APT Translator(s) which interpret various data collections. Each APT Translator contains a list of metrics that it accesses, for example CPU load for a UNIX performance translator. Translators access their metrics from data sources, for example Oracle instances or UNIX data files.

Data sources are usually provided by standard OS and application facilities. These sources normally contain the most valuable and thorough information. Under certain circumstances, auxiliary scripts and utilities may be used to collect information which is not available otherwise, such as for licensing applications.

APT Web module for delivering graphs and analyses to you using Web based graphical environment with the speed and dynamics of a desktop suite.

APT Web and APT Translators may be located on the same system or on different systems. For example, Oracle databases may be accessed from a single machine while UNIX systems would be accessed locally.

Operations

APT is used for two major operations:

Analysis of a difference in metric values for two time periods to find possible sources of performance degradation, evaluate capacity demands or load changes.

Graphs of specific metrics to view values or patterns for a single time period. APT Line, Bar and Pie graphs provide zoom and pan capability, instant spreadsheet export and same scale mode for viewing changes on metrics of significantly different value ranges.
INSTALLATION

Notes

APT has very modest disk space requirements – less than 5 MB for APT Web and less than 1 MB for each APT Translator.

RAM usage is usually in single megabytes for APT Web, as well as APT Translators. RAM usage is higher when APT performs a complex analysis operation.

APT Translators always install into predetermined directories under /usr/local.

APT Web is normally installed under /usr/local but may be installed in another directory

<apache root> normally refers to /usr/local/apache

APT is designed to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or higher.

APT User

APT may be installed as any user which has sufficient privileges to run required commands. APT Web user must be able to run apache and access the requested http port. Translator user requirements are listed on the translator sheet.

Installation as root or nobody is not recommended.

A recommended approach is to create a specialized user and group (e.g. apt:perf) with the necessary group privileges on each host.

APT Web user must be able to access hosts and accounts where translators are located. This can be accomplished via RSH, SSH or another remote login method. For example, the following commands verify connectivity for RSH and SSH:

rsh <remote_host_name> df

(if local and remote APT user names are the same)

rsh -l <remote_APT_user> <remote_host_name> df

(if local and remote APT user names are different)

ssh <remote_host_name> df

(if local and remote APT user names are the same)

ssh -l <remote_APT_user> <remote_host_name> df

(if local and remote APT user names are different)

Refer to remote login documentation for setup instructions. Contact ISS support at support@iss-integration.com for more information.

APT Web Installation

Select the top installation directory (/usr/local suggested)
Uncompress and unpack (tar xf) the downloaded distribution file in this directory
Have license code ready
Run installation script install-apt-web.ksh
Optionally create a startup script that starts APT Apache web server on system boot. Apache Web server is started by running

<apache root>/bin/apachectl start

If you need to enter a new license code:

Open APT main page

Click Setup

Click the License button at the bottom of screen

Enter new license code

APT Translator Installation

Place the distribution file into /use/local
Uncompress and unpack (tar xf) the downloaded distribution file as root
Set owner/group as follows (for example, user apt and group perf):

chown -R apt:perf /usr/local/APT

Customize per specific translator documentation

Install and activate specific collection tools as described in translator specific documentation.

GETTING STARTED

Main Page

Point your browser to <your_server_name>/APT. APT main page is displayed.

Main page is used as a starting point for each new operation.

NOTE: You can always return to the main page by clicking in your Address Bar and pressing Return or Enter

How the servers are organized

APT Organizes servers into categories (Server Types), which are presented at the beginning of each major operation.

One server may belong to different categories and have different access methods in each of these categories. For example, server Alpha may be accessed via RSH for UNIX analysis and locally via Net8 protocol for Oracle analysis.

Each server in each category is added, modified or deleted separately.
SETTING UP SERVERS AND TRANSLATORS

Setup Page

Click Setup at the main page to display the Setup page

Server Setup Functions

Adding A Server

Click Add Server to open the following screen.

Type in server name as it is accessed from the local machine. It is recommended that server names are placed in the local host database.

Select an existing server type or click Type New and enter a new type. One server may be listed under different types, e.g. Tru64 UNIX and Oracle

Select or enter an access method that APT will use to receive translated data. If the server is not local, it is necessary to have a remote access method enabled for APT user. Refer to the Installation chapter for more information on access requirements.

Click Add Server Now. If Add Server operation succeeds, APT return to the main page.

Modifying Server Parameters

Server parameters can be modified by clicking Modify Server at the Setup page.

Select Server from the category list. Only the server instance for the selected category will be modified.

Modify required parameters and click Add Server Now. If Modify Server operation succeeds, APT return to the main page.

Deleting a Server

Click Delete Server at the Setup Page. Choose the server to delete. If Delete Server operation succeeds, APT return to the main page.

Translator Setup Functions

Understanding Translator Setup

APT Translators access a variety of system data and, therefore, must be protected from unauthorized use. APT utilizes security functions which validate each translator before it can be used for data delivery. Therefore, it is extremely important that each translator is correctly installed and its path and name are entered exactly as specified in translator documentation.

Translator entries in APT Web may not be modified. If you need to modify a translator entry, delete and re-add it.

Adding a Translator Entry

Verify that translator software is installed.

At the Setup page click Add Translator.

Pick the server on which the translator is to be added. If you have added the same server under several categories, the translator being added will only apply to the selected category.

Enter Translator name, Full path on server and Directory of data files exactly as they appear on the translator information sheet.

Click Add Translator. If operation succeeds, APT return to the main page. If you get an error, press the Back button on the browser or return to the main page and start over. Verify server connectivity, RSH/SSH permissions if applicable and correct APT translator installation.

Deleting a Translator Entry

At the Setup page click Delete Translator.

Pick the server on which the translator is to be deleted. If you have added the same server under several categories, the translator will be deleted only for the selected category.

Pick the translator to be deleted.

Click Delete Translator. If operation succeeds, APT return to the main page.

CREATING GRAPHS

Click Graph at the main page.

Select the server. A translator list appears (you may select another server without choosing a translator)

Click Proceed, which presents the Data Source selection page.

Data Sources may be data collection files, Oracle instances, servers, localities and other relevant objects. Each data source has a range of times for which it has data. To poll a data source for available times, click “Get Available Times” button. You may modify the start and end times manually to change the default range.

For example, if a data source has data for one week but you are only interested in working with one day, set the relevant start and end date. You will be able to zoom out later.

Once you have selected the required data source and set start and end dates, click Proceed or Start Over to select another server.

Metrics selection screen shows available metrics in the left box and metrics that will be graphed in the right box. Use the buttons between boxes to add or remove metrics.

If metrics that will be graphed differ significantly in their value ranges (such as CPU Load vs. Active Memory), check the Set All Trends to Same Scale box. The graph will then reflect just the trend of change for each metric on a scale from 0 to 100%, where 0% corresponds to minimum and 100% to maximum value for each metric (normalization).

Select the type of graph using Graph Type drop down menu. Line Graphs are very precise and useful for tracking changes in technical values, such as disk or CPU performance. Bar and Pie graphs are easier to read and are useful for presentation and overview.

When Bar and Pie graphs are selected, menus will appear to control the consolidation of data. For Bar graphs, the Interval option defines a time period for each cluster of bars and the Method option selects how data in each interval is to be presented. For example, to view maximum CPU usage, select Maximum as Bar Graph Method.

Note: When using click zoom, Bar Interval is always set to Automatic

Pie graphs represent a pictorial distribution of metrics that complement each other, for example, System and User CPU usage. Pie Chart Method defines how the data is handled, for example, select Average to see average user vs. system CPU utilization.

If you need spreadsheet values rather than a graph, check No graphics, Get Data in MS Excel format checkbox. Data Points to Return entry box will be displayed, which specified the maximum number of entries for each metric in a spreadsheet. The file returned will be in Comma Separated Values (CSV) format, which is directly readable by Microsoft Excel.

NOTE: Both options are available directly from the graph page, however, the number of points returned will then be equal to the width of graph.

After pressing Draw Graph, data is processed and graph displayed. Browser Back button may be used to select another group of metrics.

NOTE: The graphic is in the PNG format and may be downloaded by right-clicking on the graph or selecting Save button in Exlorer 6. PNG is viewable with most Web browsers and image viewers/editors.

If metrics on the graph differ significantly in their value ranges (such as CPU Load vs. Active Memory), check the Set All Trends to Same Scale box. The graph will change to reflect just the trend of change for each metric on a scale from 0 to 100%, where 0% corresponds to minimum and 100% to maximum value for each metric (normalization). Uncheck the box to return the graph to actual metric values.

NOTE: Units of measure for each metric can be found on the Translator Sheet for the specific Translator that produced data for the graph.

To download displayed values in Comma Separated Values (CSV) format, check No graphics, Get Data in MS Excel format checkbox. CSV is directly readable by Microsoft Excel. There will be a delay as values are calculated, then a download box is displayed. Adjust Internet Explorer action for the CSV file extension if a download box does not appear or does not display correctly.

Zooming and Panning within a Graph

Zoom and Pan with a Click

APT Web makes it possible to perform true data zoom and panning (moving around) operations within a graph. For each zoom or pan request, new data points are displayed using the original source data with higher granularity for zoom and same granularity for panning.

To zoom with mouse, select zoom value in the Click on the Graph to Instantly Zoom to pull down list. Then click anywhere on the graph, which will then center at the time corresponding to the click and zoom to the time period selected (zoom factor).

Click Zoom Out to return to the original time period, selected with Data Source.

To pan with mouse, click at either edge of an image without changing zoom factor. The image will then recenter to the time that corresponds to your click, e.g. shift half page left or right.

Manual Zoom

Manual Zoom is useful when precise time period is needed or when zooming out past the initial time period selected with Data Source.

Enter start and end dates and times (in free format) in the Start and End fields, then click the Manual Zoom button.

To return to original time period, click the Zoom Out button.

Customizing Graph Dimensions

APT makes it convenient to customize graph image size to fit your specific screen size. Graph dimensions are defined in <apache home>/cgi-bin/APT/config/graph.conf :

img-width – Graph image width, pixels
img-height – Graph image height, pixels
img-x-offset – Distance within the image between the X axis and date labels
img-y-offset – Distance within the image between the Y axis and value range labels
auto-ppm – Automatic bar graph cluster width in pixels

Customized dimensions take effect immediately.

Analyzing Changes

Understanding APT Analysis

Often, it is useful to determine the overall differences between two time periods across all metrics, for example:

Performance problem localization
Capacity change assessment

Manual analysis of all samples across all metrics is time consuming and difficult, sometimes impossible due to a significant volume of data. APT automatically analyzes all available metrics per translator and displays just the metrics with significant differences, along with information about average values and deviations.

APT uses terms Baseline and Data periods to refer respectively to the initial and the problem or comparison period.

At the end of an analysis, you can choose to view graphs of one or more displayed metrics for the Data period.

Performing an Analysis

Click Analyze at the main page.

Select the server. A translator list appears (you may select another server without choosing a translator)

Click Proceed, which presents the Data Source selection page.

NOTE: Wait for time range for one source to display before polling another data source.

Choose time periods carefully to get accurate analysis results. For example, when analyzing a performance problem at a specific time of day, choose a Baseline period at the same time on another day. It is acceptable to use the same data source for both Baseline and Data periods.

Set the percentage threshold (Report metrics that have changed more than) to a value past which a metric average change would cause a metric to be reported.

If you are only interested in changes that degrade performance (such as when analyzing performance problems), check Report only those changes that degrade performance box.

Press Proceed to start analysis.

Analysis results are displayed in a table with the following information:

Metric Name
Base Avg – Average value of metric for the Baseline period
Data Avg – Average value of metric for the Data period
Change – direction and absolute percentage value of change
Fluctuation – how much a metric was changing, lower values mean a metric did not show a lot of peaks and valleys during both Baseline and Data periods.
Graph Data? – checking this box will include corresponding metric in a graph
Draw Graph – pressing this button will display a graph of selected metrics in a separate window

As graphs are displayed in separate windows, the original analysis results window remains open and can be used to generate more graphs. This may be useful to compare groups of metrics, for example, create a separate graph for Network metrics and another one for Disk I/O metrics.

Refer to the Zooming and Panning within a Graph section for instructions on navigating produced graphs. All standard graph features are available.