Long-term System Monitoring

It is important not only to "spot-check" system performance with the tools mentioned above, but to collect longer-term performance histories so you can detect trends. If nothing else, a baseline record of a system performing well may help you figure out what has changed if the system starts behaving poorly. We recommend you enable the system activity reporting package by doing the following:

• Edit the file /etc/init.d/perf and remove the # comment characters from the lines near the end of the file.

• Run the command crontab -e sys and remove the # comment characters from the lines with the sa1 and sa2 commands. You may also wish to adjust how often the commands run and at what times of day depending on your site's activity profile (see man crontab for an explanation of the format of this file).

  This causes the system to store performance data in files in the /var/adm/sa directory, where by default they are retained for one month. You can then use the sar command to examine the statistics for time periods of interest.