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SADF(1) Linux User's Manual SADF(1)
NAME
sadf - Display data collected by sar in multiple formats.
SYNOPSIS
sadf [ -C ] [ -c | -d | -g | -j | -l | -p | -r | -x ] [ -H ] [ -h ] [ -T | -t | -U ] [ -V
] [ -O opts [,...] ] [ -P { cpu_list | ALL } ] [ -s [ hh:mm[:ss] ] ] [ -e [hh:mm[:ss] ] ]
[ --dev=dev_list ] [ --fs=fs_list ] [ --iface=iface_list] [ -- sar_options ] [ interval [
count ] ] [ datafile | -[0-9]+ ]
DESCRIPTION
The sadf command is used for displaying the contents of data files created by the sar(1)
command. But unlike sar, sadf can write its data in many different formats (CSV, XML,
etc.) The default format is one that can easily be handled by pattern processing commands
like awk (see option -p). The sadf command can also be used to draw graphs for the various
activities collected by sar and display them as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) graphics in
your web browser (see option -g).
The sadf command extracts and writes to standard output records saved in the datafile
file. This file must have been created by a version of sar which is compatible with that
of sadf. If datafile is omitted, sadf uses the standard system activity daily data file.
It is also possible to enter -1, -2 etc. as an argument to sadf to display data of that
days ago. For example, -1 will point at the standard system activity file of yesterday.
The standard system activity daily data file is named saDD or saYYYYMMDD, where YYYY
stands for the current year, MM for the current month and DD for the current day. sadf
will look for the most recent of saDD and saYYYYMMDD, and use it. By default it is located
in the /var/log/sysstat directory. Yet it is possible to specify an alternate location for
it: If datafile is a directory (instead of a plain file) then it will be considered as the
directory where the standard system activity daily data file is located.
The interval and count parameters are used to tell sadf to select count records at inter-
val seconds apart. If the count parameter is not set, then all the records saved in the
data file will be displayed.
All the activity flags of sar may be entered on the command line to indicate which activi-
ties are to be reported. Before specifying them, put a pair of dashes (--) on the command
line in order not to confuse the flags with those of sadf. Not specifying any flags se-
lects only CPU activity.
OPTIONS
-C Tell sadf to display comments present in file.
-c Convert an old system activity binary datafile (version 9.1.6 and later) to current
up-to-date format. Use the following syntax:
sadf -c old_datafile > new_datafile
Conversion can be controlled using option -O (see below).
-d Print the contents of the data file in a format that can easily be ingested by a
relational database system. The output consists of fields separated by a semicolon.
Each record contains the hostname of the host where the file was created, the in-
terval value (or -1 if not applicable), the timestamp in a form easily acceptable
by most databases, and additional semicolon separated data fields as specified by
sar_options command line options. Note that timestamp output can be controlled by
options -T, -t and -U.
--dev=dev_list
Specify the block devices for which statistics are to be displayed by sadf.
dev_list is a list of comma-separated device names. Useful with option -d from sar.
-e [ hh:mm[:ss] ]
Set the ending time of the report. The default ending time is 18:00:00. Hours must
be given in 24-hour format.
--fs=fs_list
Specify the filesystems for which statistics are to be displayed by sadf. fs_list
is a list of comma-separated filesystem names or mountpoints. Useful with option -F
from sar.
-g Print the contents of the data file in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format. This
option enables you to display some fancy graphs in your web browser. Use the fol-
lowing syntax:
sadf -g your_datafile [ -- sar_options ] > output.svg
and open the resulting SVG file in your favorite web browser. Output can be con-
trolled using option -O (see below).
-H Display only the header of the report (when applicable). If no format has been
specified, then the header data (metadata) of the data file are displayed.
-h When used in conjunction with option -d, all activities will be displayed horizon-
tally on a single line.
--iface=iface_list
Specify the network interfaces for which statistics are to be displayed by sadf.
iface_list is a list of comma-separated interface names. Useful with options -n DEV
and -n EDEV from sar.
-j Print the contents of the data file in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format.
Timestamps can be controlled by options -T and -t.
-l Export the contents of the data file to a PCP (Performance Co-Pilot) archive. The
name of the archive can be specified using the keyword pcparchive= with option -O.
-O opts[,...]
Use the specified options to control the output of sadf. The following options are
used to control SVG output displayed by sadf -g:
autoscale
Draw all the graphs of a given view as large as possible based on current
view's scale. To do this, a factor (10, 100, 1000...) is used to enlarge the
graph drawing. This option may be interesting when several graphs are drawn
on the same view, some with only very small values, and others with high
ones, the latter making the former hardly visible.
bwcol Use a black and white palette to draw the graphs.
customcol
Use a customizable color palette instead of the default one to draw the
graphs. See environment variable S_COLORS_PALETTE below to know how to cus-
tomize that palette.
height=value
Set SVG canvas height to value.
oneday Display graphs data over a period of 24 hours. Note that hours are still
printed in UTC by default: You should use option -T to print them in local
time and get a time window starting from midnight.
packed Group all views from the same activity (and for the same device) on the same
row.
showidle
Also display %idle state in graphs for CPU statistics.
showinfo
Display additional information (such as the date and the host name) on each
view.
showtoc
Add a table of contents at the beginning of the SVG output, consisting of
links pointing at the first graph of each activity.
skipempty
Do not display views where all graphs have only zero values.
The following option may be used when converting an old system activity binary
datafile to current up-to-date format:
hz=value
Specify the number of ticks per second for the machine where the old
datafile has been created.
The following option may be used when data are exported to a PCP archive:
pcparchive=name
Specify the name of the PCP archive to create.
The following option is used to control raw output displayed by sadf -r:
debug Display additional information, mainly useful for debugging purpose.
-P { cpu_list | ALL }
Tell sadf that processor dependent statistics are to be reported only for the spec-
ified processor or processors. cpu_list is a list of comma-separated values or
range of values (e.g., 0,2,4-7,12-). Note that processor 0 is the first processor,
and processor all is the global average among all processors. Specifying the ALL
keyword reports statistics for each individual processor, and globally for all pro-
cessors.
-p Print the contents of the data file in a format that can easily be handled by pat-
tern processing commands like awk. The output consists of fields separated by a
tab. Each record contains the hostname of the host where the file was created, the
interval value (or -1 if not applicable), the timestamp, the device name (or - if
not applicable), the field name and its value. Note that timestamp output can be
controlled by options -T, -t and -U.
-r Print the raw contents of the data file. With this format, the values for all the
counters are displayed as read from the kernel, which means e.g., that no average
values are calculated over the elapsed time interval. Output can be controlled us-
ing option -O (see above).
-s [ hh:mm[:ss] ]
Set the starting time of the data, causing the sadf command to extract records
time-tagged at, or following, the time specified. The default starting time is
08:00:00. Hours must be given in 24-hour format.
-T Display timestamp in local time instead of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
-t Display timestamp in the original local time of the data file creator instead of
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
-U Display timestamp (UTC - Coordinated Universal Time) in seconds from the epoch.
-V Print version number then exit.
-x Print the contents of the data file in XML format. Timestamps can be controlled by
options -T and -t. The corresponding DTD (Document Type Definition) and XML Schema
are included in the sysstat source package. They are also available at
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/sebastien.godard/download.html.
ENVIRONMENT
The sadf command takes into account the following environment variables:
S_COLORS_PALETTE
Specify the colors used by sadf -g to render the SVG output. This environment vari-
able is taken into account only when the custom color palette has been selected
with the option customcol (see option -O). Its value is a colon-separated list of
capabilities associated with six-digit, three-byte hexadecimal numbers (hex trip-
lets) representing colors that defaults to
0=000000:1=1a1aff:2=1affb2:3=b21aff:
4=1ab2ff:5=ff1a1a:6=ffb31a:7=b2ff1a:
8=efefef:9=000000:A=1a1aff:B=1affb2:
C=b21aff:D=1ab2ff:E=ff1a1a:F=ffb31a:
G=bebebe:H=000000:I=000000:K=ffffff:
L=000000:T=000000:W=000000:X=000000
Capabilities consisting of an hexadecimal digit (0 through F) are used to specify
the first sixteen colors in the palette (these colors are used to draw the graphs),
e.g., 3=ffffff would indicate that the third color in the palette is white
(0xffffff).
Other capabilities are:
G= Specify the color used to draw the grid lines.
H= Specify the color used to display the report header.
I= Specify the color used to display additional information (e.g., date, host-
name...)
K= Specify the color used for the graphs background.
L= Specify the default color (which is for example used to display the table of
contents).
T= Specify the color used to display the graphs title.
W= Specify the color used to display warning and error messages.
X= Specify the color used to draw the axes and display the graduations.
S_TIME_DEF_TIME
If this variable exists and its value is UTC then sadf will use UTC time instead of
local time to determine the current daily data file located in the /var/log/sysstat
directory.
EXAMPLES
sadf -d /var/log/sysstat/sa21 -- -r -n DEV
Extract memory and network statistics from system activity file sa21, and display
them in a format that can be ingested by a database.
sadf -p -P 1
Extract CPU statistics for processor 1 (the second processor) from current daily
data file, and display them in a format that can easily be handled by a pattern
processing command.
BUGS
SVG output (as created by option -g) is fully compliant with SVG 1.1 standard. Graphics
have been successfully displayed in various web browsers, including Firefox, Chrome and
Opera. Yet SVG rendering is broken on Microsoft browsers (tested on Internet Explorer 11
and Edge 13.1): So please don't use them.
FILES
/var/log/sysstat/saDD
/var/log/sysstat/saYYYYMMDD
The standard system activity daily data files and their default location. YYYY
stands for the current year, MM for the current month and DD for the current day.
AUTHOR
Sebastien Godard (sysstat <at> orange.fr)
SEE ALSO
sar(1), sadc(8), sa1(8), sa2(8), sysstat(5)
https://github.com/sysstat/sysstat
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/sebastien.godard/
Linux JULY 2020 SADF(1)
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On Apache
Under GNU General Public License
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