ifmx_user - Count the number of concurrent INFORMIX database-users (sessions)
ifmx_user -i intvl_sec -h home_server -d destination_server -H hostname [-r retry_num]
(see EXAMPLES)
The Esql/C-program ifmx_user counts the number of concurrent database-users (sessions) and stores this information in a dedicated database with the same name (ifmx_user).
ifmx_user should be started under a dedicated user-account which needs not to be root or informix.
The goal of ifmx_user is to collect data and not to generate any reports. This issue has to be resolved by customer-written SQL-statements and reports based on the collected data (DATABASE-STRUCTURE).
The minimum allowd interval is 60 seconds. If a smaller interval is specified, it will be automatically reset to the allowed minimum.
An attempt to re-connect will be made after the specified interval is reached.
If this option is missing, ifmx_user will not perform any retries.
ifmx_user could be started in different configuration-modes which results in more flexibility.
In a distributed environment the user-account under which ifmx_user is started must be trusted (i.e. $HOME/.rhosts) across the individual servers.
In this configuration each databaseserver that should be observed stores his own ifmx_user-DB and runs his own ifmx_user-process. That means that the options -h home_server and -d destination_server use the same databaseserver-name.
If -h home_server and -d destination_server are identical, the TCP-connection-name must have been specified. This is necessary because ifmx_user always establishes two distinct connections which is not possible over the SHM-protocol.
The data from the individual ifmx_user-DB's needs to be unloaded and loaded in a central-DB to analyze the collected data (reporting).
A dedicated ifmx_user-binary must exist for the individual hardware-platforms.
The advantage of this configuration is that the data will be directly stored in a central-DB (-h homeserver.
A dedicated ifmx_user-binary must exist for the individual hardware-platforms.
On each monitored databaseserver an additional sqlhosts-entry must exist which points to the central-DB (-h homeserver so that ifmx_user could write the data directly to that server.
This configuration eliminates the need of dedicated binaries for individual hardware- platforms.
The imfx_user-processes are started from a central host (-h home_server and connect to the distributed databaseservers (-d destinations_server. The ifmx_user-DB is also located on the central host.
Every databaseserver that should be monitored needs an sqlhosts-entry on the central host and a dedicated ifmx_user-process has to be started on the central host.
The ifmx_user-DB is automatically created on the home_server (-h home_server) if it does not exist.
Normally the database will be created in the rootdbs. The environment variable DBSPACE_IFMX_USER could be set (ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES to control the storage-location of the database.
ifmx_user-DB consists of three tables which are described below:
This table stores only one row which is a counter that is increased during each measurement.
Schema:
-------
ui_id INTEGER
-> counter that is increased
This is an internal table, not needed for any reports.
This table contains one row for each measurement taken.
Schema:
-------
um_id VARCHAR(75,25) NOT NULL
-> unique string which consists of hostname#dbservername#ID
um_date_time DATETIME YEAR TO MINUTE NOT NULL
-> timestamp of measurement
um_total_ses INTEGER NOT NULL
-> total number of concurrent database-users (sessions)
um_cpu_vps SMALLINT NOT NULL
-> number of configured CPU-VP's
um_boot_time DATETIME YEAR TO MINUTE NOT NULL
-> timestamp of databaseserver-startup
The information in this table could be used to generate individual reports which display the number of concurrent database-users in certain timeframes.
This table contains additonal information for each row from table 'user_master'.
Schema:
-------
ud_um_id VARCHAR(75,25) NOT NULL
-> foreign key referencing 't_master'-table
ud_user_name VARCHAR(32,8) NOT NULL
-> name of database-users
ud_user_ses INTEGER NOT NULL
-> number of database-sessions for this user
The information in this table could be used in conjunction with table 'user_master' to provide detailed view about the number of database-sessions for individual users.
The following environment variables can be set:
This environment variable specifies the dbspace in which the ifmx_user-DB will be created. rootdbs is the default if not set.
This environment variable could be set to gather additonal debug-information (DIAGNOSTICS).
ifmx_user -i 3600 -h asterix_tcp -d asterix_tcp -H $(hostname)
This will count the number of database-users every hour (-i 3600). The server where the ifmx_user-DB is located (-h asterix_tcp and the the server where the number of concurrent database-users should be counted -d asterix_tcp is the same.
ifmx_user -i 600 -h idefix_tcp -d asterix_tcp -H $(hostname) -r 3
This will count the number of database-users every ten minutes (-i 600). The ifmx_user-DB is located on a central server -h idefix_tcp and the number of concurrent database-users will be counted for a different server -d asterix_tcp.
In addition if a database-connection is lost, ifmx_user will try to re-connect three times (-r 3) before giving up.
ifmx_user -i 3600 -h idefix_tcp -d obelix_tcp -H obelix -r 3
This will count the number of database-users every hour (-i 3600). The server where the ifmx_user-DB is located (-h idefix_tcp and the the server where the number of concurrent database-users should be counted -d obelix_tcp are different.
The ifmx_user-processes will be started on a central server, connecting to the distributed databaseservers (-d obelix_tcp.
ifmx_user delivers the following returncodes:
0=RET_OK Program finished successfully
1=RET_ERR Program encounters erros
2=RET_INVAL_USAGE Invalid program usage
Debugging can be turned on by setting the environment variables DEBUG_IFMX_USER before starting ifmx_user.
The whole debug information can be saved to a file with the use of i/o-redirection.
export DEBUG_IFMX_USER=1
ifmx_user -i 60 -h asterix_tcp -d asterix_tcp -H $(hostname) > /tmp/debug.out 2>&1
Esql/C-Runtime