.

Note: Spotlight on Unix may be installed automatically during the installation of other Spotlight products such as Spotlight on Oracle (Professional Edition), Spotlight on Sybase, or Spotlight on DB2. In these cases, Spotlight on Unix shares the authorization of those products.

To uninstall Spotlight on Unix TouninstallSpotlightonUnix,usetheAdd/RemoveProgramsoptionintheWindowsControlPanelintheStartmenuthatappearswhenyouclicktheStartbutton.

Starting Spotlight InordertosuccessfullyconnecttoaUnixsystem,thefollowingstepsmustbecompleted:

1 StarttheSpotlightapplication.

2 CreateaUnixconnectionforSpotlight.

3 ConnecttotheUnixsystem.

To start Spotlight on Unix TostartSpotlightonUnix,clicktheSpotlightdesktopiconor

1 OntheWindowstaskbar,clickStart.

2 FromtheProgramsmenu,chooseQuestSoftwareSpotlightSpotlight.


Creating a Unix connection

To create a Unix connection 1 FromtheFilemenuchooseConnect...

2 DoubleclicktheNewConnectionicon.

3 EnterthefollowinginformationandclickOKwhenyouarefinished.

SelectConnectiontype SelectSpotlightonUnix.

NewConnectionname Enterthenamefortheconnection.

4 ClickOKtoopenaPropertieswindowforthenewconnection.TheDetails

pageofthePropertieswindowforthenewconnectionhasthesesections:

Serverconnectiondetails. SSHKeyAuthentication.

5 EnterthefollowinginformationintheDetailspageofthePropertieswindow:

Address Entertheconnectionstring(hostnameorIPaddress)usedtolinktothetargetUnixmachine.

User EntertheusernameyouusewhenloggingontotheUnixmachine.(Therootusernameisnotpermitted.)

Password EnterthepasswordyouusewhenloggingontotheUnixmachine.(NotusedwhenyouchoosetheSSHPublic/PrivateKeysoption.SeeStep6below.)


ConnectionType ChoosethetypeofSpotlightconnectiontomaketothemachineREXECorSSH.(FirstmakesurethattherelevantSSHorREXECdaemonisrunningontheUnixmachine,andisconfiguredtoreceiveremoteconnections.)IfyouchooseSSH,SpotlightdisplaysthePortNumberboxandtheUseSSHPublic/PrivateKeysoption.

PortNumber EntertheportnumberthatSpotlightwilluseforitsSSH(secureshell)connectiontotheUnixmachine.Thedefaultvalueis22.

Note: On Linux systems, Spotlight on Unix works with full functionality only when the iostat command is installed on the Unix machine under diagnosis. For more information, see iostat not installed on page 33.

6 WhenyouconnectviaSSH,selectUseSSHPublic/PrivateKeystoconnectto

theUnixhostviaaPublic/Privatekey[SSH2only].Ifyouchoosetodoso,enterthefollowing:

SSHKeyType ChoosethetypeofkeytousewhenmakingtheSpotlightconnection.

Public-key encryption is supported under SSH2 only The current options are RSA and DSA. For more information, see Public/Private keypairs in the online help.

SSHPrivateKeyFilename TypethelocationofthefilethatcontainstheprivatekeyfortheSpotlightconnection,orclickthe"..."buttontolocateit.

SSHPassphrase Typethepassphraseusedtodecrypttheprivatekey.

7 ClicktheSavepasswordboxtosaveallthepassworddetailsthathavebeen

entered.

8 ClickOKtofinish.Aconnectioniconwiththenameyouspecifiediscreated.


Connecting to a Unix system Notes: Before creating the connection, ensure that you have created a connection to the Unix

machine that you want to diagnose (see page 15).

To connect to a Unix system 1 FromtheFilemenuchooseConnect...

2 Doubleclicktheconnectioniconthatrepresentstheconnectionthatyouwanttoopen.

Note: If you encounter problems when connecting, see Connection problems on page 32 for more information.

4Using Spotlight on Unix

WhenyouuseSpotlightonUnixtodiagnoseaUnixoperatingsystem,youcan:

ViewthestatusoftheconnectedsysteminthepanelsanddataflowsoftheSpotlighthomepage.

ViewthealarmsthatSpotlighthasraisedfortheconnectedsystem. ViewthedetailedperformanceoftheconnectedUnixsysteminthevarious

Spotlightdrilldowns.

The Spotlight on Unix home page TheSpotlighthomepageshowsanoverviewoftheactivityonaUnixhost.Thisviewshowstheflowofinformationandcommandsbetweenvarioussubcomponentsaswellasthesizeandstatusofinternalresourcessuchasprocesses,diskfilesandmemorystructures.


Panels ApanelisavisualfeaturethatgroupsrelatedinformationandcomponentsontheSpotlighthomepage.Componentschangecolorasalarmsareraisedforthemetricstheycontain.

TherearesixmainpanelsonthehomepageforSpotlightonUnix.Theyare:

TheSystempanel,whichshowsoperatingsysteminformation(forexample,uptimeandOSversion)forthemachinethatyouareconnectedto.

TheNetworkpanel,whichshowsinformationonthelogins,connectionsandthemovementofdataonthesystem.

TheCPUpanel,whichshowsprocessorandloadinformationforthehostmachine.

TheMemorypanel,whichshowsdetailedinformationaboutthephysicalandvirtualmemoryontheUnixsystem.

Chapter 4 21 Using Spotlight on Unix

TheSwapSpacepanel,whichshowsthetotalandusedamountofconfiguredswapspaceontheUnixsystem.

TheDiskActivitypanel,whichshowsinformationondiskusageonthesystem.

Thepanels,andtheinformationtheydisplay,aredescribedinmoredetailbelow.Forafulldiscussionofthepanels,seetheSpotlightonlinehelp.

Note: To view a tool tip for a specific component in a panel, hover the mouse pointer over the component.

System panel TheSystempanelindicatesthestatusoftheoperatingsystemofthemachineyouareconnectedto.Informationdisplayedhereincludes:

Theoperatingsystemonwhichthemachineisrunning. Howlongthemachinehasbeenrunningsinceitwaslast

booted.

Thesystemdateofthelatestdatacollection. Thesystemtimeofthelatestdatacollection.


Network panel TheNetworkpanelshowsinformationonthelogins,connectionsandthemovementofdataontheUnixsystem,suchas:

Thenumberofuserscurrentlyloggedontothemachineyouarediagnosing.

Thenumberofexternalprogramswithwhichthemachineiscurrentlycommunicating.ThethreetypesofconnectionsshownareEstablished,Time_Wait,andClose_Wait.

HowfastdataismovingthroughtheNICs(networkinterfacecards)onthismachine.ThemetricsshownrefertotherateatwhichnetworkpacketsanderrorsarebeingreceivedandsentthroughtheNICs.

TheflowsbetweentheNetworkpanelandtheCPUpaneltoitsrightrepresenttherateofdatatransferbetweentheUnixhostandtheconnectednetwork.Formoreinformation,seeCPUPanel.


CPU panel TheCPUpanelshowsinformationabouttheprocessorsin,andloadon,theUnixsystem.Itdisplaysinformationsuchas:

ThenumberofCPUsinthemachineyouarediagnosing. TheCPUload(asapercentage)acrossallCPUsonthe

machine.

ThepercentageoftimetheCPUisintheUserstate,acrossallCPUs.

ThepercentageoftimetheCPUisintheSystemstate,acrossallCPUs.

ThepercentageoftimetheCPUisintheWaitstate,acrossallCPUs.WaitiswherethemachinecanonlywaitforI/O,orsomethingsimilar,tocomplete.

Thelengthoftherunqueueinwhichprocessesarewaitingtobeexecuted.ProcessesinthisqueuewillberunwhentheCPUbecomesavailable.

Thetotalnumberofprocessesthatarerunningonthemachineyouarediagnosing.

Thenumberof"zombie"processes:childprocesseswhoseterminationhasnotbeenacknowledgedbytheirparentprocess.

Thenumberofprocesseswaitingforsomeeventorconditionbeforetheycancontinueexecution.

TheflowsbetweentheCPUpanelandtheNetworkpaneltoitsleftrepresenttherateofdatatransferbetweentheUnixhostandtheconnectednetwork.

TheflowsincludetheincomingandoutgoingratesofdatatoandfromtheUnixhost,andtheratesatwhichbadpacketsarereceivedfrom,orsentto,thenetwork.

TheflowsbetweentheCPUpanelandtheMemorypaneltoitsrightrepresentpaginginformationbetweentheCPUandmemoryontheUnixhost.Theflowsincludethenumberofmemorypageswrittenouttomemorypersecond,andthenumberofmemorypagesreadinpersecond.


Memory panel TheMemorypaneldisplaysdetailedinformationaboutthememoryontheUnixsystem.Itshowsstatisticssuchas:

ThetotalamountofphysicalmemoryinRAM. Theamountofphysicalmemorythatisfree. Thetotalamountofvirtualmemoryforthesystem. Theamountofvirtualmemorythatisfreeorunused. Theamountofvirtualmemoryconsumed,expressedas

apercentageofitsmaximumsize.

Whereapplicable,thenumberofprocesseswhosepageshaveallbeenmovedintoswapspace.

TheflowsbetweentheMemorypanelandtheCPUpaneltoitsleftrepresentpaginginformationbetweentheCPUandmemoryontheUnixhost.Formoreinformation,seeCPUPanel.

TheflowsbetweentheMemorypanelandtheSwapSpacepaneltoitsrightrepresenttherateatwhichprocessesarebeingswappedouttodisk,andtherateatwhichprocessesarebeingswappedinfromdisk.

Swap Space panel TheSwapSpacepanelshowsdetailsoftheconfiguredswapspaceontheUnixsystem,suchas:

Thetotalamountofconfiguredswapspaceonthemachineyouarediagnosing.

Theamountofswapspacecurrentlyinuse.TheassociateddataflowsbetweentheSwapSpaceandtheMemorypaneltoitsleftrepresentthe"swapout"and"swapin"ratesfortheUnixsystem.Formoreinformation,seeMemorypanel.


Disk Activity panel TheDiskActivitypanelshowsinformationondiskusageontheUnixsystem,suchas:

Activitygaugesthatdisplaythepercentageactivityofthedisksorpartitionswiththehighestandsecondhighestread/writerates.

Thenameofthemountpointofthediskwiththeleastamountoffreespacethatisnotalready100%full.(YoucanusetheSpotlightonUnixOptionswindowtoconfigurethiscontroltodisplaythetotalandusedspaceonANYavailablediskonthesystem.Formoreinformation,seetheonlinehelpforSpotlightonUnix.)

Thetotalsizeofthisdisk. Theamountandpercentageofdiskspacethatis

currentlybeingusedbythisdisk..

TheflowsbetweentheDiskActivitypanelandtheMemorypaneltoitsleftrepresentthenumberofwritesthatthesystemmakestothediskspersecond,andthenumberofreadsthatthesystemmakesfromthediskspersecond.

Spotlight on Unix alarms Spotlightalertsyoutoproblemswithyourdatabasebyissuinganalarm.Whenanalarmistriggered,Spotlightperformsoneormoreofthefollowingactions:

Changesincolororintensityforrelevantcomponents. Audiblewarnings. Emailnotifications.

WithSpotlightalarmsyoucan:

Viewdetailsofthemetric(s)thatcausedthealarminarelevantdrilldownpage.(Formoreinformationondrilldowns,seeSpotlightonUnixdrilldownsonpage28.)

Viewthehelpassociatedwitheachalarm.


ViewdetailsofthealarmitselfintheAlarmLogdrilldown. Changetheactionsthatfollowtheraisingofalarms. Enable,disable,orsnoozealarms. Filteralarms. Changethethresholdsandseveritiesthatdefinealarms. Changealarmnotifications. Savealarmdetails.

Note: Detailed information on all these actions can be found in the Spotlight online help.

ThefollowingarebriefdescriptionsofthealarmsspecificallyassociatedwithSpotlightonUnix.Forpossiblesolutionsfortheproblemsindicatedbythesealarms,orforinformationonhowtodiagnoseproblemsfurther,seeSpotlightonUnixalarmsintheonlinehelp.

Blocked Processes alarm Blockedprocessesareprocessesthatarewaitingoninformationtobecomeavailableinmemory,orthatarewaitingforasharedresource,orforthecompletionofdiskI/OornetworkI/O.Ahighlevelofblockedprocessesmayindicateanunderconfiguredmachine.

Input Error Packets Flow alarm TheInputErrorflowrepresentsthenumberoferroneousnetworkpacketscomingintothemachinepersecond.TheInputErrorPacketsFlowalarmmaywarrantinvestigationasevenalowerrorratecanindicatenetworkproblems.

Output Error Packets Flow alarm TheOutputErrorflowrepresentsthenumberoferroneousnetworkpacketssentbythemachinepersecond.TheOutputErrorPacketsFlowalarmmaywarrantinvestigationasevenalowerrorratecanindicatenetworkproblems.

Page In alarm Alargenumberofpageinsmaybeasymptomofalargenumberofrecentpageouts(seePageOutalarmbelow).Tofindoutwhatprocessisreadingthesepagesin,checktheresidentsizeoftheprocessesyouarerunning,andseewhichonesareincreasinginsize.Alternatively,alargenumberofpageinsmayoccurwhenalargeprocesshasjuststopped,andthekerneldecidestofillthatspacewithmemory


pagesownedbyotherprocesses.Checkifanimportantprocesshasendedunexpectedly.

Page Out alarm Ifanactiveprocessasksthekernelformorememorythanthereisimmediatelyavailable,thekernelwillwriteoldmemorypagesouttoswapspace.Thisisknownaspaging.Tostoppaging,makesurethatthereisenoughRAMavailabletosupportthesizeoftheprocessesyouwanttorun.

Percentage Busy alarm TheMostActiveDiskgaugeshowsthediskwiththehighestread/writerates.ThePercentageBusyalarmistriggeredwhentheread/writerateofthemostactivediskexceedsaspecifiedthreshold.Thetypeofalarmthatisactivatedisdeterminedbythepercentageofread/writeactivityexperiencedbythedisk.

Swap Space alarm IfthetotalamountofswapspaceallocatedtoaUnixhostbecomesfull,themachinemayhaltallprocesses,orcriticalactionsmaybepreventedfromoccurring.TheSwapSpacealarmmayindicatearunawayprocessoranunderconfiguredmachine.

Swap In Flow alarm TheSwapInflowrepresentsthenumberofprocessesswappedfromdiskpersecond.TheSwapInFlowalarmmayindicateamachinethatisunderconfiguredforitsworkload.

Swap Out Flow alarm TheSwapOutflowrepresentsthenumberofprocessesswappedtodiskpersecond.TheSwapOutFlowalarmmayindicateamachinethatisunderconfiguredforitsworkload.

Used Percentage alarm TheLeastSpace/DiskSpacecontainerdisplaysthepercentageofuseddiskspaceforaspecifiedfilesystem.TheUsedPercentagealarmindicatesthatthespecifiedfilesystemisfullorfillingup.Ifthefilesystemfillsupcompletely,nomoredatacanbewrittentoit.


Zombie Processes alarm TheZombiebuttonintheCPUpanelshowsthenumberofterminatedchildprocessesthathavenotbeenacknowledgedbytheirparentprocess.TheZombieProcessesalarmmayindicatethepresenceofaninferiorprogram,oranentryin/etc/inittab(orequivalent)thatpreventsinitfromcompletingitsstartupsequence.

Spotlight on Unix drilldowns SpotlightonUnixmakesitpossibleforyoutoviewyoursystematdifferentlevelsofdetail.

Atitshighestlevel,whichistheSpotlighthomepage,Spotlightdisplaysavisualrepresentationofthestatusofthemajorcomponentsinthecurrentsystem.Thedetailatthislevelisdesignedtohelpyoulocateandidentifybottlenecksquickly.

Whenyouhaveisolatedaproblem,youcandisplayadrilldownpage,whosechartsandtablesprovideadetailedbreakdownoftheunderlyingstatistics.

To open a Spotlight drilldown ClicktherelevantdrilldownbuttonontheSpotlighttoolbarOR ChoosetherelevantdrilldownfromtheViewGoTomenuOR RightclickonacomponentontheSpotlighthomepage,andchooseanitem

fromtheshortcutmenu'sShowDetailssubmenuOR

ClickonacomponentontheSpotlighthomepageOR Useakeyboardshortcut.

List of drilldowns in Spotlight on Unix SpotlightonUnixcontainsthefollowingdrilldowns.

Drilldown Description

ProcessesandServices

ThepagesintheProcessesandServicesdrilldownlistalltheprocessesrunningontheUnixmachine(including"zombie"processes),andalltheservicesfoundinthe/etc/servicesfile(runningornot).Useful


Drilldown Descriptionfeaturesinthisdrilldowninclude:

Processespage:Useashortcut(rightclick)menuoptiontoviewtheprocessesinastandardtable,orinatreestructurewheresecondaryprocessesareshownas"children"oftheprocessesthatrunthem.

Zombiespage:Viewchildprocesseswhoseterminationhasnotbeenacknowledgedbytheirparentprocess.

Servicespage:Useashortcutmenuoptiontotestwhetheraspecifiedserviceisavailable.

ActivitySummary ThepagesintheActivitySummarydrilldownActivity,Disk,Memory,CPU,Network,andLoginsshowdetailsofthedifferenttypesofactivityonthetargetUnixmachine.

Filesystems TheFilesystemsdrilldowndisplaysdetailedinformationaboutthefilesystemsonaUnixsystem.Useashortcut(rightclick)menuoptiontoviewthisinformationinchartortableform.

AlarmLog TheAlarmLogdrilldowndisplaysinformationonthealarmsassociatedwiththecurrentSpotlightconnection.

5Troubleshooting

ThischaptersuggestssolutionstoproblemsthatmayoccuronopeningSpotlightandmakingaconnection.

Use tracing to add details to support bundle WhenyoucontactQuestsupporttoseekassistanceonaSpotlightissue(seepage31),youcanuseSpotlighttracingtoincludeadditionalinformationinthesupportbundlethatyousendtoQuest.

To use Spotlight tracing 1 CloseallopenSpotlightonUnixconnections.

2 OntheView/Optionsmenu,clickSpotlightonUnix...

3 IntheSpotlightonUnixOptionswindow,opentheOtherpage.

4 SelectTurntracingon.

5 ClickOK.

6 Opentheconnectionwhoseperformanceyouwanttotrace.

Withtracingturnedon,Spotlightcancollectadditionalinformation(suchastheoutputfromoperatingsystemcommands)fortherestofthecurrentsession.

Whenyoucreateasupportbundlewithtracingturnedon,thesupportbundlecontainstheadditionalinformationthatQuestcanusetoinvestigateyoursupportissue.


Product authorization errors ThefollowingarestepsthatyoucantakeshouldyouencounteranauthorizationproblemwithSpotlight.Whenfirstinstalled,Spotlightcanbeusedwithfullfunctionalityforaspecifiedtrialperiod.

To enter a new authorization key YoucanenteranewauthorizationkeyfromSpotlightonUnix.

1 FromtheHelpmenu,selectAboutSpotlight.(TheInstalledProductspagecontainslicensedetailsforallinstalledSpotlightproducts.)

2 SelectView/ChangeProductLicenseundertheSpotlightonUnixentryinthelistofinstalledproducts.

3 IntheLicenseViewer,clicktheChangethislicenselink.

4 EnterthenewAuthorizationkeyandSitemessageandthenclickOK.

Invalid authorization key Ifyouentertheauthorizationkeyincorrectly,thefollowingmessageisdisplayed:

Invalid authorization key MakesurethatyouentertheauthorizationkeyexactlyasstatedonyourProductAuthorizationsheetorasprovidedbyyourQuestSoftwaredistributor.

Connection problems Thefollowingareproblemsthatmaybeencounteredonconnection.Followtheindicatedsolutionstoresolvethoseproblems.

REXEC or SSH protocols for Unix commands SpotlightcanusetheREXECorSSHprotocolstosubmitvariousUnixcommands(forexample,netstat,vmstat,iostat,sar)toobservesystemactivity.ThesecommandsmustbeaccessibletoREXECorSSHsessionsforSpotlighttobeabletoobserveUnixactivity.IfthesecommandsarenotlocatedinthesearchpathforREXECorSSHsessions,Spotlightwilldisplayanerror.

Chapter 5 33 Troubleshooting

Failure of remote commands WhenSpotlightismonitoringaUnixoperatingsystemviaREXECwithavaliduserIDandpassword,remotecommandsmaynotworkontheUnixhostunlessthatuserIDisaddedtothe/etc/hosts.equivfileonthehost.

Login as "root" disallowed WhenusingSpotlighttoconnecttoaUnixoperatingsystem,youneedtodosofromalogonotherthan"root".Remoteloginas"root"hasbeendisallowedforsecurityreasons.

Password authentication for SSH connections ToallowSpotlighttomakeSSHconnectionstoanyUnixorLinuxhoststhatpermitSSHconnections,youmayneedtoalterthePasswordAuthenticationconfigurationiteminthesshd_configfile.SetthevalueofPasswordAuthenticationtoyes.

iostat not installed on Linux system WhilediagnosingaLinuxinstallation,Spotlightworkswithfullfunctionalityonlywhentheiostatcommandisinstalledonthetargetmachine.ThiswillNOTbetrueforallLinuxsystems.

Drilldown problems Thefollowingareproblemsthatmaybeencountered.Followtheindicatedsolutionstoresolvethoseproblems.

Alarm help displayed instead of the drilldown Thisoccurswhencomponentthatisinalarmstatus;thealarmhelpisdisplayedinsteadofthedrilldown.


To display the drilldown 1 FromtheViewmenuchooseOptionsandSpotlightConsole.

2 ClickHelpandselectAlwaysjumpdirectlytotherelateddrilldown.

The OS Details drilldown contains errors TheOperatingSystemdrilldownmaycontainerrorsifithaslostaccesstotheUnixmachine.InUnix,SpotlightcanuseoneoftheREXECorSSHprotocolstosubmitvariousUnixcommands(forexample,netstat,vmstat,iostat,sar)tomonitorsystemactivity.ThesecommandsmustbeaccessibletoanREXECorSSHsessionforSpotlighttobeabletomonitorUnixactivity.Ifthesecommandsarenotlocatedinthestandardsearchpathavailabletothesession,Spotlightdisplaysanerror.

High Spotlight load on database server ThequeriesthatSpotlightusestocollectdatafromadiagnosedsystemcanplaceanadditionalloadonthesystemunderdiagnosis.

MostSpotlightqueriesconsumeameasurablebutnotsignificantamountofsystemresources.However,queriesthatarecomplexorcollectlargeamountsofdatamayputasignificantloadonthesystem.

IfyoufindthattheloadthatSpotlightplacesonyourserveristoohigh,youcanadjustcollectionratesfordifferentcategoriesofSpotlightdata,andsolimittheloadthatSpotlightplacesonthesystemunderanalysis.

YoucanchooseastandardSpotlightsetting,oryoucancreateyourownCustomsettings.

1 CloseandreopenSpotlightonUnix.

2 FromtheFilemenuchooseConnect...

3 InthelistofSpotlightonUnixconnections,rightclicktheconnectionwhoseloadyouwanttochange.

4 SelectPropertiesfromtheshortcutmenu.

5 ClicktheOverheadtab.

6 UsetheOverheadManagementslidertoadjusttheoverallSpotlightloadfortheconnection.(Alternatively,clickCustomtoadjustspecificloadcategories.)

Chapter 5 35 Troubleshooting

7 OpentheSpotlightconnection.

TheprocedureforadjustingtheSpotlightloadiscoveredinmoredetailintheonlinehelp.

APPENDIX

Appendix: Contact Quest

Contacting Quest Support QuestSupportisavailabletocustomerswhohaveatrialversionofaQuestproductorwhohavepurchasedacommercialversionandhaveavalidmaintenancecontract.QuestSupportprovidesaroundtheclockcoveragewithSupportLink,ourWebselfservice.VisitSupportLinkathttp://support.quest.com.

FromSupportLink,youcandothefollowing:

y Quicklyfindthousandsofsolutions(Knowledgebasearticles/documents).y Downloadpatchesandupgrades.y SeekhelpfromaSupportengineer.y Logandupdateyourcase,andcheckitsstatus.

ViewtheGlobalSupportGuideforadetailedexplanationofsupportprograms,onlineservices,contactinformation,andpolicyandprocedures.Theguideisavailableat:http://support.quest.com/pdfs/GlobalSupportGuide.pdf.

Note This document is available only in English.

Contacting Spotlight support WheneveryouhaveaquestionaboutSpotlight,clickSupportBundleorContactSupportontheHelpmenu.Thiscreatesafilecalledspotlightsupport.zipinoneofthefollowingfolders:

WindowsXP InasubfolderundertheDocumentsandSettingsfolder.

Vista InasubfolderundertheUsersfolder.


ThisfilecontainsasnapshotofyourSpotlightinstallation.SendthisfileandyourrequestforassistancetoQuestSoftware([email protected]).

Notes:

y Support bundles contain information for the active instance only. If you are using Spotlight to diagnose multiple instances ensure that the correct instance is displayed before creating the support bundle.

y Support bundles cannot be created when the History Browser is open. For further information on the History Browser, see the Spotlight online help under Concepts and Features.

Contacting Quest Software Email [email protected]

Mail QuestSoftware,Inc.

WorldHeadquarters

5PolarisWay

AlisoViejo,CA92656

USA

Website www.quest.com

RefertoourWebsiteforregionalandinternationalofficeinformation.

About Quest Software, Inc QuestSoftware,Inc.,aleadingenterprisesystemsmanagementvendor,deliversinnovativeproductsthathelporganizationsgetmoreperformanceandproductivityfromtheirapplications,databases,Windowsinfrastructureandvirtualenvironments.ThroughadeepexpertiseinIToperationsandacontinuedfocusonwhatworksbest,Questhelpsmorethan100,000customersworldwidemeethigherexpectationsforenterpriseIT.QuestSoftwarehelpsorganizationsdeliver,manageandcontrolcomplexdatabaseenvironmentsthroughawardwinningproductsforOracle,SQLServer,IBMDB2,SybaseandMySQL.QuestSoftwarecanbefoundinofficesaroundtheglobeandatwww.quest.com.

INDEX

Index

AActivitySummarydrilldown........................29AlarmLogdrilldown....................................29Alarms.....................................................8,25BlockedProcesses...................................26InputErrorPacketsFlow.........................26OutputErrorPacketsFlow......................26PageIn....................................................26PageOut.................................................27PercentageBusy.....................................27SwapInFlow...........................................27SwapOutFlow........................................27SwapSpace.............................................27UsedPercentage.....................................27ZombieProcesses...................................28

Authentication............................................33

BBenefits.........................................................7BlockedProcessesalarm............................26

CCannotconnect...........................................32Charts............................................................9Clientpermissions......................................11ConnectingtoaUnixsystem.....................................17troubleshooting......................................32

Connectionproblemsloginasroot............................................33

passwordauthentication........................33remotecommands..................................33REXEC......................................................33SSH..........................................................33

Connections..........................................15,17CPUpanel....................................................23CreatingaUnixconnection.........................15

DDiskActivitypanel.......................................25Drilldownproblems.....................................34Drilldowns...............................................9,28ActivitySummary....................................29AlarmLog................................................29Filesystems..............................................29ProcessesandServices............................28Services...................................................28troubleshooting.......................................34

EErrorsoperatingsystemdrilldown....................34

FFeatures........................................................7SpotlightonUnix.......................................9

Filesystemsdrilldown..................................29

HHistory...........................................................9Homepage..............................................7,19


IInputErrorPacketsFlowalarm..................26Install..........................................................11InstallingSpotlight......................................11iostat...........................................................33

LLoad............................................................34Loginasroot...............................................33

MMainSpotlightwindow...........................7,19Memorypanel............................................24Multipleinstallations..................................13

NNetworkpanel............................................22

OOperatingSystemdrilldownerrors......................................................34

OutputErrorPacketsFlowalarm...............26

PPageInalarm..............................................26PageOutalarm...........................................27PanelsCPU.........................................................23DiskActivity............................................25Memory..................................................24Network..................................................22overview.................................................20SwapSpace.............................................24System....................................................21

Passwordauthentication............................33PercentageBusyalarm...............................27Permissions.................................................11Problemsauthorization..........................................32

ProcessesandServicesdrilldown...............28

QQuestSoftwareabout.......................................................38contacting...............................................38contactingSupport..................................37

RRemotecommands.....................................33REXECprotocol............................................33

SServerload..................................................34Servicesdrilldown.......................................28Spotlightalarms..................................................8,25connections.......................................15,17drilldowns............................................9,28homepage..........................................7,19installing..................................................11starting....................................................14

SpotlightonUnixMultipleinstallations..............................13using........................................................19

SSHprotocol................................................33Starting........................................................11StartingSpotlight........................................14supportbundle............................................31Supportbundle...........................................31SupportBundle...........................................37SwapInFlowalarm.....................................27SwapOutFlowalarm..................................27SwapSpacealarm.......................................27SwapSpacepanel........................................24sysstat.........................................................33Systempanel...............................................21

TTables............................................................9Tracing.........................................................31Troubleshooting..........................................31connectionproblems..............................32

41 Index

drilldownproblems.................................34serverload..............................................34

UUnix

cannotconnect.......................................32UsedPercentagealarm...............................27

ZZombieProcessesalarm.............................28

0BIntroduction1BWelcome to Spotlight on Unix7BAn overview of Spotlight on Unix26BHome page27BAlarms28BDrilldowns

8BFeatures of Spotlight

2BGetting started with Spotlight on Unix9BInstalling Spotlight29BBefore installing and running Spotlight46BAt installation47BWhen running Spotlight48BWhen authenticating a Spotlight license

30BTo install Spotlight on Unix49BMultiple installations of Spotlight on Unix

1BTo authorize Spotlight on Unix32BTo uninstall Spotlight on Unix

10BStarting Spotlight33BTo start Spotlight on Unix

11BCreating a Unix connection34BTo create a Unix connection

12BConnecting to a Unix system35BTo connect to a Unix system

3BUsing Spotlight on Unix13BThe Spotlight on Unix home page36BPanels51BSystem panel52BNetwork panel53BCPU panel54BMemory panel55BSwap Space panel56BDisk Activity panel

14BSpotlight on Unix alarms57BBlocked Processes alarm58BInput Error Packets Flow alarm59BOutput Error Packets Flow alarmPage In alarmPage Out alarm62BPercentage Busy alarm63BSwap Space alarm64BSwap In Flow alarm65BSwap Out Flow alarm66BUsed Percentage alarm67BZombie Processes alarm

15BSpotlight on Unix drilldowns37BTo open a Spotlight drilldown38BList of drilldowns in Spotlight on Unix

4BTroubleshooting 16BUse tracing to add details to support bundle39BTo use Spotlight tracing

17BProduct authorization errors40BTo enter a new authorization key 68BInvalid authorization key

18BConnection problems41BREXEC or SSH protocols for Unix commands42BFailure of remote commands43BLogin as "root" disallowed44BPassword authentication for SSH connections

19Biostat not installed on Linux system20BDrilldown problems45BAlarm help displayed instead of the drilldown69BTo display the drilldown70BThe OS Details drilldown contains errors

21BHigh Spotlight load on database server

5BAppendix: Contact Quest22BContacting Quest Support 23BContacting Spotlight support24BContacting Quest Software 25BAbout Quest Software, Inc

6BIndex

Spotlight on Unix Getting Started

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