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NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | VIEWS | TABS | IMAGES and PRINTING | RECORDING | CONFIGURATION FILE SYNTAX | PCP ENVIRONMENT | DEBUGGING OPTIONS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON |
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PMCHART(1) General Commands Manual PMCHART(1)
pmchart - strip chart tool for Performance Co-Pilot
pmchart [-CLVWz?] [-a archive] [-A align] [--archive-folio folio]
[-c configfile] [-D debug] [-f fontfamily] [-F fontsize] [-g
geometry] [-h host] [-n pmnsfile] [-o outfile] [-O offset] [-p
port] [-s samples] [-S starttime] [-t interval] [-T endtime] [-v
visible] [-Z timezone] [-geometry geometry] [sources...]
pmchart is a graphical utility that plots performance metrics
values available through the facilities of the Performance Co-
Pilot (PCP). Multiple charts can be displayed simultaneously,
either aligned on the unified time axis (X-axis), and through the
use of multiple interface Tabs.
Metric values can be sourced from one or more live hosts
(simultaneously). Alternatively, one or more sets of PCP archives
can be used as a source of historical data. See PCPIntro(1) for
an in-depth discussion of the capabilities of the PCP framework,
many of which are used by pmchart.
Many aspects of the behaviour of pmchart can be customised through
the interface. In particular, the use of "views" (refer to the
section describing VIEWS later in this document) allows predefined
sets of metrics and charting parameters like colors, scaling,
titles, legends, and so on to be stored for later use, or use with
different hosts and sets of archives. In addition, the
Preferences dialog allows customisations to the rest of the
pmchart user interface to be saved and restored between different
invocations of the tool. This allows the default background
color, highlight color, contents and location of the toolbar, and
many other aspects to be configured.
pmchart makes extensive use of the pmtime(1) utility for time
control, refer to the pmtime manual page for further details of
its operation.
The available command line options are:
-a archive, --archive=archive
Performance metric values are retrieved from the set of
Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) archives identified by this
option, by default. The argument is a comma-separated list
of names, each of which may be the base name of an archive or
the name of a directory containing one or more archives. The
resulting set of archives will be the source of the
performance metrics. The initial Tab created will be an
archive mode Tab. Multiple -a options can be presented, and
the resulting list of sets of archives is used for sourcing
metric values. Any sources listed on the command line are
assumed to be sets of archives if this option is used.
-A align, --align=align
Force the initial sample to be aligned on the boundary of a
natural time unit align. Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete
description of the syntax for align.
--archive-folio=folio
Read metric source archives from the PCP archive folio.
-c configfile, --view=configfile
configfile specifies an initial view to load, using the
default source of metrics. Multiple -c views can be
specified, and they will all be opened in the default Tab
with the default source of metrics.
-c, --check
Used with -c, the view(s) are parsed, any errors are
reported, and the tool exits. This is primarily intended for
testing purposes. If a second -C option is presented,
pmchart also connects to pmcd(1) to check the semantics of
metrics.
-f family, --font-family=family
Specify the default font family to be used in several chart
components, such as the chart title, legend, and Y-axis
label. The default value is "Sans Serif". This setting does
not affect the rest of the user interface, where the value is
inherited from the environment in which pmchart operates, and
differs according to the look-and-feel of each platform.
-F point, --font-size=point
Specify the default font point size to be used in several
chart components, such as the chart title, legend, and Y-axis
label. The default is platform dependent, but is either 7, 8
or 9. This setting does not affect the rest of the user
interface.
-g geometry, --geometry=geometry
Generate image with the specified geometry (width and
height). This option is only useful when used in conjunction
with the -o option for generating an output image. The
geometry argument takes the form "WxH" (e.g. 240x120). When
NOT using the -o flag, to specify the display window
geometry, use -geometry geometry where geometry specifies the
desired window width, height and optional placement.
-h host, --host=host
Current performance metric values are retrieved from the
nominated host machine by default. Multiple -h options can
be presented, and the list of hosts is used for sourcing
metric values. Any sources listed on the command line are
assumed to be hosts if this option is used.
-H path, --hostsfile=path
Specify the path to a file containing a set of hostnames
where pmcd(1) is running , rather than using the default
localhost.
-K spec, --spec-local=spec
When fetching metrics from a local context (see -L), the -K
option may be used to control the DSO PMDAs that should be
made accessible. The spec argument conforms to the syntax
described in pmSpecLocalPMDA(3). More than one -K option may
be used.
-L, --local-PMDA
Use a local context to collect metrics from DSO PMDAs on the
local host without PMCD. See also -K.
-n pmnsfile, --namespace=pmnsfile
Load an alternative Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS(5))
from the file pmnsfile.
-o outfile, --output=outfile
Generate an image file named outfile, and then exit. This is
most useful when run with a set of archives and one or more
views. The generated image will be in the format specified
as the file extension (automatically determined from
outfile). If no extension can be determined, then the GIF
format is used and the generated file is named with this
extension. The supported image file formats include: bmp,
jpeg, jpg, png, ppm, tif, tiff, xbm, and xpm.
-O origin, --origin=origin
When reporting archived metrics, start reporting at origin
within the time window (see -S and -T). Refer to PCPIntro(1)
for a complete description of the syntax for origin.
-p port, --guiport=port
port number for connection to an existing pmtime time control
process.
-s samples, --samples=samples
Specifies the number of samples that will be retained before
discarding old data (replaced by new values at the current
time position). This value can subsequently be modified
through the Edit Tab dialog.
-S starttime, --start=starttime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be
restricted to those records logged at or after starttime.
Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax
for starttime.
-t interval, --interval=interval
Sets the initial update interval to something other than the
default 1 second. The interval argument follows the syntax
described in PCPIntro(1), and in the simplest form may be an
unsigned integer (the implied units in this case are
seconds).
-T endtime, --finish=endtime
When reporting archived metrics, the report will be
restricted to those records logged before or at endtime.
Refer to PCPIntro(1) for a complete description of the syntax
for endtime.
-v samples, --visible=samples
Sets the initial visible samples that will be displayed in
all charts in the default Tab. This value must be less than
or equal to the total number of samples retained (the -s
value).
-V, --version
Display pmchart version number and exit
-W, --white
Export images using an opaque(white) background
-z, --hostzone
Change the reporting timezone to the local timezone at the
host that is the source of the performance metrics, as
identified via either the -h or -a options.
-Z timezone, --timezone=timezone
By default, pmtime reports the time of day according to the
local timezone on the system where pmchart is run. The -Z
option changes the timezone to timezone in the format of the
environment variable TZ as described in environ(7).
-?, --help
Display usage message and exit.
The primary pmchart configuration file is the "view", which allows
the metadata associated with one or more charts to be saved in the
filesystem. This metadata describes all aspects of the charts,
including which PCP metrics and instances are to be used, which
hosts, which colors, the chart titles, use of chart legends, and
much more.
From a conceptual point of view, there are two classes of view.
These views share the same configuration file format - refer to a
later section for a complete description of this format. The
differences lie in where they are installed and how they are
manipulated.
The first class, the "system" view, is simply any view that is
installed as part of the pmchart package. These are stored in
$PCP_VAR_DIR/config/pmchart. When the File→Open View dialog is
displayed, it is these views that are initially listed. The
system views cannot be modified by a normal user, and should not
be modified even by a user with suitable privileges, as they will
be overwritten during an upgrade.
The second class of view is the "user" view. These views are
created on-the-fly using the File→Save View dialog. This is a
mechanism for individual users to save their commonly used views.
Access to these views is achieved through the File→Open View
dialog, as with the system views. Once the dialog is opened, the
list of views can be toggled between user and system views by
clicking on the two toggle buttons in the top right corner. User
views are stored in $HOME/.pcp/pmchart.
pmchart provides the common user interface concept of the Tab,
which is most prevalent in modern web browsers. Tabs allow
pmchart to update many more charts than the available screen real
estate allows, by providing a user interface mechanism to stack
(and switch between) different vertical sets of charts. Switching
between Tabs is achieved by clicking on the Tab labels, which are
located along the top of the display beneath the Menu and Tool
bars).
Each Tab has a mode of operation (either live or archive - pmchart
can support both modes simultaneously), the total number of
samples and currently visible points, and a label describing the
Tab which is displayed at the top of the pmchart window. New Tabs
can be created using the File→Add Tab dialog.
In order to save on vertical screen real estate, note that the
user interface element for changing between different Tabs (and
its label) are only displayed when more than one Tab exists. A
Tab can be dismissed using the File→Close Tab menu, which removes
the current Tab and any charts it contained.
A static copy of the currently displayed vertical series of charts
can be captured in two ways.
When the intended display device is the screen, the File→Export
menu option should be used. This allows exporting the charts in a
variety of image formats, including PNG, JPEG, GIF, and BMP. The
image size can be scaled up or down in any dimension.
Alternatively, when the intended display device is paper, the
File→Print menu option can be used. This supports the usual set
of printing options (choice of printer, grayscale/color,
landscape/portrait, scaling to different paper sizes, etc), and in
addition allows printing to the intermediate printer formats of
PostScript and Portable Document Format (PDF).
It is possible to make a recording of a set of displayed charts,
for later playback through pmchart or any of the other Performance
Co-Pilot tools. The Record→Start functionality is simple to
configure through the user interface, and allows fine-tuning of
the recording process (including record frequencies that differ to
the pmchart update interval, alternate file locations, etc).
pmchart produces recordings that are compatible with the PCP
pmafm(1) replay mechanism, for later playback via a new instance
of pmchart. In addition, when recording through pmchart one can
also replay the recording immediately, as on termination of the
recording (through the Record→Stop menu item), an archive mode Tab
will be created with the captured view.
Once recording is active in a Live Tab, the Time Control status
button in the bottom left corner of the pmchart window is
displayed with a distinctive red dot. At any time during a
pmchart recording session, the amount of space used in the
filesystem by that recording can be displayed using the
Record→Query menu item.
Finally, the Record→Detach menu option provides a mechanism
whereby the recording process can be completely divorced from the
running pmchart process, and allowed to continue on when pmchart
exits. A dialog displaying the current size and estimated rate of
growth for the recording is presented. On the other hand, if
pmchart is terminated while recording is in process, then the
recording process will prompt the user to choose immediate
cessation of recording or for it to continue on independently.
All of the record mode services available from pmchart are
implemented with the assistance of the base Performance Co-Pilot
logging services - refer to pmlogger(1) and pmafm(1) for an
extensive description of the capabilities of these tools.
pmchart loads predefined chart configurations (or "views") from
external files that conform to the following rules. In the
descriptions below keywords (shown in bold) may appear in upper,
lower or mixed case, elements shown in [stuff] are optional, and
user-supplied elements are shown as <other stuff>. A vertical bar
(|) is used where syntactic elements are alternatives. Quotes (")
may be used to enclose lexical elements that may contain white
space, such as titles, labels and instance names.
1. The first line defines the configuration file type and should
be
#kmchart
although pmchart provides backwards compatibility for the older
pmchart view formats with an initial line of
#pmchart
2. After the first line, lines beginning with "#" as the first
non-white space character are treated as comments and skipped.
Similarly blank lines are skipped.
3. The next line should be
version <n> <host-clause>
where <n> depends on the configuration file type, and is 1 for
pmchart else 1.1, 1.2 or 2.0 for pmchart.
The <host-clause> part is optional (and ignored) for pmchart
configuration files, but required for the pmchart configuration
files, and is of the form
host literal
or
host dynamic
4. A configuration contains one or more charts defined as follows:
chart [title <title>] style <style> <options>
If specified, the title will appear centred and above the graph
area of the chart. The <title> is usually enclosed in quotes
(") and if it contains the sequence "%h" this will be replaced
by the short form of the hostname for the default source of
metrics at the time this chart was loaded. Alternatively, "%H"
can be used to insert the full host name. If the hostname
appears to be an inet or IPv6 address, no shortening will be
attempted; it will be used as-is in both replacement cases.
After the view is loaded, the title visibility and setting can
be manipulated using the Chart Title text box in the Edit→Chart
dialog.
The <style> controls the initial plotting style of the chart,
and should be one of the keywords plot (line graph), bar,
stacking (stacked bar), area or utilization. After the view is
loaded, the plotting style can be changed using the Edit→Chart
Style drop-down list.
The <options> are zero or more of the optional elements:
[scale [from] <ymin> [to] <ymax>] [legend <onoff>]
If scale is specified, the vertical scaling is set for all
plots in the chart to a y-range defined by <ymin> and <ymax>.
Otherwise the vertical axis will be autoscaled based on the
values currently being plotted.
<onoff> is one of the keywords on or off and the legend clause
controls the presence or absence of the plot legend below the
graph area. The default is for the legend to be shown. After
the view is loaded, the legend visibility can be toggled using
the Show Legend button in the Edit→Chart dialog.
5. pmchart supports a global clause to specify the dimensions of
the top-level window (using the width and height keywords), the
number of visible points (points keyword) and the starting X
and Y axis positions on the screen (xpos and ypos keywords).
Each of these global attributes takes an integer value as the
sole qualifier.
6. Each chart has one or more plots associated with it, as defined
by one of the following specifications:
plot
[legend <title>] [color <colorspec>] [host <hostspec>]
metric <metricname>
[ instance <inst> | matching <pat> | not-matching <pat> ]
The keyword plot may be replaced with the keyword optional-
plot, in which case if the source of performance data does not
include the specified performance metric and/or instance, then
this plot is silently dropped from the chart.
If specified, the title will appear in the chart legend. The
<title> is usually enclosed in quotes (") and it may contain
one or more wildcard characters which will be expanded using
metric name, instance name, and host name for the plot. The
wildcards are "%i" (short unique instance name, up to the first
whitespace), "%I" (full instance name), "%h" (short host name,
up to the first dot), %H (full host name), "%m" (metric name
shortened to the final two PMNS components), and "%M" (full
metric name).
For older pmchart configuration files, the keyword title must
be used instead of legend. Nowadays pmchart supports either
keyword.
The color clause is optional for newer pmchart configuration
files, but it was mandatory in the original pmchart
configuration file format. <colorspec> may be one of the
following:
#-cycle
rgbi:rr:gg:bb
#rgb
#rrggbb
#rrrgggbbb
#rrrrggggbbbb
<Xcolor>
where each of r, g and b are hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F)
representing respectively the red, green and blue color
components. <Xcolor> is one of the color names from the X
color database, e.g. red or steelblue, see also the output from
showrgb(1).
The "color" #-cycle specifies that pmchart should use the next
in a pallet of colors that it uses cyclically for each chart.
This is the default if the color clause is omitted.
The <hostspec> in the host clause may be a hostname, an IP
address or an asterisk (*); the latter is used to mean the
default source of performance metrics. For older pmchart
configuration files, the host clause must be present, for new
pmchart configuration files it is optional, and if missing the
default source of performance metrics will be used.
The optional instance specification,
(a)
is omitted in which case one plot will be created for every
instance of the <metricname> metric
(b)
starts with instance, in which case only the instance named
<inst> will be plotted
(c)
starts with matching, in which case all instances whose
names match the pattern <pat> will be plotted; the pattern
uses extended regular expression notation in the style of
egrep(1) (refer to the PMCD view for an example)
(d)
starts with not-matching, in which case all instances whose
names do not match the pattern <pat> will be plotted; the
pattern uses extended regular expression notation in the
style of egrep(1) (refer to the Netbytes view for an
example)
pmchart uses a bizarre syntactic notation where <inst> and
<pat> extend from the first non-white space character to the
end of the input line. For pmchart configuration files these
elements are either delimited by white space, or enclosed in
quotes (").
7. The optional tab directive can be used to create views with
multiple charts which span multiple Tabs. The syntax is as
follows:
tab <label> [host <host>] [points <points> [samples <samples>]]
All chart specifications following this keyword will be created
on the new Tab, until the end of the configuration file or until
another tab keyword is encountered.
Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to
parameterize the file and directory names used by PCP. On each
installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values for
these variables. The $PCP_CONF variable may be used to specify an
alternative configuration file, as described in pcp.conf(5).
Of particular note, the $PCP_XCONFIRM_PROG setting is explicitly
and unconditionally overridden by pmchart. This is set to the
pmconfirm(1), utility, in order that some popup dialogs
(particularly in the area of Recording) maintain a consistent
look-and-feel with the rest of the pmchart application.
The -D or --debug option enables the output of additional
diagnostics on stderr to help triage problems, although the
information is sometimes cryptic and primarily intended to provide
guidance for developers rather end-users. debug is a comma
separated list of debugging options; use pmdbg(1) with the -l
option to obtain a list of the available debugging options and
their meaning.
Debugging options specific to pmchart are as follows:
┌────────┬───────────────────────────────────┐
│ Option │ Description │
├────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤
│ appl2 │ view parsing and loading │
├────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤
│ appl3 │ lexical scanner from view parsing │
└────────┴───────────────────────────────────┘
PCPIntro(1), pmafm(1), pmconfirm(1), pmdumptext(1), pminfo(1),
pmrep(1), pmtime(1), pmval(1), pcp.conf(5) and PMNS(5).
This page is part of the PCP (Performance Co-Pilot) project.
Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://www.pcp.io/⟩. If you have a bug report for this manual
page, send it to pcp@groups.io. This page was obtained from the
project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/performancecopilot/pcp.git⟩ on 2025-08-11.
(At that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found
in the repository was 2025-08-11.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
man-pages@man7.org
Performance Co-Pilot PMCHART(1)
Pages that refer to this page: clustervis(1), dkvis(1), ganglia2pcp(1), iostat2pcp(1), mkaf(1), mpvis(1), mrtg2pcp(1), nfsvis(1), pcp2arrow(1), pcp2elasticsearch(1), pcp2graphite(1), pcp2influxdb(1), pcp2json(1), pcp2openmetrics(1), pcp2spark(1), pcp2template(1), pcp2xlsx(1), pcp2xml(1), pcp2zabbix(1), pcpcompat(1), pcpintro(1), pcp-iostat(1), pcp-tapestat(1), pmafm(1), pmclient(1), pmdaweblog(1), pmdumptext(1), pminfo(1), pmlogsummary(1), pmquery(1), pmrep(1), pmsnap(1), pmstat(1), pmtime(1), pmval(1), pmview(1), sar2pcp(1), sheet2pcp(1), weblogvis(1), webpingvis(1), webvis(1), pmparsehostattrsspec(3), pmparsehostspec(3), pmregisterderived(3), LOGARCHIVE(5), pmview(5)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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