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Monitoring System Performance Using Multiple Tools

In this hands-on lab, you will be using common commands like `ps` and `top/htop` along with other utilities like `vmstat`, `mpstat`, `iostat`, and `pidstat` to view system performance metrics. Additionally, you will launch a script on the system and then use these tools to locate any processes created by it and monitor system performance. For the final task, you will kill the script process, any child processes, and check system performance again. *This course is not approved or sponsored by Red Hat.*

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Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 30m
Published
Clock icon Jun 30, 2021

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Confirm Select Utilities Are Available by Checking the Version for Each

    1. ps
    2. top / htop
    3. vmstat
    4. mpstat
    5. iostat
    6. pidstat

  2. Challenge

    Test the Functionality of Each Utility by Completing Specific Tasks

    1. ps
      • Change the columns displayed
      • Search for a specific process
    2. top / htop
      • Add a column, change the sort column
      • Search for bash processes
    3. vmstat
      • Execute the command
      • Execute the command again on a 3 second cycle, and repeat 5 times
    4. mpstat
      • Execute the command
      • Execute the command again, and display all metrics
    5. iostat
      • Execute the command, and display all metrics
      • Execute the command again on a 2 second cycle, and repeat 10 times while writing the data to a log file.
    6. pidstat
      • View all processes
      • Display the process tree for any process containing "sshd"

  3. Challenge

    Launch a Script and Monitor the System

    1. Execute the systemcheck.sh script from the scripts directory, and send it to the background.
      • This script will spawn a separate process that will impact the system.
    2. Use one or more these tools to view active processes to determine what the script is doing.
      • Determine what processes are spawned by the script.
      • Identify what resources are being impacted by the script.
      • Collect the script process ID as well as any related child process PIDs.
    3. Kill all parent and child processes, preferably using one of these tools.
A Cloud Guru - Labs - Monitoring System Performance Using Multiple Tools
Author
A Cloud Guru

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

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