Database server monitoring
You can use various tools to monitor database server activity. In addition to tools and utilities that are provided with Informix®, you can use tools that are provided by the operating system.
- Event alarms
- You can enable event alarms to report situations that require your immediate attention. To use the event-alarm feature, set the ALARMPROGRAM configuration parameter to the full path name of an executable file that performs the necessary administrative actions. You can monitor event alarms in OAT or configure how to receive the alarms.
- Database server message log
- The database server message log is an operating-system file. The
messages that are contained in the database server message log do
not usually require immediate action. If the database server experiences
a failure, the message log serves as an audit trail for retracing
the events that led to an unanticipated problem. Often the message
log provides the exact nature of the problem and the suggested corrective
action.
Monitor the message log once or twice a day to ensure that processing is proceeding normally and that events are being logged as expected. You can view the message log in OAT.
Alternatively, run the onstat -m command to obtain the name of the message log and the 20 most recent entries, or read the complete message log in a text editor. Run an operating-system command, such as the UNIX command tail -f, to see the messages as they occur. To view additional information about a message, use the finderr utility.
- onstat utility
- The onstat utility provides commands to monitor the database server from the command line. The onstat utility reads data from shared memory and reports statistics that are accurate for the instant during which the command runs. That is, onstat provides information that changes dynamically during processing, including changes in buffers, locks, indexes, and users. You can run onstat commands at the command line or in OAT.
- SMI tables
- The system-monitoring interface (SMI) tables contain dynamic information about the state of the database server. You can use SELECT statements on SMI tables to determine almost anything you might want to know about your database server. SMI tables are in the sysmaster database.
- System console
- The database server sends messages that are useful to the database
server administrator by way of the system console. By default, the
system console is set to online.con. To change
the destination path name of console messages, set the CONSOLE configuration
parameter.Windows only: A database server system administrator can log in to the console from any node to perform system management and monitoring tasks.