SAR(8,C) AIX Commands Reference SAR(8,C)
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sar
PURPOSE
Collects, reports, or saves system activity information.
SYNTAX
+- -u ----------+ +-----------+ +--- 1 ----+
sar ---| +- -A ------+ |---| |-- interval --| |---|
+-| +-------+ |-+ +- -o file -+ +- number -+
+-| -a -u |-+
^| -b -v ||
|| -c -w ||
|| -m -y ||
|| -q -r ||
|+-------+|
+---------+
+- -u -------------+ +--- -s08:00 ----+ +----------+
sar ---| +- -A ---------+ |---| one of |---| |--->
+-| +----------+ |-+ | +------------+ | +- -i sec -+
+-| -a -m -w |-+ +-| -shh |-+
^| -b -q -y || | -shh:mm |
|| -c -u -r || | -shh:mm:ss |
|| -v || +------------+
|+----------+|
+------------+
+--- -e18:00 ----+ +- -f/usr/adm/sa/sadd -+
>---| one of |---| |---|
| +------------+ | +------ -f file -------+
+-| -shh |-+
| -shh:mm |
| -shh:mm:ss |
+------------+
DESCRIPTION
The first format of the sar command writes to standard output the contents of
selected cumulative activity counters in the operating system. It writes
information a total of number times spaced interval seconds apart. The default
value of number is 1. You can also save the collected data in the file
specified by -o file.
In the second format (with no sampling interval specified), sar extracts and
writes to standard output records previously saved in a file. This file can be
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either the one specified by the -f flag or, by default, the standard system
activity daily data file, /usr/adm/sa/sadd, for the current day, dd.
You can select information about specific system activities with flags. Not
specifying any flags selects only cpu activity. Specifying the -A flag selects
all activities.
Note: This command only reports on local activities.
FLAGS
-a Reports use of file access system routines:
iget/s Calls per second to the inode look-up
routine.
namei/s Calls per second to the directory search
routine.
dirblk/s Directory blocks read per second by
namei().
-A Report all data.
-b Reports buffer activity for transfers, accesses, and cache hit
ratios:
lread/s, lwrit/s Number of logical read/write requests per
interval.
bread/s, bwrit/s Number of block read/write operations per
interval.
%rcache, %wcache Cache hit ratios (for example, 1 -
bread/lread).
pread/s, pwrit/s Read/writes per interval on seekable raw
devices.
-c Reports system calls:
scall/s Total number of system calls per second.
rchar/s, wchar/s Characters transferred per interval by
read/write calls.
sread/s, swrit/s
fork/s, exec/s Specific system calls per second.
-e hh[:mm[:ss]]
Sets the ending time of the report. The default ending time is
18:00.
-f file Extracts records from file (created by -o file). The default
file is the current daily data file, /usr/adm/sa/sadd.
-i seconds Selects data records at intervals as close as possible to the
specified number of seconds. Otherwise, sar reports all
intervals found in the data file.
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-m Reports message and semaphore activities:
msg/s IPC message primitives per second.
sema/s IPC semaphore primitives per second.
-o file Saves the readings in file in binary form. Each reading is in
a separate record and each record contains a tag identifying
the time of the reading.
-q Reports average queue length while occupied, and percentage of
time occupied:
runq-sz, %runocc Runs queue of processes in memory and able
to be run.
-r Reports paging statistics:
freeman average pages available to user processes
freeswap disk blocks available for process swapping
fault/s address translation page faults.
-s hh[:mm[:ss]]
Sets the starting time of the data. That is, extract records
time-tagged at or following the time specified. The default
starting time is 08:00.
-u Reports CPU activity (this flag is on by default):
%usr Percentage of CPU time devoted to the user.
%sys Percentage of CPU time devoted to the
kernel.
%wio Percentage of CPU time waiting for block
I/O to complete.
%idle Percentage of CPU time idle.
-v Reports status of process, inode, and file tables:
proc-sz,
inod-sz, file-sz Entries in use at each sample point for
each table.
proc-ov,
inod-ov, file-ov Overflows occurring at each sample point
for each table.
-w Reports system switching activity:
pswch/s Process switches per second.
-y Reports TTY device activity:
rawch/s TTY raw input queue characters per second.
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canch/s TTY canonical input queue characters per
second.
outch/s TTY output queue characters per second.
revin/s TTY receive interrupts per second.
xmtin/s TTY transmit interrupts per second.
mdmin/s TTY modem interrupts per second.
FILES
/usr/adm/sa/sadd Daily data file, where dd are numbers representing
the day of the month.
RELATED INFORMATION
See the following command: "sag."
See the discussion of monitoring system activity in Managing the AIX Operating
System.
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